SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty. But it was history for the United States men’s national team on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium.
Folarin Balogun scored his team-leading fourth goal for the United States at this World Cup for an early lead in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but a second-half red card forced the Americans down to 10 men for the final 26 minutes.
With the U.S. shorthanded, Malik Tillman put this game to bed with a laser free kick goal in the 81st minute, and the United States men’s national team advanced in the World Cup knockout stage for just the second time in program history with a 2-0 win over Bosnia.
“I think this game today showed our character,” TIllman said, “and we will always keep on fighting, keep on giving everything. Like today, if you have a lead, and it just happened, and you try to bring this game to the end, and win this game. You see what we did today and showed our character inside the group.”
The United States won only its second World Cup knockout game in men’s history and its first since 2002’s famous “Dos a Cero” win over Mexico in the Round of 16. The Americans also snapped a 12-game winless streak against European competition with their first win over a UEFA side since October 2021, which was also against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“Coming into the tournament, there was a lot of question marks about our whole team in general,” USMNT defender Chris Richards said, “and, again, I think, game by game, we start 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 it. I'm glad it's coming out at this time.”
The U.S. will look to make history in the Round of 16 against another European squad in Belgium, which came back from down two goals to score a penalty-kick winner in the 125th minute against Senegal.
The Stars and Stripes will face the Red Devils on Monday in Seattle without their leading goal scorer, as Balogun’s red card earns a one-game suspension for the next round. Balogun is the first player to score a goal and receive a red card in a World Cup game since Frenchman Zinedine Zidane’s famous headbutt in the 2006 Final.
“Pretty cool record, huh?” Richards said with a laugh. “One man's down, the next guy steps up. I think people were asking the same question when Christian (Pulisic) went down (with a calf injury in the group stage). The next guy stepped up. We're definitely a team. We're more than just one player. We're one of just 11 players, and everybody who came on today also did their job. So I'm really happy for the result, really happy for everybody in the Federation, and hopefully we can make some more history next round.”
Aside from a couple early Bosnian corner kicks and one counterattack salvo, the first half was utterly dominated by the American attack. At the first hydration break, the United States led 136-26 in completed passes, which featured the USMNT slicing at various angles to break down the Bosnian block with quick bursts. However, shots were just 2-1 for the U.S. with Bosnia owning the only shot on target.
Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson found their lanes, but Pulisic was limited to just two meaningful (but very dangerous) touches in the first half.
The Americans finally broke through with an embattled Balogun.
In the 29th minute, Balogun thought he earned a foul in the box, but none was given by the referee, who waved off a VAR check. Two minutes later, Balogun capitalized on a forced McKennie turnover and defiantly celebrated with a LeBron James-esque high step, but the AS Monaco forward was frustratingly deemed offside.
Seemingly having the play uphill against the Bosnian defense, Balogun finally netted the icebreaker in the 45th minute. McKennie tried to thread a pass to Balogun, who reached back to corral the deflected assist and laced it under the Bosnian keeper.
Balogun broke out the LeBron celebration once more to stamp down the go-ahead strike, 1-0.
Balogun was in a physical battle with the Bosnian defense all night and a mental battle with the Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, which came to a head in the 64th minute.
After being denied fouls in his favor throughout the first half, Balogun jostled with a Bosnian defender for the ball, and in a careless challenge, Balogun’s right foot dragged studs down along the back of the Bosnian’s calf.
It earned a regular foul initially, but VAR called for a second look by Claus, who determined it was dangerous enough for a red card.
Without their spark up front, the Americans strapped in looking for the insurance goal to hold off a Bosnian offensive.
In the 81st minute, Bosnia was handed a yellow card, and the United States was given a golden opportunity with a free kick just outside the top of the box.
Tillman, who had just changed boots after a cut through bloodied his right toe, stepped up to drill through the wall and the outstretched right hand of the Bosnian keeper. Tillman, born in Germany to his American serviceman father and his German mother, put Bosnia's World Cup journey on ice, 2-0.
“We've been going through all the ways we could possibly, possibly take this free kick,” Tillman said of the pre-kick conversation with Robinson. “I mean, we talked about going under the wall, we talked about going keeper side, we talked about going over the wall. I know some guys doubted me to go over the wall, but I practiced this in training, and I'm happy with it.”
From there, the U.S. men were reenergized and with the full throated voice of a sold-out crowd behind them, the Americans finished off the clean sheet through all 10 minutes of stoppage time and eliminated Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“I think us defenders and goalies, we definitely take a lot of pride in keeping clean sheets,” Richards said. “ think it's a proud moment, and it's a moment that we can gain a lot of confidence from. We've kept two clean sheets in the last four games, and I think before then, we didn't quite have the best record when it came to clean sheets. So, again, it gives us a lot of confidence going to the next round.”
All three co-hosts of this World Cup have advanced in dramatic fashion, and now, the U.S. men’s national team has the opportunity to do what it has never done before and win a second World Cup knockout game in the same tournament against Belgium on Monday in Seattle.