The co-host USA relied on goals late in each half to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 here at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium to enter the Round of 36 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The co-hosts dig deep and hold on against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman were with the goals, and a red card to Balogun left the USA down a man with 30 minutes to play, but they survived to set up a Round of 16 date with Belgium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The win against Bosnia and Herzegovina was the second World Cup knockout stage victory. Additionally, the result snapped a 12-match winless streak against European opposition. The win will mark the USMNT's fourth appearance in the Round of 16 in its last four World Cup participations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Balogun had already gone close with a snapshot when he thought he had opened the scoring, only for the goal to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up. The striker made it third time lucky on the stroke of the interval, capitalising on Tillman's through ball, taking a fortuitous double deflection before calmly slotting under the advancing Nikola Vasilj.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The crossbar then denied him a close-range second deep into first-half stoppage time. Having been largely second best, Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed a lifeline in the 64th minute when Balogun was sent off following a VAR review for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
However, the USA dug their heels in and seized their moment to make the game safe. Tillman stepped up and sent home a free-kick just moments after Christian Pulisic had seen a goal chalked off for offside.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The crossbar then denied him a close-range second deep into first-half stoppage time. Having been largely second best, Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed a lifeline in the 64th minute when Balogun was sent off following a VAR review for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A win in the Round of 16 would see USA progress to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since 2002.<\/p>\r\n\r\n