The Sports Guru
The World Cup hosts had waited 24 years for a knockout win, and when it finally arrived it came with a plot twist worthy of the wait. This covers the USA's 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, Folarin Balogun's opener and the VAR red card that followed it, Malik Tillman's free kick that settled matters with ten men, the Zidane comparison nobody saw coming, and the last-16 meeting with Belgium that the suspended Balogun will now watch from the stands.
The United States are into the last 16 of their own World Cup, and they did it the hard way: a man down for half an hour, their goalscorer sent off, and their stadium holding its breath. A 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Santa Clara on Wednesday gave the hosts a first World Cup knockout victory since 2002, only the second in their history, and it hinged on one player's strangely complete evening. Folarin Balogun scored the opener, was shown a red card 16 minutes later, and by full time had written himself into a category previously occupied by Zinedine Zidane alone.
The reward is a round-of-16 tie against Belgium in Seattle, and the hosts will arrive there with a point proven. A team that had lost 10 consecutive matches against European opposition beat one with ten men. Whatever else this American side lacks, it is not nerve.
Balogun's strange evening
For 45 minutes this was a tense, tight knockout tie waiting for someone to take responsibility, and Balogun did, striking just before half-time to send the hosts in ahead. The stadium exhaled. It would not stay relaxed for long.
On 61 minutes Balogun rose for an aerial ball with Tarik Muharemovic and came down badly, his studs raking the length of the defender's calf and landing on his ankle. In real time it looked accidental, and referee Raphael Claus initially saw nothing worthy of a dismissal. VAR disagreed. Claus was sent to the screen, reviewed the contact, and returned with a straight red card for serious foul play. Balogun became the fifth American to be sent off at a World Cup, and, according to ESPN, the first player from any nation to score and be sent off in the same World Cup knockout match since Zidane in the 2006 final. That is not a list any striker expects to join on the night of his team's biggest game in a generation.
His manager was in no mood to accept the sanction. "For me, never was it a red card," said Mauricio Pochettino afterwards, and plenty in the ground agreed with him. The contact was ugly, the intent invisible. But intent is not the test, and the letter of the law gave Claus little room once the review had been ordered. The suspension that follows cannot be appealed, which means the man who started the USA's biggest night in 24 years will miss the next one entirely.
Ten men, no panic
What followed the red card is the part Pochettino will treasure. A one-goal lead, half an hour to hold it, a man short, and a Bosnian side with every incentive to pour forward: this is the recipe for a famous collapse, and American teams at World Cups have historically not needed that much encouragement. Instead the hosts defended like a side that had rehearsed the scenario, kept their shape, and waited for the game to offer them one moment to kill it.
Malik Tillman provided it on 82 minutes, bending a free kick past the Bosnian wall and in. It was a finish of total calm from a team that had every reason to have none, and it turned the last 10 minutes from an ordeal into a celebration. "One man's down, the next guy steps up," defender Chris Richards told ESPN afterwards. "We're definitely a team. We're more than just one player." On this evidence it is hard to argue. The USA scored twice, lost their striker, and never once looked like conceding.
For Bosnia-Herzegovina the exit stings in a particular way. They had half an hour against ten men and could not find a goal, and their tournament ends in the round of 32 having promised more, a campaign that also included a 4-1 group-stage defeat to Switzerland and a hard-fought draw with Canada. Knockout football does not grade on effort.
Belgium in Seattle, without the man who started it
The last-16 assignment is a serious one. Belgium arrive in Seattle off the back of one of the most dramatic matches of the tournament, a 3-2 extra-time win over Senegal in which they still trailed 2-0 in the 85th minute and won it through Youri Tielemans' penalty at 124 minutes and 44 seconds, the latest goal in World Cup history. A team capable of that is capable of anything, in both directions, and the Americans will have noted that for 85 minutes Belgium looked eminently beatable.
The hosts have their own momentum. The group stage brought wins over Australia and Paraguay, and now a knockout victory that ends two decades of near-misses and hard-luck stories. What they will not have is Balogun, whose one-match ban rules him out of the Seattle tie, and whose absence asks the question this squad has been dodging all tournament: who scores when he does not?
Pochettino has four days to find an answer, and a home crowd that suddenly believes. The USA have not been past the round of 16 since 2002. Beat Belgium on Monday evening, 1am UK time on Tuesday, and this tournament stops being a pleasant story about the hosts and starts being something else entirely. Bosnia-Herzegovina were beaten by a team missing its best striker for half an hour. Belgium will face one missing him from the start, and knowing this American side, they will have planned for that as if it were an advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions
The USA beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in their World Cup round-of-32 tie in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday 1 July. Folarin Balogun scored just before half-time, and Malik Tillman added a free kick on 82 minutes after Balogun had been sent off, giving the hosts their first World Cup knockout win since 2002.
Balogun was dismissed on 61 minutes for serious foul play. Challenging Tarik Muharemovic for an aerial ball, he came down with his studs raking the defender's calf and landing on his ankle. Referee Raphael Claus reviewed the incident on the pitchside screen after a VAR intervention and showed a straight red card. USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino said afterwards: "For me, never was it a red card."
No. The red card carries a one-match suspension that cannot be appealed, so Balogun misses the round-of-16 tie against Belgium in Seattle. He became the fifth American sent off at a World Cup and, per ESPN, the first player from any nation to score and be sent off in the same World Cup knockout match since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 final.
The USA face Belgium in Seattle on Monday evening local time, which is 1am UK time on Tuesday. Belgium reached the last 16 with a 3-2 extra-time win over Senegal, having still trailed 2-0 in the 85th minute, and won through Youri Tielemans' penalty at 124:44, the latest goal in World Cup history.
It is their first knockout-stage victory since 2002 and only the second in the programme's history. It also ended a run of 10 straight defeats against European opposition. The USA had not been past the round of 16 since 2002, a barrier they will now attempt to clear against Belgium on home soil.
Sources: Final score, the Balogun goal and 61st-minute red card, referee Raphael Claus's VAR review, the Tarik Muharemovic challenge, Malik Tillman's 82nd-minute free kick, the first-knockout-win-since-2002 and 10-game European losing streak records, the Zidane 2006 comparison, the one-match suspension, the Mauricio Pochettino and Chris Richards quotes, and the last-16 tie against Belgium in Seattle, as reported by ESPN, NPR, CBS News and US Soccer following the BBC's live coverage of USA 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Cup.
