The United States booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 with a determined 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina despite playing with 10 men for more than 25 minutes at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side showed resilience after striker Folarin Balogun was sent off in the second half, with Malik Tillman sealing the victory with a superb late free-kick to send the tournament co-hosts into the knockout stage clash against Belgium on July 6 in Seattle.
The Americans will now look to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for only the second time in the modern era.
Also read:Â The Front pages: Thursday, 2nd July, 2026 (Newspapers)
The Stars and Stripes controlled the opening stages and created several promising opportunities.
Folarin Balogun thought he had opened the scoring early in the match, but his effort was ruled out for offside following the build-up.
The striker eventually broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time after Malik Tillman’s perfectly weighted through ball took a fortunate double deflection into his path. Balogun kept his composure to slot the ball underneath Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.
Balogun nearly doubled the advantage moments later but was denied by the crossbar after another dangerous attacking move.
The match took a dramatic turn in the 64th minute when Balogun was shown a straight red card following a VAR review for a high challenge on Tarik Muharemović.
Reduced to 10 men, the United States were forced to defend resolutely as Bosnia and Herzegovina pushed forward in search of an equaliser.
The American defence stood firm, frustrating Bosnia’s attacks and limiting clear-cut scoring opportunities.
Despite being a man down, the USA continued to threaten on the counterattack.
Christian Pulisic briefly thought he had doubled the lead, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Moments later, Malik Tillman produced the decisive moment of the match, curling a brilliant free-kick beyond Nikola Vasilj in the 82nd minute to make it 2-0 and secure qualification.
The goal capped an outstanding individual performance from Tillman, who also provided the assist for Balogun’s opener.
The victory sends the United States into the Round of 16, where they will take on Belgium following the Red Devils’ dramatic extra-time comeback victory over Senegal earlier in the day.