As recently as three years ago, there was no certainty Balogun would represent the United States.
After featuring for both the US and England at Under-18 level, he became central to Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 plans, scoring seven goals in 13 matches as they prepared for the 2023 Under-21 European Championship.
Yet his prolific 2022-23 loan spell at Reims from Arsenal — which later earned him a £35m transfer to Monaco — had US officials circling.
There was also a groundswell of public support for him to choose the US, at a time when the pathway to England’s senior side seemed far more complicated.
After withdrawing from an England Under-21s camp, a supposedly secret meeting with US Soccer officials quickly surfaced across social media, and he was courted with NBA tickets and trips to Florida.
Reports also mentioned an invitation to the New York Yankees to watch training, and several senior US internationals were dispatched to take him to dinner to help persuade him to switch.
“When I committed, and throughout the whole cycle, and the whole journey to me being at this point, I’ve always said the fans gave me so much motivation and showed me so much support,” Balogun said on Friday.
“For me, the most important thing has always been to be able to repay that. I just want to continue to show the fans I made the right decision.”
As much as Team US want to keep politics off the pitch and focus on their game, it’s hard to ignore that Balogun joining the team would have been impossible under President Trump’s proposed order.
If the Trump administration were to win the Supreme Court case, it would create uncertainty not just for Balogun but for many others, says Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor and the chair in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute.
The administration has said they will not move to retroactively deprive birthright, but the logic of their argument — that those people are not actually citizens — would still hang over them.
“Trump’s promises and guarantees often are not worth very much, but even if he were to stick to that resolution, a future administration might not,” said Somin.
Still, Somin believes the high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will not rule in President Trump’s favour given the justices’ scepticism during April’s oral arguments.
When the administration argued that the ease of modern travel necessitated reinterpreting the constitution, Chief Justice John Roberts quipped: “It’s a new world. It’s the same constitution.”
It may be coincidence that the World Cup, the birthright Supreme Court decision and the country’s 250th anniversary are happening at the same time. But with international turmoil and domestic division on a range of polarising issues, the confluence of events is holding up a mirror to the American people.
A majority of Americans believe all babies born in the country should automatically be granted citizenship, according to a Reuters poll from April.
But opinions split along party lines. The poll found only 9% of Democrats agree with ending birthright citizenship compared to 62% of Republicans.
Balogun is hardly the only player on Team USA with a blended identity.
Marcos said fans were used to that, and the team is uniquely built to represent the nation’s melting pot.
“I think that’s what makes the team really unique in terms of the football landscape,” he said. “But it’s also what makes it special and it makes it very American.”
In 10 of the previous 12 editions of the World Cup, six goals would have been enough to win the Golden Boot.
On that basis, and only one game in, Balogun is already a third of the way to one of the most prized individual accolades in world football.
He may not be a household name in the country yet, but he’s well on his way to becoming a new talisman for US soccer fans to pin their hopes on.
Additional reporting by Pratiksha Ghildial.