AS Monaco of France striker, Folarin Balogun may have given up the dream of becoming top scorer at the ongoing FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by his adopted country, USA, as he admits the intimidating presence of three top stars.
Sports247 reports that, after opening the competition with two goals in USA’s stunning victory over Paraguay, Balogun appeared as a potential top scorer, but he has opted to bow to Lionel Mesi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
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The goleador race got even hotter on Monday, as Messi and Mbappe both scored twice for Argentina and France respectively, while Haaland followed suit with a brace in a gritty 3-2 victory over Senegal, adding to his earlier two versus Iraq.
With Messi soaring to five goals after netting a brace versus Austria on Monday, despite missing a penalty early on, and Mbappe now with four after also scoring twice in France’s 3-0 spanking of Iraq, Folarin believes the race is over for him.
The former Arsenal of England youth team player confessed that he would love to win the Mundial’s Golden Boot, but admitted it is already difficult for him to keep up with Messi and Mbappe, who are raining goals in USA, Mexico and Canada.
Folarin Jerry Balogun, who previously played for Middlesbrough of England and Reims of France was Monaco’s top scorer last season with 19 goals, retorted: “Seeing players like Messi, Mbappe, Haaland … they’re so inevitable.
“I think they’re scoring a goal a game, sometimes more. For me, it’s just about trying to get to that level — to be inevitable as well, to be consistent. And I’m sure I’ve got the potential in me to do that.”
Sports247 reports further that Balogun was born in Brooklyn, to Nigerian parents who were living in London, but visited New York, USA when his mother was seven months pregnant.
On their intended return flight, airline staff refused his mother permission to fly due to safety concerns over her being heavily pregnant and he was born in New York, but the family returned to London when he was two months old.
Although he grew up in London, England and joined Arsenal at the age of eight, Balogun opted to switch allegiance to USA after playing for England at the 2018 European U17 Championship and 2023 European U21 Championship.
