U.S. World Cup Team Training Base (IRVINE, Calif.) — There are two ways to look at the USA’s first knockout game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
On the one hand, it’s a match fraught with danger.
Losing in the round 32 against tiny Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium would mark possibly the lowest moment in the century-plus-long history of the U.S. program. The Stars and Stripes have reached at least the round of 16 at three of the last four World Cups they’ve qualified for, but failing to do so at home, with arguably the most talented U.S. team ever, after comfortably winning their group, would be an epic disaster — worse than the 2017 defeat in Trinidad and Tobago that kept them out of the following year’s main event.
The other, healthier perspective is more glass-half-full. That’s the way the American players are approaching the most important contest they have ever played for the national team.
“I think everybody knows what this game is,” midfielder Gio Reyna said before the U.S. delegation took an hour-long charter flight from Orange County to San Jose on Monday afternoon. “World Cups only come around every four years and, especially on home soil, this opportunity will really never come back.”
(Photo by Sarah Stier – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Those colossal stakes are the reason many U.S. supporters are nervous. Although the World Cup co-hosts are the prohibitive favorite to beat the Bosnians and cruise into the last 16, where they’ll face either Belgium or Senegal on July 6 in Seattle, anything can happen in a single match. An early goal against. An own goal. A red card. A career game from Golden Lillies keeper Nikola Vasilj. This is do-or-die, agony or ecstasy. There is no margin for error.
Four years ago in Qatar, the U.S. rode into the knockout stage on the high of beating Iran to complete an undefeated group stage. Ninety minutes later, a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands dropped them back on Earth, their World Cup over before they had time to process what had just occurred.
Given that history, a few extra butterflies would be understandable — even for a 38-year-old veteran like captain Tim Ream.
“Would it be weird if I told you I don’t really feel too much pressure at this moment,” Ream, who logged every minute of the USA’s four matches at the last World Cup, said on Monday, prior to the Americans’ final training session at Great Park, their base since arriving on the West Coast more than three weeks ago. “It feels very different this time around than 2022.”
One reason is experience.
(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Last time, just one of the 26 players selected to then-coach Gregg Berhalter’s roster had been to a World Cup before. Exactly half of them returned for this one under new boss Mauricio Pochettino.
And while Qatar had to be considered a success considering the failure to make it in 2018 — especially for the youngest average starting lineup in the entire competition — the American players felt they could and should have done better. They are desperate not to leave anything on the table now that the business end of the World Cup here.
Ironically enough, that means not treating their next outing differently than the three that came before it this month.
“In terms of pressure, there’s nothing added. Nothing extra,” Ream said. “That’s the way we’ve approached every single game.”
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
As fellow defender Auston Trusty said after last week’s meaningless 3-2 loss to already-eliminated Türkiye, “The risk is high every single game. That’s the mindset.”
Still, the reality is that this next test means more.
“This game is important for the country, but it’s also important for us as this team,” Reyna said. “This group deserves something special … we hope to inspire generations to come.”
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