Alex Abnos was on the scene and has filed this report.
Thanks to most of you for the emails. Entertaining as always. See you next time.
Next up
USA v Belgium, round of 16, 8 pm Eastern Daylight Time, Seattle.
That’s going to be a wild one. I don’t envy whoever will be doing the live coverage of that – …
…
… it’s me, isn’t it?
I’m going to be seeing the Where’s Waldo? shirts in my dreams for the rest of 2026.
Scoring/sent off
We have an answer:
“Garrincha scored twice and was sent off in the 1962 semifinal. Ronaldinho scored and was set off against England in 2002. Zizou. Balogun.” – Dave Hogg, who notes Balogun is the worst of the four. I’d argue that it’s pretty good company.
One way of looking at this US team: Over the years, the team have had more of a European influence. They’ve always had players who qualified for citizenship because they had a US military parent, but as MLS academies have improved and more players have turned pro earlier, players are heading overseas at a young age. That’s brought in some tactical savvy and emphasis on technique as well. Maybe a bit of the dark arts as well.
This win was more stereotypically American. Guts. Grit.
Before the game, I noted that the USA often fail as the favorite and have more success as the underdog. The circumstances of this game turned the USA into the underdog, playing 10v11 against a team that made brilliant substitutions and showed no signs of wilting. Forget about who plays for Juventus or AC Milan or in the Premier League – the deck was stacked against the USA. And they pulled it off.
In training ahead of the Belgium game, I’m sure Pochettino and company will dissect the many faults that had the USA struggling to get and add to a lead. But this game will give them confidence that they have a gear they might not have known they have.
Match report will up shortly. Summing up …
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Balogun can score scrappy goals as well as the beautiful goals. He’ll be missed in the next round.
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You can fuss if you like about how badly BIH set up the wall on the free kick, but Tillman produced a moment of magic.
The bad omens ahead of the Belgium game …
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Dodgy performance from Freese in goal.
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The passing was nowhere near as sharp as it was against Australia and Paraguay.
“The USA is a big country. We have lots of sports that we love, many domestically grown. We love basketball, baseball, gridiron football, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer, golf, tennis... and many, many, many others. Some people think a Pulisic is an appliance? Oh well. I’m not going to get mad if people think a Skubal is an auto part or a Mahomes is a furniture brand. We all like what we like. Talking to others and learning from them is supposed to be fun. I don’t think there are any pundits out there composing screeds against Canadians for daring to prefer ice hockey over soccer- and there shouldn’t be.” – Jeffrey Lilly
I’m a proud member of a curling club.
“I think USA have enjoyed a somewhat easier pathway to the Last-16 so far. Belgium maybe the toughest team they’ll face in the world cup so far. The Belgians did not necessarily deserve to win against Senegal which makes me think USA could possibly edge it. The quarter final which could feature Spain/Croatia/Portugal may be beyond them however. That is unless the Swiss cause a major upset tomorrow.” – Farhan
“Could this be the first time since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 final that a player has both scored and been sent off in a World Cup knockout match?” – Peter Oh
Someone should check that.
“What a solid performance overall, and particularly impressive after going down a man. But our attack will likely be seriously blunted without having Balogun available against Belgium.” – Alexander Whitney
“Gee I thought that was a really well placed kick relative to goalkeeper starting position, which is how you line it up.” – G
“You’re a bass player, right? Does Tim Ream remind you a little of Substance or Technique-era Peter Hook?” – Peter Oh
Now that you mention it …
Christian Pulisic: We had to dig deep for that one. The red card, it’s unfortunate.
We said in the hydration break – this is what it takes to be a good team.
“That was a free kick that should have been saved easily. There was no pace on it. No foot movement from the keeper and he still got there and just palmed it into the net. They all count, but, ‘Beckham-esque’? Nope.” – Stephen Holliday
I think the Greek keeper did worse.
“If you think that’s the worst the US has played, you’ve never watched them play.” – Kentaro Morrison, citing Trinidad 2017
I … did I say that? I’d say “ugly” more than I’d say “bad.”
“Hi Beau - what’s the likelihood this red card gets overturned after the match? Any chance at all, for referee error of the like? Thanks for any clarification!!” – David Litvak
Top of my head – I think it’s zero. It was a judgment call, not an obvious error.
“The rest of the world assumed when you tread on a player’s calf is red. Americans don’t think so and assume he didn’t know what he was doing. That’s why they are professionals, so he had to go.” – Howard Fishman
Not how it looked to a lot of people (not all of them American), and the rest of the Cup has been officiated a bit less strictly.
Jason Smith notes that officiating shenanigans aren’t helping as football is still trying to grow in the USA.
