SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA STADIUM — What does it say about this U.S. men’s national team that it can lose its top striker and leading scorer to a red card, then band together for the final 36 minutes and not only preserve its lead, but add to it and concede nothing?
“Would it be weird if I downplayed this and said I wasn’t even fazed by it? That it wasn’t even that impressive?” captain Tim Ream said with a grin after the USA defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the round of 32 on Wednesday night.
“It felt really easy and simple for us in that moment,” Ream continued, “because we were all just calm and knew what we had to do.”
It was the program’s first knockout stage win at a World Cup in 24 years, dating back to the 2002 tournament where it beat Mexico in the round of 16 before losing to eventual runners-up Germany in the quarterfinals.
And it was another historic performance, not simply because the Americans won an elimination game — or because they topped a European opponent for the first time in 12 tries — but because of the way they did it.
(Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the tournament just before halftime to send the team into the break with a 1-0 lead. But the match took a dramatic turn in the 64th minute when Balogun was shown a red card after a VAR review overturned the initial no-call. The decision left the Americans’ bench and the predominantly red, white and blue crowd stunned, forcing them to play the rest of the match with 10 men.
The U.S. remained composed.
“The resilience, the belief, the ability to not waiver in the toughest moments — I think that’s important,” Tyler Adams said of the team’s mentality. “I think in the past, we could crumble, not fight.
“But this team, with the respect that we have for one another, how we grew into the game continuously, I mean, guys make plays. That’s what we needed.”
(Photo by Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Two years ago at Copa América, Tim Weah was shown a red card in the 18th minute of what became a disastrous loss to Panama. The Americans’ ensuing response to adversity was poor, their lack of resolve was exposed, and things unraveled from there as they crashed out in the group stage on home soil and former manager Gregg Berhalter was fired.
Under manager Mauricio Pochettino, who was hired a few months later, the U.S. has developed a gritty persona and can better handle high-pressure situations.
“It’s because of the way we train, because of the conversations that we have, the communication that we have, the togetherness that we have, the fight, the intensity, the aggression with and without the ball,” Ream said, listing off all the reasons why he’s not surprised that this group can take on a challenge.
“It was a steely focus,” he continued. “And unless you’re on the field and you see it in guys’ eyes, it’s hard to understand. But it felt so comfortable, even down to 10 men, and that’s the way you want to feel. You don’t want to have that panic set in, you want to have that calm and focus, and we had that.”
Added Antonee Robinson: “We felt settled in our formation. We knew if we stayed compact, stayed focused, then we could limit their chances. Everyone’s throwing their body on the line, clearing everything, closing everything down, so to a man, it was a great performance.”
(Photo by Elysia Su/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Less than 20 minutes after Balogun’s red card, the U.S. was given a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Malik Tillman and Robinson hovered over the ball, while Adams directed the player wall in front of them. Tillman took a deep breath, moved his feet, and sent a perfect shot flying over the wall, past Bosnian goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, and into the back of the net to give the USA a 2-0 lead. He’s only the second U.S. men’s player to score a direct free-kick goal in a World Cup after Eric Wynalda vs. Switzerland in 1994.
“This game today showed our character,” Tillman said after the match. “We will always keep on fighting, keep doing everything.”
Malik Tillman Scores Brilliant Free Kick 🤯 Extends United States’ Lead vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
Balogun will be suspended for at least the Americans’ round of 16 match vs. Belgium on Monday in Seattle. The team is desperate to win so that he can play in another World Cup game. They’re confident that someone else will step up in his absence. That could be as straightforward as bringing on strikers Ricardo Pepi or Haji Wright. Or, Pochettino might have another idea, like when he played both Pepi and Balogun against Australia because Christian Pulisic was sidelined with a calf injury.
Regardless, the team is unshaken.
“Coming into the tournament, there were a lot of question marks about our whole team in general,” Chris Richards told a group of reporters. “And I think game by game, we started to prove people wrong and prove ourselves right. I think we knew we had it the whole time, it was just a matter of showing itself. I’m glad it’s coming out at this time.”
United States vs Bosnia and Herzegovina Extended Highlights 🌎🏆 2026 FIFA World Cup™ | Round of 32
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