The United States men’s national team’s magical run in the World Cup continued Wednesday night with a thrilling victory in the knockout round.
The USMNT defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the World Cup Round of 32 match on Wednesday night in Santa Clara, California.
Team USA displayed their talent and grit, overcoming the loss of their tournament-leading goal scorer Folarin Balogun for the final 40 minutes to secure their first knockout round victory since 2002. Balogun had to leave the game in the second half after receiving a controversial red card. Balogun scored the opening goal at the 45 minute mark of the first half. It was his third goal of the tournament, leading the USA team.
Undaunted after losing Balogun and playing with only 10 players, the USA continued to attack and scored a second goal, courtesy of Malik Tillman. He scored on a brilliant free kick over a wall of Bosnian players to give the USA a 2-0 lead in the 82nd minute.
The USA advances to the round of 16 where they will play Belgium on Monday night in Seattle. Belgium advanced with a 3-2 victory over Senegal. Belgium trailed 2-0 late in the game before staging a dramatic rally to win.
Balogun’s red card means that he will miss the match due to an automatic suspension.