The United States produced an impressive display to see off Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in their round of 32 tie at the FIFA World Cup 2026, sealing their place in the round of 16. The match, played at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, saw the USA play the final 40 minutes of the second half a man down after a red card.
The Americans were on the front foot from the off, dominating possession throughout. Folarin Balogun thought he'd opened the scoring early on, but the goal was ruled out for offside. He wasn't to be denied for long, though — deep into first-half stoppage time, he latched onto a fine ball from Malik Tillman, beat his marker and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj to put the USA 1-0 up. Balogun almost had a second before the break too, but his effort cannoned back off the crossbar.
Bosnia and Herzegovina pushed for an equaliser after the restart, and the USA suffered a setback in the 64th minute when Balogun was shown a straight red card following a VAR review, leaving his side to see out roughly half an hour with ten men.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Americans held firm defensively and didn't let their opponents find a way back into the game. Late on, Malik Tillman put the result beyond doubt with a superb free-kick to make it 2-0. Christian Pulisic also had a goal chalked off for offside during the match.
The win is only the USA's second in a World Cup knockout tie against a European side, and it ends a run of 12 consecutive defeats against European opposition. It's also the fourth time in the last four World Cups that the USA have reached the last 16.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino's side will now face Belgium in the round of 16 on 7 July at Seattle Stadium. Should they win, the USA would reach the World Cup quarter-finals for only the second time in the modern era, and for the first time since 2002.