In-form striker Folarin Balogun scored before being sent off, but the co-hosts held firm to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in Santa Clara and book their
In-form striker Folarin Balogun scored before being sent off, but the co-hosts held firm to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in Santa Clara and book their place in the World Cup last 16.
The United States, chasing their first World Cup knockout-stage win in 24 years, broke the deadlock right on the stroke of half-time.
Balogun capitalised on a calamitous defensive error by Stjepan Radeljic, sliding home the opener to send the Bay Area crowd into raptures after a frustrating first half in which several chances had gone begging.
The match threatened to boil over in the 64th minute when Balogun was shown a straight red card following a VAR review for a heavy challenge that caught the ankle of Tarik Muharemovic.
The USA’s leading scorer at the tournament was sent off, leaving Mauricio Pochettino’s side to see out the remainder of the match with 10 men — and he will now be suspended for their next fixture.
Rather than wilting, the Americans dug in defensively and struck again to settle any nerves. Malik Tillman doubled the lead in the 82nd minute with an excellent direct free-kick from just outside the box, curling the ball up and over the wall and beyond the reach of Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, missing the injured and substituted captain Edin Dzeko for much of the second half, could not find a way past a resolute USA rearguard despite their numerical advantage. Christian Pulisic also saw a bundled effort ruled out for offside as the co-hosts held on comfortably to seal the clean sheet.
The result sends the USA through to face Belgium in Seattle on Monday, July 6 — a repeat of their 2014 Round of 16 meeting, which the Red Devils won 2-1 after extra time. Belgium themselves survived a scare earlier on Wednesday, coming from 2-0 down to beat Senegal 3-2 after extra time.
For Bosnia-Herzegovina, it is the end of the road at their second-ever World Cup knockout appearance, exiting after a spirited campaign that took them to the knockout stage for the first time.
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