“VAR is out of control maybe a yellow at best. Balogun watching ball entire time, slips, bad foul but not a clear and obvious error by any measure.” – Rick McGahey
Updated
OK, let’s hit the mail, and I’ll probably need to skip some of the ones that came in earlier.
Wait … I have to note that they’re now playing Elvis. I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You. And the US supporters have fallen in love with Pochettino. (Bearing in mind, as one email noted, the supporters groups haven’t really been in it. The prices self-selected this crowd. But still …
Yes, I see the emails. But these are incredible scenes. Pochettino is still yelling Take Me Home Country Roads. He has embraced the US fans, and vice versa.
McKennie is now conducting the crowd. He has played a lot in Italy, so he may have gleaned something about the art of conducting.
Pochettino is eager to demonstrate that he knows the words to Take Me Home Country Roads. He pumps his fist as he sings.
The teams sportingly embrace – several of them know each other from club soccer, of course – but Kolašinac is yelling at a disinterested US player.
FINAL: USA 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
The question on this “golden generation” of US players has never been about skill. It’s been about finding a way to win the tough games, the rough games, where things aren’t going your way. Where they have to dig deeper than they ever have before.
They just answered that question. It’s one of the uglier US performances in a World Cup, but one that US fans will cherish forever.
Updated
90 min +10 And that’s the last time update I’m giving.
Ream holds his ground as Demirović bangs into him. Free kick USA. Freese comes up to take it.
90 min +9 SHOT FOR BIH. Again, it’s Mahmić, who races through the defense and fires wide of the other post.
90 min +8 SHOT FOR BIH and Matt Freese is very lucky Mahmić imparted some spin on it, or that would’ve been inside the far post. It goes out, and Freese comes up holding his shoulder.
90 min +8 BIH possess. Dedić is on the right now, but Ream stops him cold.
90 min +7 USA blast it up the field for Pepi, and Vasilj has to race out of his goal to knock the ball into the stands.
90 min +7 Berhalter rescues Richards, who was beaten by Dedić.
90 min +6 Pepi with a half-chance! And Freeman sends a shot over.
USA could really use another defender here.
They bring on Gio Reyna for Weston McKennie.
Mr. Pochettino, your ways are very strange. (That, or the Turkey game eroded whatever faith he had in the reserves.)
90 min +4 Robinson with the defensive header, and Tillman brilliantly flings the ball back to Adams to spring the USA.
Tillman ends up right on the sideline and draws a foul.
90 min +3 USA possess. BIH pressing but can’t get it. Finally, the ball is played to McKennie, who is dispossessed. He fouls, then kicks the ball away – which is supposed to be an automatic yellow but we are in the upside-down now.
90 min +2 Alajbegović is carving up the US defense. He fires a shot wide – maybe deflected? Not seen that way, so it’s a goal kick.
90 min +2 BIH possess. Into the area – Richards heads clear. How vital has the Crystal Palace man been?
90 min +1 BIH possess. They’re having success on the left against Freeman.
Ten minutes of stoppage time??? TEN??!!!
90 min CHANCE FOR BIH! It’s a cross through the goal mouth, and Freese doesn’t get it! He gets crossed up with a teammate. Shot comes in, and Richards blocks.
89 min BIH bring it forward. USA again give a lot of space.
Cross. Headed out by Ream. BIH still possess.
88 min Note that Pochettino didn’t bring in a replacement or additional defender.
SUBS: Sebastian Berhalter and Ricardo Pepi in.
Dest is out, as is Pulisic, who applauds the crowd as they give him an ovation.
86 min USA giving BIH a lot of space. Alex Freeman plays the ball off his chest, and it almost goes in! Freese collects.
Tahirovic runs by Freese and puts a hand on his back for some reason. Freese milks it.
Now we’re subbing on a goalkeeper punt?
86 min It’s a slow buildup from BIH. Tillman intercepts.
85 min Dest, Freeman and McKennie combine to play some defense.
How has Mauricio Pochettino not made any subs????
84 min How has Mauricio Pochettino not made any subs???
Freese snares a high cross. USA try to break quickly.
He took forever to take that shot – some would say wasting time, but he may only have been mentally prepping himself.
We mentioned Bend It Like Beckham before? That was Beckham-esque. He got it up and down in 20 yards.
Goal! USA 2-0 BIH (Tillman 82)
A majestic free kick! It bypasses the wall, and Vasilj is all the way on the other side of the goal.
Updated
81 min One of the lightest holds we’ve seen today on Dest, but the referee decides that’s a free kick to the USA and a yellow to Radeljić. Free kick from about 20 yards – not an ideal spot, really.
79 min Sergej Barbarez, who had a good run in Vegas as a poker player, is so furious that he has picked up the ball. He sees yellow – and he wastes his own team’s time.
