Folarin Balogun

Folarin Jolaoluwa Jerry Balogun, born July 3, 2001, is the striker American soccer spent a decade hoping it would one day produce, and then found in the unlikeliest of places: a New York birth certificate, a London upbringing, and an Arsenal academy badge. A center forward built on pace, sharp movement, and a clean first-time finish, Balogun is the No. 9 the United States men’s national team had chased for years, and on June 12, 2026, in front of a sold-out crowd at SoFi Stadium, he announced himself to the world. His two first-half goals in a 4–1 win over Paraguay made him the first American man to score multiple goals in a World Cup match since Bert Patenaude in 1930, a record that had stood untouched for 96 years.

The path there was anything but linear. Balogun broke through on loan at Stade de Reims in 2022–23, scoring 21 goals to finish as the fourth-highest scorer in Ligue 1, a season that earned him a move to AS Monaco and turned him into one of the most coveted young strikers in Europe. He then lost most of 2024–25 to shoulder and ankle injuries before roaring back in 2025–26 with a club-best campaign: 19 goals across all competitions, an eight-game Ligue 1 scoring streak that put him in company with only Kylian Mbappé among Europe’s top leagues that season, and the AS Monaco Player of the Season award. The decision that defined his career, though, came off the pitch. Born in the United States, raised in England, and the son of Nigerian parents, Balogun chose to represent the country of his birth in May 2023, filing a one-time switch with FIFA after years in the England youth system.

It was a recruiting coup that reshaped the USMNT’s ceiling heading into a home World Cup. Two and a half years later, with the tournament on American soil and the eyes of a new generation of fans on him, Balogun looks like the answer to a question the United States had been asking for a very long time.

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Quick Facts

Featured Video

Video courtesy of U.S. Soccer.

Early Life & Education

Balogun was born in Brooklyn while his Nigerian parents were living in New York, and he moved to London when he was just one month old. He grew up in the English capital, and his football began the way so many English careers do: on Sunday League pitches, in this case for a club called Aldersbrook. He was scouted from there as a child, and after a trial with Tottenham Hotspur that nearly ended with him signing for Arsenal’s North London rivals, he joined the Arsenal academy at age eight. The Hale End academy, Arsenal’s youth production line, would shape him for the next decade.

For years he was a winger, all speed and trickery on the flank. The turning point came at 16, when Arsenal’s coaches moved him into the middle. The position change unlocked him. In the 2018–19 season he scored 25 goals in 19 Under-18 Premier League matches, the kind of strike rate that gets a teenager noticed across Europe. He had already been part of Trevor Bumstead’s Arsenal Under-16 side that won the 2017 Liam Brady Cup, beating Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Juventus along the way, and he added a Premier League 2 title with the Under-23s in 2017–18. In February 2019, Arsenal handed him a professional contract.

His international upbringing was just as layered as his football one. Eligible for the United States, England, and Nigeria, the homeland of both his parents, Balogun first appeared for the U.S. Under-18s in 2018, playing all four matches at the Václav Ježek Youth Tournament under coach Tab Ramos and scoring twice. He then spent several years in the England youth setup, moving through the Under-17, Under-18, Under-20, and Under-21 levels. The question of which senior nation he would ultimately choose followed him for years, and it would not be answered until he had become a star in France.

Career Highlights and Milestones

Balogun made his senior Arsenal debut on October 29, 2020, in a 4–2 Europa League win over Dundalk, and found the net in that competition during a 2020–21 season that otherwise offered only fringe minutes. His Premier League debut arrived on August 13, 2021, in a 2–0 loss to newly promoted Brentford. With first-team chances scarce, Arsenal sent him out to learn. A January 2022 loan to Championship side Middlesbrough produced three goals in 18 appearances, including his first senior goal in a 4–1 defeat at Sheffield United. Useful experience, but not yet a breakthrough.

The breakthrough came in France. On loan at Reims for 2022–23, Balogun scored on his debut and never stopped. A late equalizer away to league leaders Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023 was his 11th Ligue 1 goal of the season, the most of any player aged 21 or under in Europe’s top five leagues at that point. Three days later he scored his first senior hat-trick in a 4–2 win over Lorient, briefly making him the outright top scorer in the entire division. He finished the campaign with 21 league goals to rank fourth in Ligue 1, behind only Mbappé and a clutch of established names. AS Monaco signed him in August 2023 for an initial fee reported around €30 million, with add-ons that could push the deal toward €40 million, and Arsenal retained a 17.5 percent sell-on clause.

