U.S. takes down Bosnia 2-0 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. 

Because of the red card, Balogun will not be allowed to play in the round of 16 matchup against Belgium on July 6.

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 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.

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.