No goal?
Tillman with a backheel, McKennie in the buildup, Pulisic races ahead to put it in the net but he was a yard offside.
78 min It looked like a player made contact with Pulisic’s heel. Are we sure that’s not a red card? (Note sarcasm.)
77 min Pulisic falls at midfield and draws a foul. He’s staying down.
77 min Freeman blocks a shot at the top of the box.
This is interesting: BIH will have used all five subs before the USA use one.
Katić and Kolašinac out. Tabaković and Memić out.
75 min Pulisic does a loop-de-loop through the BIH defense but ends up playing it over the line when bumped.
74 min The BIH corner is taken short, a bit surprising. They work it around and try to set up a shot. Ball eventually played high, but no one’s near Freese.
73 min Corner kick to BIH, and these are going to be very dangerous.
73 min No subs. That’s interesting.
All BIH possession now.
Now we hit the longest 25-30 minutes US fans will have experienced in a very long time.
Hydration emails:
“Weren’t you looking for a good nickname for the USMNT? Andreas Agduyeng has found it: the Mutant Ninja Turtles.” – Kári Tulinius
“Bosnia has my favorite unofficial team song for this World Cup, Dubioza Kolektiv’s ‘I Am From Bosnia - Take Me to America.’” – John Kim
“As a former professional sports radio announcer who didn’t move to the USA for good until his teens, I think I have a good perspective to assure you that Bartholomew Motes is being excessively charitable to that segment of the American TV audience that is only watching because there are red, white, and blue jerseys playing a game of some sort. Say “Pulisic” to these imbeciles two months ago, and they’d think you told them the name of a kitchen appliance brand. This is where the design of Fox TV’s studio panel works well here in the States. You have Thierry Henry, who provides the level of insight and understanding a World Cup deserves, and Alexi Lalas, who speaks down at a level that these jingoistic bozos still struggle to comprehend.” – Eric Peterson
I think the studio show suffered without Lalas earlier today.
“What is John Travolta doing in the BIH dugout? This is a Dead Ringer situation!” – Deepak T
“My under standing of soccer (and most sports): “if the ball is here, try to get it over there. But good to see USA is winning so far.” – Cory Anders
68 min Alex Freeman is dispossessed 80 yards from his own goal.
67 min USA back in a 4-4-1 and not pressing. And it’s Wisconsin’s own Bajraktarević turning and shooting but not at a dangerous angle, saved by Freese.
66 min SHOT ON GOAL FOR BIH. Demirovic fires through Richards’ legs but right at Freese.
Updated
Red card to Balogun
I’ve seen dozens of worse plays in this Cup that haven’t even been punished with yellow.
Updated
This would be beyond harsh. Balogun wasn’t in control, having collided with Muharemovic. He accidentally caught Muharemovic’s leg.
We’re getting a VAR check to see if Balogun should get a red card.
61 min Balogun and Muharemovic get tangled up, and it looks like Balogun may be lucky to evade a yellow card. They’re both down, and both teams have passed water bottles out to everyone on the field.
60 min The international feed keeps showing a stat that BIH have only one shot on target. It’s insanity not to count the corner kick that Freese saved as a shot on target. It was brilliantly taken.
59 min Now it’s a replay of much of the first half, with a long spell of possession on one side of the field. It was the BIH half in the first half. Now it’s the USA. They finally break the pressure after a missed BIH connection (Ream had something to do with it).
58 min If you haven’t figured it out by now, this is not a game for the artistically inclined.
57 min BIH clearly believe they can force more mistakes from the US defense with a high press. Maybe time to introduce a defender or ask Robinson to play back more?
55 min BIH possess for a while, then play long, and the US defenders misjudge it in the wind. That leaves BIH with possession closer to the goal, and the USA are relieved to see center back Katić inexplicably blasting the ball over the bar from 35 yards.
54 min If I were coaching the USA, I might be looking at replacing Tillman. His passing just isn’t sharp here.
49 min BIH play the ball out while Džeko, surely the most inspirational figure in BIH sport, comes up with some sort of non-contact leg injury. He’ll be subbed out, which is unfortunate.
All the subs:
US-born Bajraktarević, Gigovic, Džeko off. Mahmić, Šunjić and … Tahirovic in.
Updated
48 min Two balls on the field, and Pulisic picks one to dribble down the left. He puts in a high cross. Balogun is hauled down away from the ball but won’t get a call there. USA corner. Awkwardly punched, but the USA can’t capitalize.
47 min Ream intercepts a through ball.
Pulisic fouled. Takes it quickly to Balogun, who fouls. BIH take it quickly. I’m exhausted just watching this.
Got some fun email right at the end of halftime. Will get back to it.
