The U.S. Men’s National Team haven’t won a World Cup knockout match since 2002 nor have they defeated a European side in any competition in more than five years.
For the current squad, it’s not about revisiting history but making history when the United States plays Bosnia and Herzegovina in a round of 32 match in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday. The winner will advance to the round of 16 to meet Belgium or Senegal on July 6 in Seattle.
“Honestly, I don’t even think any of us are thinking about it,” U.S. captain Tim Ream said. “I think it’s just about putting in good performances. If we do everything that we’ve done up to this point we’re going to put ourselves in the best possible position to move on in the tournament.”
The U.S. is confident in advancing despite losing 3-2 to Turkey on June 25 in what was a meaningless match because the Americans already had clinched first place in Group D. Nearly all of the starters from the first two matches did not play but the lineup is expected to return to form on Wednesday.
“It’s a knockout round and if you want to win this trophy, the World Cup, you have to beat everyone and be able to beat everyone, from Europe or Africa it doesn’t matter,” midfielder Sergino Dest said. “We just want to win.”
Star Christian Pulisic (calf) could return to the starting lineup. He left the first match at halftime, missed the second game and returned to play 33 minutes as a substitute against Turkey.
Pulisic said he’s ready to play 90 minutes — or 120, if needed.
“I’m feeling good this week, and I’m definitely ready to go for tomorrow,” Pulisic told reporters Tuesday.
The FIFA rankings list the U.S. as No. 15, Bosnia and Herzegovina as No. 61.
Bosnia and Herzegovina were third in Group B and will present a similar defensive-minded philosophy employed by the first two U.S. opponents that resulted in a 4-1 win over Paraguay and 2-0 blanking of Australia by the Americans.
“Just move the ball quick as you possibly can side to side, getting runs in behind and just really unbalancing their shape,” Ream said. “It sounds simple and that’s really the key to any team you play, no matter if they’re playing the low block, medium block, high press, whatever you want to call it.”
The difference, though, is the physicality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led all teams through the group stages with 46 fouls.
“We will try to create problems and of course win the game,” Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez said.
The matchup is intriguing for Bosnia and Herzegovina midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic, 21, who is from Appleton, Wis. He played one match for the U.S. in a friendly vs. Slovenia in January 2024 before using his dual citizenship to switch countries later that year.
He scored the clinching penalty in the shootout that led Bosnia and Herzegovina to defeat Italy and qualify for the World Cup. He started the first and third World Cup matches and came off the bench in the second.
Bajraktarevic will see familiar faces on the opposing team because Dest and Ricardo Pepi are teammates at Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven.
“That will be great for me,” Bajraktarevic said of the match. “It doesn’t really matter who we play next. Obviously, we are ready for everything.”
For the Americans, the last time they reached the round of 16 was 2002 when they went directly there from the group stage under the 32-team format. They downed Mexico 2-0 before losing 1-0 to Germany in the quarterfinals.
This year is the first World Cup with 48 teams, prompting an extra round.
The U.S. is winless in 13 matches (two ties) against a European side since a 2-1 win vs. Northern Ireland on March 28, 2021. They have lost 10 straight, beginning with a 3-1 setback to Netherlands in the round of 16 in 2022.
None of that matters to U.S forward Folarin Balogun, who scored twice against Paraguay.
“It’s crunch time, it’s knockout football,” he said. “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.”
–Field Level Media