His Monaco career started promisingly, with eight goals and seven assists in 2023–24, before 2024–25 turned into a season to forget: shoulder and ankle problems kept him sidelined for long stretches, and he did not return to scoring until May 2025. What followed in 2025–26 was a genuine resurgence. Under new head coach Sébastien Pocognoli, Balogun rediscovered his rhythm and went on a tear, scoring in eight consecutive Ligue 1 matches between February and April 2026. He became just the third Monaco player this century to manage that run, after Shabani Nonda in 2003 and Rony Lopes in 2018, and the first player since Neymar at PSG in 2022 to score in seven straight games in the French top flight. Across all competitions he posted a career-best 19 goals, was named Monaco’s Player of the Month for February, and finished the season as the club’s Player of the Season.

For the United States, the timing could not have been better. After committing to the USMNT in May 2023, Balogun marked his second cap by scoring in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final against Canada, a 2–0 win that delivered silverware. He scored twice at the 2024 Copa América, against Bolivia and Panama, then returned from injury in September 2025 to score in three straight starts against Japan, Ecuador, and Paraguay. The crescendo arrived at the 2026 World Cup. On home soil, in the USMNT’s World Cup opener against Paraguay, he scored twice in a dominant first half, the second a stunning finish into the top corner with his weaker left foot after spinning two defenders. The performance entered the record books and made him, overnight, the face of America’s striker hopes.

Selected Career Highlights

• 2017: Won the Liam Brady Cup with Arsenal’s Under-16 side, beating Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Juventus
• 2017–18: Won the Premier League 2 title with Arsenal Under-23s
• 2018–19: Scored 25 goals in 19 Under-18 Premier League matches after converting to center forward
• October 29, 2020: Made his senior Arsenal debut in a 4–2 Europa League win over Dundalk
• August 13, 2021: Premier League debut against Brentford
• 2022: Scored 3 goals in 18 Championship appearances on loan at Middlesbrough
• 2022–23: Breakout 21-goal season on loan at Reims, finishing fourth in Ligue 1 scoring
• February 1, 2023: First senior hat-trick, in a 4–2 win over Lorient
• June 18, 2023: Scored in the CONCACAF Nations League final to win his first senior trophy with the USA
• August 2023: Signed for AS Monaco in a deal reported up to €40 million
• 2024: Scored at the Copa América against Bolivia and Panama
• February to April 2026: Scored in eight consecutive Ligue 1 matches for Monaco
• 2025–26: Named AS Monaco Player of the Season after a career-best 19 goals
• June 12, 2026: Scored twice on his World Cup debut against Paraguay

Major Recognition

• 2023 CONCACAF Nations League champion with the United States, scoring in the final
• 2025–26 AS Monaco Player of the Season
• First United States man to score multiple goals in a World Cup match since Bert Patenaude in 1930
• Fifth U.S. man with multiple career World Cup goals, joining Patenaude, Brian McBride, Landon Donovan, and Clint Dempsey
• Fourth-highest scorer in Ligue 1 in 2022–23 (21 goals)
• AS Monaco Player of the Month, February 2026

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Awards and Accolades

Career Stats & Records

*Career-best season. Finished as the fourth-highest scorer in Ligue 1 in 2022–23. Apps reflect appearances across all club competitions (league, domestic cup, and continental). Selected seasons shown; figures for appearances and assists are approximate pending final verification, and Balogun’s totals continue to grow with both club and country.

Club & National Team History

Club Career

National Team Career

Net Worth, Income, & Lifestyle

Social Media & Online Presence

NOTE: Several fan-run and impersonator accounts use variations of his name (for example, “folarinbalogunofficial”). His genuine verified account is the concise @balogun handle on Instagram. In addition to any official accounts listed above, many fan-run pages, clip accounts, and statistical tracker accounts exist across all platforms. These are not confirmed to be affiliated with Folarin Balogun. Links and usernames can change at any time.

Trivia & Lesser-Known Facts

• His surname, Balogun, is a Yoruba title that translates roughly to “warlord,” reflecting his Nigerian heritage. He is fluent in both English and Yoruba.
• His football allegiances zigzagged across three countries: he played once for the U.S. Under-18s in 2018, then spent years in the England youth system, before returning to the United States at senior level in 2023.
• He nearly signed for Tottenham Hotspur as a boy before choosing Arsenal’s Hale End academy, joining the rivals of the club he almost called home.
• He was a winger until age 16, when Arsenal coaches converted him into a center forward, a switch that transformed his career.
• His childhood idol was Thierry Henry, the Arsenal and France striker, a fitting hero for a forward who came up through the same academy system.
• His two goals on his World Cup debut came against Paraguay, the same opponent Bert Patenaude faced when he scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history in 1930.