46 min Unconvincing passes around the back from the US defense. They go long and turn it over.
46 min: We’re back. Big shadows across the field.
“I’m glad the Supreme Court ruled that (Balogun) can play as a citizen today!” – Paul Fox
For the record, I don’t think the Court would have invalidated existing citizenships. It would’ve just kept future Baloguns from being able to get it.
“This American side has no chill, they only have one way to play and that is at full tilt. They lack a playmaker, but as Jürgen Klopp noted, you don’t need one if you press well. There’s a brittleness to the team, but by never slowing down, the opponent has no time to test them. They remind me of no one as much as the 2002 South Koreans.” – Kári Tulinius
“That’s a flagrant 2. Džeko was head-hunting.” – Joe Pearson
I initially saw it as a collision, but upon seeing a replay … yeah.
“Yeah, sigh. The unmerited swagger another follower mentioned is just typical American .. du n’importe quoi sh*t. I’ve honestly never felt less invested in the USMNT because at least in previous tournaments we were treated as the nobodies in men’s soccer that we still are, so anytime the squad played with heart I rejoiced. I feel sickened tbh by all the brainless hype. I prefer the English tough love route. The United States’ 250th bday in two days and we’re already in total societal downfall and decay (IT’S A WORLD RECORD WOOHOO!). I’m proud that visiting fans have loved Texas bbq, mechanical bulls, drank bars dry, delighted in the culture. The culture is everything. But the rest of this country is truly sick. USA! USA! USA! I just don’t feel right about it anymore. It’s a tossup for the gold medal of corruption: US government or FIFA? FIFA or US government? Is it time for a pausa de hidratación yet? Thank God for Telemundo.” – Liisa Sletzinger
“As an 80s Kid, everytime I see the US Men’s National Team abbreviation, I just have to think of the Mutant Ninja Turtles.” – Andreas Agduyeng
Thanks for the virtual poster!
Updated
Final third entries so far: USA 38, BIH 10.
Lots of mail …
“The joy of having the USA play in the World Cup at our Santa Clara stadium is bittersweet for Santa Clara residents that paid $90M of our taxpayer money for a stadium that nearly bankrupted us and is calling itself the ‘San Francisco Stadium.’ San Jose and San Francisco are raking in all the profits from this game and we are sitting here unable to afford to clear the cockroaches from our streets having paid for all the extra security needed for this match. I guess we’ll have to build more data centers to make up for the budget shortfall.” – Hyrax
“Senegal must wish they had the same VAR people as the ones looking at this game and the England game.” – Burt Bosma
“I think the American football fans tend to be more cosmopolitan and less jingoistic than the average American sport fan, quite the opposite to the English hooligan stereotype. Will concede that yew ssssssseeeeee aaaaaaaa is a dull and unimaginative chant especially compared to the Australian beauty about Donald Trump. Also in geopolitics the fact that American star Christian Pulišić is a Croat (actually a Croatian citizen according to Wikipedia) with all that history in the former Yugoslavia seems to be under remarked upon in a match against B&H. Keep up the good work!” – Bartholomew Motes
Halftime: USA 1-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
The USA have played about 40% as well as they did against Australia and Paraguay. Passes are missing their targets – complete, perhaps, but forcing players to reach back or dig the ball out of their own feet. The defense switched off completely on a goal kick early in the game – remember, no offside on goal kicks!
But the quality is still there. Especially with Balogun, who scrambled to get a shot that he finished well. That’s the difference so far.
45 min +10 The precocious Alajbegović is down after a collision with Adams. He gets up and is furious. No free kick – it’s a dropped ball to the USA, and they somehow knock it out of play.
45 min +7 BALOGUN OFF THE TOP OF THE BAR! Adams finds Dest, who heads the ball down in front of the goal. Balogun barely beats the defender to it and tries to flick it into the top of the net, but it skims off the top like the torpedoes in the attack on the Death Star before Luke blew it up. (Spoiler.)
Updated
45 min +6 Pulisic is pulled, held and everything else along the sideline. The referee, who has been poor (and I rarely say that, as a referee myself), gives the free kick but not a card.
Updated
45 min +5 Pulisic tracks back to help out, and the USA win it back and play it up toward him, winning a throw-in.
Updated
After he fell, Adams flailed his arms around, which people generally don’t do when they suffer a concussion. He wants to continue, but he’ll need to wait a minute. Literally. New Law and all that. Now he’s back.
Physios are still working on Adams. McKennie is having a go at the fourth official. The USA believe this was a foul. I don’t think so, honestly.
45 min +2 Five minutes of stoppage time signaled, but it’ll be more because Adams and Džeko have collided.
Updated
Tillman’s pass forward actually came off a defender, but it took a fortunate redirection toward the Monaco striker at the top of the box. He held off a defender and slotted it home.
