How long has it been since the U.S. men’s national team last won a knockout match at a World Cup?
The answer: quite some time. The last breakthrough came at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, when the Americans defeated longtime rival Mexico in the round of 16 before falling to eventual finalist Germany in the quarterfinals. The U.S. has not returned to that stage since.
On Wednesday, the United States gets another opportunity to change that history, meeting Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Americans reached the knockout rounds by topping Group D, but they arrive after a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Türkiye, decided by a 98th-minute winner. The loss left the squad visibly frustrated, though the team has since had time to regroup, recover and refocus.
Now, the urgency feels sharper.
“It’s just more serious,” striker Folarin Balogun told reporters when describing the mood inside the team. “It’s crunch time, it’s knockout football. You lose, you go home, so this is the business end, and this is the stage where, in my opinion, the big players step forward, and the big players carry the pressure and make things happen.”
(Photo by Jane Gershovich/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Balogun has already shown he can be one of those difference-makers. He leads the U.S. with two goals and played a key role in forcing Australia’s own goal, using his pace and persistent pressing to unsettle the defense.
He is not satisfied yet.
He’s also probably talking about Christian Pulisic. The star winger played a role in the Americans’ first two goals against Paraguay before being forced off with a left calf injury that then ruled him out of the next match. Pulisic played 32 minutes against Türkiye and is expected back in the starting lineup this week.
Pulisic looked like himself at training — vocal, demanding and engaged, and constantly talking to and encouraging teammates during drills. “Good ball,” he shouted to Tim Weah before urging Joe Scally to “find somebody through,” pointing to where he wanted the pass played.
“I feel like I can feel the difference in the atmosphere,” Balogun said ahead of Sunday’s training session. “There’s a change in my mindset and mentality. Not that I wasn’t taking it seriously before, but you can just go into another gear because you know you want it more, and I don’t want the journey to end.”
After galvanizing the nation in the group stage and having sing-a-long sessions to “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” nothing will matter if the U.S. can’t make a run in the knockouts.
“For me, it won’t mean much,” Balogun said. “The objective is to win. I’m not somebody who would look back and think we’ve done well. That’s not really my mentality. I’m just looking forward to Wednesday and looking forward to going out there and winning.”
The U.S. hasn’t beaten a European opponent since a 1-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Dec. 18, 2021. Before that, its previous victory over a European side came against Iceland on Jan. 31, 2016 — two months before Pulisic made his national team debut.
Since the Bosnia and Herzegovina win in 2021, the Americans have played 12 matches against European opponents without another victory, and no one on the team seems to have a clear explanation as to why. They’ve come close, including a 2-1 loss to Germany in a World Cup tune-up match they were capable of winning, and last week’s heartbreaking group-stage finale defeat to Türkiye.
(Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Now they have another opportunity. A win on Wednesday would not only keep the U.S. alive in its home World Cup but would also end a frustrating drought.
“I think we’re a different team now,” winger Sergino Dest explained Sunday. “We’ve improved a lot in the last couple of years. I think we showed it in the first couple of games in this tournament. [Bosnia and Herzegovina] also know it’s going to be a really tough game. It’s not going to be easy.”
Added Balogun on the idea of ending that losing streak and winning a knockout game: “From my personal experience, the best way to break history is not to think about what hasn’t been done, but think about what needs to be done in order to progress. And that’s just win.”
Four years ago, the U.S. made it to the round of 16, where it was outclassed by the Netherlands in a 3-1 defeat. Dest said there’s not much to take from that result now, other than how much this group has grown. The team is more mature and experienced, plus players are riding the high of winning the group and experiencing unprecedented fan support.
“I feel like everybody is really confident,” Dest said. “We just have a lot of belief that we can do it.”
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