U.S. beats Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 to advance to round of 16 and keep its World Cup dreams alive

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup before being sent off with a red card in the second half, and Malik Tillman converted on a free kick to give the 10-man United States squad a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night to advance to the round of 16.

Balogun dominated the first half with his goal and several other chances that helped the U.S. control the match early but the Americans had to scramble down a man after his foul against Tarik Muharemovic in the 64th minute.

Tillman helped seal the win when he scored on a free kick from just outside the box in the 82nd minute with a shot off the hand of goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.

That gave the U.S. just its second World Cup knockout round win. The Americans made it to the semifinals in the first tournament in 1930 by winning their group and won a round of 16 matchup against Mexico in 2002.

The win over Bosnia in the round of 32 in this year’s expanded tournament sets up a matchup on Monday in Seattle against Belgium as the U.S. hopes to make a deep run on home soil.

The game was played less than 20 miles from the site of the first U.S. knockout round game of the modern era when the Americans lost 1-0 to heavily favored Brazil at Stanford Stadium in 1994.

The U.S. was favored this time around for the first time on record in a knockout round match and didn’t let down the large contingent of red-white-and-blue clad fans at Levi’s Stadium who were chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the closing minutes.

The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the U.S. against European teams dating to a tie against England in the 2022 World Cup. It marked the first win in the World Cup for the Americans against a European team since a win over Portugal in the 2002 opener. They were winless in 13 straight World Cup matchups against European teams since then, including a 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium in the round of 16 in 2014.

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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Josh Dubow, The Associated Press