Updated
Goal! USA 1-0 BIH (Balogun 45)
It’s one of the sloppiest goals the USA have scored, but it’s beautiful to the crowd here.
Updated
44 min BIH on the attack now in the shadows of whatever they’re calling this stadium for the World Cup. Forced back, but they keep the ball.
The US really need to find a way to get the left side of their attack going. Becoming too easy for Bosnia to station themselves to slow the right-sided buildup between Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest.
Updated
42 min Tillman finds Balogun making a near-post run, but he’s not actually near the near post. Goal kick.
41 min Muharemovic steps on Balogun’s foot. Free kick to the right of the box (from the USA’s perspective).
40 min Dest passes it behind McKennie.
39 min BIH nearly catch the USA on the counter, but they retreat back into their parked bus.
Clever run from Pulisic, and he chips it across the goal mouth.
38 min Quick play on the right, but Balogun’s cross to Pulisic isn’t accurate.
38 min Balogun is rugby-tackled in the penalty area. Pre-2026, that was a foul.
37 min USA build on the right. Again.
Freeman hits a backpass from midfield way too softly, but the US defense recover.
36 min Freese races to the top of his penalty area to snare a cross.
35 min This might be BIH’s first spell of possession. Not that they’re really planning to do so – the game plan is as expected: Go direct, get a set piece, score from that.
33 min Not sure why the USA keep building up on the right when Pulisic is on the left. They don’t get anywhere.
No goal! Pending review
Balogun has put the ball in the net with another great finish, but he needed to get back onside before receiving that pass in a shocking amount of space in the center of the field.
BIH get away with a defensive breakdown. USA need more poise here.
Updated
31 min THAT, on the other hand, is a terrible call. Dest and Radeljić bump shoulders, and the giant BIH defender falls. The referee calls a foul. Come on.
29 min Balogun falls in the penalty area! No. It’s like the Harry Kane call today. He was already on the way down when minimal contact was made.
28 min Robinson plays the ball out deep in the BIH half and is looking extremely frustrated.
28 min Alex Freeman is down – the US bench certainly thought he was fouled. USA continue play, though, as Freeman slowly stands.
27 min USA come out of the break in another gear, ramping up the pressure.
Free kick BIH, as Robinson angrily gestures that it was a dive.
Hydration mail
“The bad news for whichever of these teams wins tonight it that they’ll face Belgium, who are now officially the New Germany: they might look like a dead horse being flogged for 80+minutes, but unless you drive a 3-goal stake through their heart, they are going to rise from the coffin and bite you.” – Justin Kavanagh
“I was born and grew up in the US and have no connection to Bosnia but I’m rooting for Bosnia mainly because I never want to hear the irritating “yoo ess ay! yoo ess ay!” chant again. The US men also seem to have this irritating swagger and sense of superiority that doesn’t quite fit a team with their good-but-not-great international resumé, and I feel like they could do with being taken down a peg. I wonder if this comment alone will mean I get turned away at the border the next time I go visit my parents.” – Ruby Pratka
22 min Tillman dummies to Balogun, played for Robinson, then to Pulisic, but he can’t get there.
Everybody hydrate!
21 min Not sure how Tillman wasn’t called for a foul there, though Muharemovic did fall to ground a bit easily, and as we saw with Harry Kane, that doesn’t help.
Corner to the USA – Vasilj punches well, showing no ill effects of the earlier clash.
20 min The USA do a better job this time of defending the goal kick, a sentence I never thought I’d write. Pulisic is quickly fouled at midfield. USA possess again.
Updated
Weston McKennie and Tim Ream spending additional time alongside Mauricio Pochettino as Nikola Vasilj is treated. Very different instruction sets, no doubt, but Ream will be crucial to unlock the left side of the US attack.
Bosnia and Herzegovina had one of the lowest field tilts – a possession metric which only tracks attacking-third touches – of any team that advanced from the group, and they seem plenty comfortable with letting the United States bear the burden of dragging the ball around the park.
Sergiño Dest has been pressing the left side of their defense; if Antonee Robinson and Christian Pulisic can get the same downhill patterns running, it could stretch the visitors out and create more room for Folarin Balogun and the midfielders to find shooting lanes.
18 min CHANCE FOR USA! Through ball to McKennie, who has acres of space. He crosses, and Vasilj punches it straight into Robinson’s head! But it flies over the bar.
Vasilj is down hurt.
17 min Good through ball to Balogun, who plays it off a defender but gets a throw-in rather than a corner.
BIH press, and the ball is played back to Freese.
Fotmob isn’t counting the BIH corner kick that was headed for the net as something worth any “xG” mention. Eyeroll.
