What happens if Folarin Balogun gets a yellow card or red card vs. Belgium?

The availability of United States star Folarin Balogun for the USMNT Round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday has created a firestorm of controversy and opinions across the world of soccer.

After being dubiously sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina for a 64th-minute tackle on Tarik Muharemovic that saw Balogun's studs land on the ankle of his opponent, turning it.

The dismissal was controversial in and of itself, but what happened next resulted in an international incident as FIFA decided to reinstate Balogun for the Belgium game, leading to a deluge of criticism and discussion regarding FIFA's ability to make overarching disciplinary judgements at their discretion that are contrary to the perceived tournament regulations.

So, with Balogun now available to play at the World Cup, what happens if he were to pick up another card, either yellow or red, from the referee?

The Sporting News explains what consequences further disciplinary action could have on the Brooklyn-born striker.

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What happens if Folarin Balogun gets a yellow card vs. Belgium?

If Folarin Balogun gets a yellow card against Belgium, it will not trigger anything immediately notable in terms of disciplinary action.

Yellow card totals were wiped and reset after the group stage, meaning players must acquire two yellow cards between the Round of 32 and the quarterfinals to trigger a one-match ban. Yellow card totals wipe again after the quarterfinals, in order to prevent players from being suspended for the World Cup final due to card accumulation.

Balogun's red card from the Bosnia and Herzegovina match does not factor into this, because it was a straight red card, which does not count towards yellow card accumulation. This is because, regularly, players are already suspended for red cards and therefore adding to their accumulation total would feel like double jeopardy.

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What happens if Folarin Balogun gets a red card vs. Belgium?

If Folarin Balogun were to pick up a red card against Belgium, he could face a long time out of international action.

At the very least, Balogun would trigger another automatic one-match suspension for being sent off in a World Cup match, but there could be more added on.

Instead of being wiped away completely, Balogun's previous red card ban for his dismissal against Bosnia and Herzegovina was suspended by FIFA, which is an important distinction.

"The implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one (1) year," the FIFA statement read.

A suspended sentence is, in essence, like giving Balogun probation instead of jail. If he does not commit a similar offense again during the probationary period, the sentence goes away. If, however, he does violate the terms of the suspension, the one-match ban would be reinstated.

"If the person benefiting from a suspended sanction commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked by the judicial body and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement."

Should this happen, Balogun would have this reinstated one-match ban tacked on top of whatever ban would come with the newest red card.