U.S. men beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in round of 32 for second-ever World Cup knockout round win
The United States is through to the round of 16 after taking down Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0, in just the second-ever win in the World Cup knockout round for the men's team — but a controversial red card will leave the national team without one of its key players for the next match.
Folarin Balogun got the scoring going with a goal in the 45th minute, sending the U.S. into the half with a 1-0 lead. It looked like Balogun had given the U.S. the lead in the 31st minute, but he was called offside, and another opportunity in stoppage time at the end of the first half bounced off the crossbar.
But Balogun was sent off with a red card in the 64th minute after challenging Bosnia's Tarik Muharemović and coming down on his foot, causing his ankle to roll — leaving the U.S. to play one man down for the rest of the match.
"We had to dig deep for that one," star Christian Pulisic said. "It didn't go exactly to plan with the red card, but that just shows what a good team we are. We said in the hydration break, you know, this is what it takes to be a really strong team. And, we were able to do it."
Malik Tillman added a second goal for the U.S. in the 81st minute on a perfectly struck free kick from just outside the penalty area.
The Americans gained just their second World Cup knockout round win. They made it to the semifinals in the first tournament in 1930 by winning their group and won a round of 16 matchup against Mexico in 2002.
The win over Bosnia in the round of 32 in this year's expanded tournament sets up a matchup on Monday in Seattle against Belgium as the U.S. hopes to make a deep run on home soil. The Red Devils beat the U.S. 2-1 in extra time at the 2014 round of 16.
Balogun leads the U.S. with three goals, but will miss the Belgium match because of an automatic suspension for the red card, assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus after a video review. Balogun stepped on an ankle of Muharemovic, apparently not intentionally.
"For me? Never a red card," said Mauricio Pochettino, the first U.S. coach with three World Cup wins.
Balogun matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second-most goals by an American in a World Cup, behind only Bert Patenaude's four in the initial tournament in 1930.
"Of course he's a great player," Tillman said. "We have great players who can replace him, and give the best they can, and hopefully score some nice goals as well."
Tillman changed his right boot just before scoring the first U.S. World Cup goal on a free kick since Eric Wynalda in the 1994 opener against Switzerland. Tillman had a bloody sock around his big toe.
"You never know when it's going to happen. Today, it happened," he said.
The game was played less than 20 miles from the site of the first U.S. knockout round game of the modern era, when the Americans lost 1-0 to heavily favored Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994.
The U.S. was favored this time around for the first time on record in a knockout round match and didn't let down the large contingent of red, white and blue-clad fans at Levi's Stadium who were chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" in the closing minutes.
The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the U.S. against European teams dating to a tie against England in the 2022 World Cup. It marked the first win in the World Cup for the Americans against a European team since a win over Portugal in the 2002 opener. They were winless in 13 straight World Cup matchups against European teams since then, including a 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium in the round of 16 in 2014.
The U.S. had started fast in the group stage matches by scoring in the first 15 minutes of all three games. But it was Bosnia that had the better chances at first, with Matt Freese needing to make two early saves to stop Ermedin Demirovic following a deceptive goal kick that caught the U.S. defense napping and then again on the ensuing corner kick that Kerim Alajbegovic almost scored on directly.
Balogun then took over from there. Tim Ream intercepted a Bosnia goal kick at midfield and then Tillman found Balogun in the box. He slid the left-footed shot in for his third goal of the tournament — one shy of the record for a U.S. men's player in a single World Cup set in 1930 by Bert Patenaude.
He punctuated it with his version of the LeBron James Silencer celebration, drawing a positive reaction from King James himself.
"We considered a goal through our mistakes," Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said through a translator. "Unfortunately things like that happen but at this level they are immediately punished."
Balogun nearly scored again in first-half stoppage time but his shot from in close deflected off the cross bar and out of play.
Bosnia's second World Cup trip was a success with a draw against Canada in the opener and a win over Qatar that helped the team advance to the knockout round for the first time.