15 min Half-chance for the USA – Robinson is over on the right. Ball is cut back for Balogun, who shoots wide of the near post.
14 min Free kick near the right sideline, drawn by Dest. They try to take it quickly – that’s not the first time they’ve done it. Maybe they figure they want to get back to open play rather than play it into the mixer with a bunch of tall BIH players.
We’ve entered the 12th minute – this is officially the longest start to a game without a USA goal in this World Cup.
11 min CHANCE BIH! The corner kick is nearly an olimpico, but Freese does just enough to punch it away.
Updated
10 min CHANCE BIH! The goal kick is taken 75 yards to Džeko, who’s more than five yards behind the defense! Ball is played over for a Demirović shot at Freese, but it’s right at him. BIH earn a corner.
USA very, very, very lucky. Got caught napping and nearly paid for it.
Updated
9 min Something I’ve noticed about the BIH defense as compared with other teams that have packed things back – they’re quick to react when the ball is played from side to side. Other teams have been compact horizontally as well as vertically. The BIH approach seems more effective.
7 min Grappling match in the US half leads to a free kick for the USA as Richards is fouled.
Another free kick at midfield, taken quickly.
6 min Gigovic is down after clearing the corner with a header but banging his head into Tillman’s in the process. He returns, and the dropped ball is oddly taken – USA under immediate pressure.
5 min This time, the USA build with Robinson, McKennie and Pulisic. McKennie ends up deep in the BIH half and earns a corner.
4 min Many passes on the right wing. They switch to the left, as if remembering the existence of Christian Pulisic, who makes a slashing run and shoots, deflected for a corner.
2 min BIH stationed players in the US half while the UYS defenders kicked it around. The BIH players weren’t moving. Chris Richards seemed a little confused. But the USA play forward and have possession.
1 min Tons of jostling before the corner comes in. Cleared, but set pieces are going to be nervy moments for the USA.
Peep! We’re underway. BIH lined up for the kickoff like it was an NFL kickoff, immediately sending six players forward. They earn a corner kick right away.
Updated
At the hydration break, I’ll get to the discussion of Santa Clara’s soccer history.
In the player intros, why are so many US players rubbing their hands like evil geniuses?
A fan is wearing a bald eagle costume with a piece of plastic in front of their face. It’s as if someone thinks Angine de Poitrine haven’t gone far enough.
Officially, the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina has no words. Their fans are singing something, anyway. The team are tight-lipped and stoic.
Updated
“Kind of ironic that the USA are playing on Canada Day, of all days! I just want to put in a shoutout for California’s Great America, an amusement park in Santa Clara which shares a car park with Levi’s Stadium (where this game is being played). Unfortunately, the land underneath the park was sold to the developer Prologis, so it’s expected to close at the end of the 2027 season. A great shame – it has a world-class roller coaster in the form of Gold Striker. I hope it gets as much footfall as it deserves while the World Cup is on.” – Matthew Leung
And Canada will be playing on the Fourth of July. England will play one day later, when we’ll still be coughing out our lungs from firework smoke.
Bend It Like Beckham critiques
“Has not aged well. It came out when I was in High School and I LOVED it. But as an adult, two teenaged girls fighting over their adult male coach who not only does not shut it down, but starts a relationship with one of them, sickens me.” – Kathryn Cehrs
Along those lines – I lost patience with the film F1 when the fiercely independent pioneering woman who led the team’s engineering efforts … threw away her entire character development because Brad Pitt did something unexpected at the card table.
“The funniest thing about Bend It Like Beckham is that everyone’s flying over to Hamburg all of a sudden - and then back. It only makes sense if you know that German film financing requires you to shoot at least a small part of the movie in a German city. I’m rooting for Bosnia and Herzegovina tonight: beautiful country with great people and bad politicians. And - as an FC St. Pauli supporter – I’m wishing Nikola Vasilj all the best for the inevitable penalties. And for his private and professional future.” – Konrad Pahlke
That may indeed be one position at which BIH have an edge.
Hello from San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, where as you might expect an extremely pro-USA crowd is filing in. There are certainly more than enough Bosnia and Herzegovina fans here to make some noise should they give them a reason. It’s a beautiful day, sunny and cool in that special Bay Area way (unless you’re in the famously hot upper decks here).
Pre-pregame email …
“Hi Beau! I am very excited because I think it’s a very cool match-up - I cannot imagine two countries that are more different, except in soccer where I think they’re very evenly matched. Though I base this opinion mostly on Bosnia’s elimination of Italy in the qualifiers. Is Bosnia that good or was Italy just very bad? Well we’ll find out very soon, won’t we!” – Vlado
“Balogun is the best reason to keep the 14th amendment (birthright citizenship) as it is. If the Mad King had his way, Balogun would be playing for England.” – Mary Waltz
Maybe then they could beat Mexico.
