Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup before being dismissed in the second half, while Malik Tillman curled in a free kick to lift the 10-man United States to a 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night and into the round of 16.
Balogun set the tone before halftime, finding the net and threatening repeatedly as the Americans dictated much of the early play. But the U.S. was forced to absorb pressure after he was shown a red card for a foul on Tarik Muharemovic in the 64th minute.
Tillman put the result beyond reach in the 82nd minute, striking a free kick from just outside the penalty area that deflected off goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj’s hand and into the goal.
The result marked only the second World Cup knockout-stage victory for the United States. The Americans reached the semifinals of the inaugural 1930 tournament after winning their group, then defeated Mexico in a round-of-16 match in 2002.
By beating Bosnia in the round of 32 at this year’s expanded tournament, the U.S. earned a Monday showdown in Seattle against Belgium, with the Americans aiming to extend their run on home soil.
The match took place less than 20 miles from where the United States played its first modern-era World Cup knockout game, a 1-0 loss to heavily favored Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994.
This time, the Americans entered a knockout match as the recorded favorite for the first time, and they rewarded the large red, white and blue crowd at Levi’s Stadium, where chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” rang out in the final minutes.
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The victory also ended a 10-game winless skid for the U.S. against European opponents dating back to its draw with England at the 2022 World Cup. It was the Americans’ first World Cup win over a European team since defeating Portugal in their 2002 opener, snapping a 13-match winless run in such games that included a 2-1 extra-time loss to Belgium in the 2014 round of 16.
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 early with Matt Freese needing to make two saves early 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, having one apparent goal called off for offside, being knocked down in the box on two other opportunities and then finally delivering in the 45th minute. Tim Ream intercepted a Bosnia goal kick at midfield and then Malik 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.
Balogun nearly scored again in stoppage time but his shot from in close deflected off the cross bar and out of play.
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.
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