Quotes

“I visualized my debut in the World Cup scoring, but the reality did surpass that. A very dreamy night.”

– Folarin Balogun, post-match remarks after the United States’ 4–1 win over Paraguay (June 2026)

“It was definitely a statement. Three goals in the first half, opening game. I felt like it was a real statement, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

– Folarin Balogun, after the World Cup opener against Paraguay (June 2026)

“If you score a lot of goals in the World Cup and you take your country far, it can change the direction of your career.”

– Folarin Balogun, Get French Football News (2026)

“My mind naturally wanders to the opening game of the World Cup, and just the atmosphere. It’s almost like a freeze-frame, like a perfect image in my mind.”

– Folarin Balogun, FOX Sports (September 2025)

“To represent the United States means a lot, more than people would know. I’m very proud and honored to have this opportunity, and I want to give everything I have to make our team successful.”

– Folarin Balogun, on committing to the USMNT (2023)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How old is Folarin Balogun?
A: He is 24, born on July 3, 2001, in Brooklyn, New York.

Q: What team does Folarin Balogun play for?
A: He plays club football for AS Monaco in France’s Ligue 1 and represents the United States men’s national team.

Q: Why does an American-born player who came up in England play for the USA?
A: Balogun was born in the United States, raised in England, and is the son of Nigerian parents, making him eligible for all three. After years in the England youth system, he filed a one-time switch with FIFA in May 2023 to represent the country of his birth.

Q: What is Folarin Balogun’s World Cup record?
A: He scored twice on his World Cup debut against Paraguay on June 12, 2026, becoming the first U.S. man to score multiple goals in a single World Cup match since Bert Patenaude in 1930.

Q: How tall is Folarin Balogun?
A: He stands 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m).

Q: What are Folarin Balogun’s official social media accounts?
A: His verified Instagram account is @balogun. Fans should be wary of impersonator pages that use variations of his name.

Q: What endorsement deals does Folarin Balogun have?
A: He is an adidas athlete for boots and apparel. His broader commercial profile is expected to grow following his World Cup breakthrough.

Upcoming Projects / Season Outlook

• 2026 FIFA World Cup, Group D (June 2026): After opening with a 4–1 win over Paraguay, the United States is scheduled to face Australia in Seattle on June 19 and Türkiye in Los Angeles on June 25. Balogun is expected to start as the team’s first-choice striker, subject to fitness and team selection.
• World Cup knockout stage (late June to July 2026): If the United States advances from Group D, a Round of 32 match would follow, with the date and opponent depending on the group finish. Balogun’s form will be central to how far the co-hosts can go.
• 2026–27 club season with AS Monaco (expected): Balogun is under contract through June 2028 and is expected to lead the Monaco attack again, with the club aiming to return to the UEFA Champions League.
• Expanded commercial activity (anticipated): A strong World Cup is widely expected to attract new endorsement interest, though no specific new deals have been confirmed.
• Continued USMNT role (ongoing): As the program’s leading center forward heading into a new cycle, Balogun is positioned to remain a fixture in the national team, subject to health and form.

All of the above are reported, scheduled, or expected, and remain subject to change based on health, club decisions, and official announcements.

Interviews & Features

• ESPN, “Balogun living World Cup ‘dream’ as U.S. choice pays off” (2026), a post-match feature on his record-setting opener and the international decision that led him there.
• GOAL, “Eight goals in eight games: Folarin Balogun peaking at the perfect time” (2026), placing his Ligue 1 scoring streak in historical context.
• Ligue1.com, “8 in a row: Balogun joins Ligue 1’s modern scoring streak elite” (2026), the league’s own look at his place among Monaco’s and France’s great scorers.
• CBS Sports, “USMNT’s Folarin Balogun is finding his stride for club and country at just the right time” (2025), on his return to form ahead of the World Cup.
• ESPN, “What Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun would bring to the USMNT” (2023), written when his switch to the United States was confirmed.

Public Appearances, Games, & Events

• Inglewood, June 12, 2026: Balogun scored twice as the United States beat Paraguay 4–1 at SoFi Stadium in the 2026 World Cup opener, the program’s biggest World Cup win.
• Charlotte, May 31, 2026: He scored his first goal of 2026 in a pre-World Cup friendly against Senegal as the USMNT sharpened its preparations.
• Chester, November 19, 2025: He grabbed the winner in a 2–1 friendly victory over Paraguay, capping a three-game scoring run on his return from injury.
• Las Vegas, June 18, 2023: He scored in a 2–0 CONCACAF Nations League final win over Canada to claim his first senior trophy with the United States.
• Washington, D.C., July 19, 2023: As an Arsenal player, he featured in the MLS All-Star Game against the league’s best.