“When the stadium announcer said, ‘Here is Team USA!’ with all the music and everybody cheered, only the starting 10 came out. (The 3 goalkeepers were already warming up). The whole Bosnia team came out together. After several minutes the USA subs came out and warmed up together, but they were not announced and nobody cheered. The USMNT has historically had a problem with team cohesion, and the decision to bring out only the starters when announcing the team seems like an easy way to create a division within the team that doesn’t need to be there.” – Kathryn Cehrs
“When isn’t a World Cup knock-out match considered a ‘must-win’ game? They all are, or else your tournament is over. But NOW, as the co-hosts with the most (matches), USA surely has to match the progress of on-form Mexico as well as Canada, or else the team and USSF will have egg all over their collective faces. On top of that, should USA fail to get past the Bosnians tonight, Jesse Marsch will become a total monster! (Well, an even bigger monster in the eyes of the USSF and its friends than he already is.) They have the talent to win, but can the USA handle the psychological pressure? I hope so.” – Jason Elliott
Should the USA reach the quarterfinals, I’d argue the “must” factor drops steadily. No one is going to complain if this team go out gracefully against a Spain or a France. This one? There’ll be questions.
“If it were either Bosnia or Herzegovina I would pick an easy US win. Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, might not be so straightforward. Did you hear the one about the US fans who wanted to bang drums, blare death metal and honk horns outside the Bosnians’ hotel, but couldn’t find it on the map?” – Peter Oh
Funny how “Bosnia and Herzegovina” gets truncated to “Bosnia,” “Trinidad and Tobago” is “Trinidad,” but “William and Mary” is never just “William.”
I’m thinking of a different way to shorten the country name, but “B and H” seems flippant. Maybe I’ll just go with their country code “BIH.” The “I” actually stands for “and” in the country’s local languages.
The pregame show on Fox Sports 1, which is distinct from the pregame show on Fox, is hyping this as a can’t-lose game for the USA.
Dax McCarty, who has a serious playing resume, is reminding his chest-puffing co-host that Paraguay beat Germany.
Question: Do the USA play better when they’re not expected to win? England 1950, Colombia 1994, Portugal 2002, Mexico 2002, Italy 2006, Spain 2009, England 2010, Belgium 2014 (even in defeat), England 2022. When they are expected to win? Iran 1998. Poland 2002. Trinidad and Tobago 2017. Panama, Panama and Panama.
Or do they just have England’s number? Good news if they face off in the final.
(What? The USA would have to go through Spain and France, and England would have to go through Mexico and Argentina? Never mind.)
This evening’s officials …
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil). ARs also from Brazil; fourth and reserve officials from Uruguay.
VAR: Juan Soto (Venezuela), with Nicolas Gallo (Colombia) and Jerome Brisard (France).
(Saying “evening” because it’s a 5 pm kickoff in Santa Clara, Calif., known in soccer circles mostly as the destination of the two protagonists in Bend It Like Beckham, the breakthrough film on women’s soccer that … hasn’t aged well?)
Lineups
No surprise whatsoever for the co-hosts …
USA: Freese; Ream, Richards, Freeman; Robinson, Dest; Tillman, McKennie, Adams, Pulisic; Balogun
Fotmob calls it a 3-4-2-1, with Pulisic and McKennie as twin attacking mids.
Wait …
3-4-2-1? …
IT’S A THREE-SIX-ONE!! (Cue nightmare flashbacks of 1998.)
But honestly, the difference between a 3-4-3 and a 5-4-1 is how well a team is controlling the ball. It might be a mistake, though, to let Robinson spend too much time forward and leave Ream vulnerable. The US captain didn’t look comfortable when he had to leave his comfort zone alongside Richards in central defense and go out to the wings.)
FWIW, Fotmob says Bosnia also will be in a 3-4-2-1. No one believes they’ll play with that many players forward. But we’ll list them that way for now.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Vasilj; Muharemovic, Radeljić, Katić; Kolašinac, Bašić, Gigovic, Dedić; Alajbegović, Demirović; Džeko
Dedić started the first two games but was out injured for the win over Qatar. Muharemovic returns from a red-card suspension.
But the surprise is Gigovic, the former Swedish international now with Young Boys in Switzerland. He played 61 minutes in the tie with Canada and hadn’t appeared since then. Šunjić, a former Croatian international, makes way.
There’s no place for Wisconsin-born Esmir Bajraktarević. Not yet, anyway.
And it’s done.
That’s a result that just goes to show how brutal the fates can be. There’s no such thing as karma in soccer. The most impressive team over 90 minutes doesn’t always win. One save or one deflection can make one manager an idiot or a genius.
So the pundits who are already drawing up their previews of the USA’s Round of 16 game might want to cool their jets.
We pause now for the denouement of Belgium-Senegal.
Familiar face
For many years, Wisconsin-born Esmir Bajraktarević was part of the US soccer pipeline. He played for youth national teams. He worked his way up through the youth ranks at the New England Revolution and overlapped just slightly with US goalkeeper Matt Turner.
But Bajraktarević was the child of Bosnian refugees. One of his heroes was Edin Džeko, the Sarajevo-born player who distinguished himself at Manchester City, Wolfsburg and Roma.
At age 40, Džeko is still on the team. At age 21, so is Bajraktarević, who converted the winning shot in the penalty shootout that sent his country to the World Cup ahead of Italy.
Jeff Rueter writes:
He didn’t miss, slotting his attempt just underneath Donnarumma’s gloves as the keeper dove to his left. Bajraktarević peeled off to the corner flag and held his Bosnia aloft for the home supporters to admire: Zmajevi were back in the World Cup at Italy’s expense.
That sort of fearlessness in the big moment, coupled with experience scuppering a 2026 World Cup co-host’s home-field advantage, makes Bajraktarević and his team a compelling first knockout adversary. for the US.
And he has had an impact in this Cup. Jeff notes:
Bajraktarević started against Canada and Qatar and came off the bench against the Swiss, logging 214 minutes (including stoppage time) and operating as a recipient for progressive passes. Only Ivan Bašić has played more passes into the box than Bajraktarević’s five for Bosnia and Herzegovina, per Futi, while his 70 attacking-third touches trail his opposite winger, Kerim Alajbegović.
Preamble
Welcome to one of the biggest games in US men’s history.
Such sentiments are often overstated. But this game will have one of two possible outcomes ...
1. A third win in the same World Cup for the first time in US men’s history. Even the semifinalists of 1930 only won twice. The win would be validation that the team’s start to the tournament was no outlier – though seeing Paraguay knock out Germany just three games after the US ran riot over the South American side provides ample demonstration that this US team should officially be rated “not bad.”
2. A national deflating.
Should the USA win and then lose to Senegal ... wait, what just happened? Oh. Should the USA win and then lose to Senegal or Belgium, that would be yet another in a succession of losses in the round of 16, but again -- they would have won three games and would probably stake a claim as one of the better teams to miss out on the quarterfinals. A loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina would be less palatable among US sport fandom.
Which may be unfair, because this is absolutely the biggest game in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Until this year, the only points the young nation had managed in the World Cup final tournament were in a dead-ish rubber against Iran in 2014. In theory, Iran could’ve wiped out the World Cup debutants and advanced past Nigeria on goal difference, but the Iranian team put up little resistance and collapsed to a 3-1 defeat.
Last year, Bosnia and Herzegovina put up a credible performance in group-stage qualifying, finishing second behind Austria. Then they won two nail-biting affairs in the European playoffs, eliminating Wales on penalties after a late goal from grizzled veteran Edin Džeko, then shocking Italy on penalties after another second-half equalizer.
Then in their return to the Big Dance after 12 years away, Bosnia and Herzegovina stunned co-host Canada with a first-half goal and held on for an impressive draw. Switzerland picked them apart, but they advanced with a solid 3-1 smackdown over Qatar.
And Bosnia and Herzegovina absolutely will not be intimidated. Nor should they. This is a country that endured the horrors of the years of war that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia. Some of the players are the children of refugees from that conflict.
They also happen to have a lot of players who’ve been through pressure cookers in European football, along with some tantalizing prospects.
The USA will be playing to shed the tag of underachievers that has dogged the so-called “golden generation” ever since the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be playing for a long-awaited breakthrough on the international scene.
On paper, perhaps this is a game that favors the USA. Ask England if being favored on paper meant the game was easy. Or ask Germany if such a designation kept them from being swept out of this Cup.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from Graham Ruthven’s daily World Cup watch guide about this matchup:
What to watch for
Pochettino’s decision to rest most of his first-choice players for the USA’s dead-rubber group finale against Turkey will have paid dividends if the co-hosts are able to keep up the intensity of their play against a Bosnia and Herzegovina team who will sit deep and ask to be broken down.
Bosnia and Herzegovina embrace the slog. They made it to this World Cup by winning back-to-back penalty shootouts against Wales and Italy and will attempt to make the USA’s life a misery in Santa Clara by closing space between the lines, staying compact at the back and playing for set pieces.
Player to watch: Christian Pulisic, USA – The Milan winger made his return from injury against Turkey and could be in line to start this match. Pulisic’s direct running and one-v-one ability could be critical to breaking down the Bosnia and Herzegovina backline.
