Updated July 2, 2026 at 12:10 AM CDT
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In the second half of their pivotal, must-win knockout game against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the FIFA World Cup, the U.S. men's national team needed a miracle.
In the first half, U.S. forward Folarin Balogun had been the Americans' hero when his 45th-minute goal put the U.S. up 1-0. But then, in the 64th minute, he had become their reason for despair.
A disastrous red card, given to Balogun for a cleat-first challenge on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović, had put the U.S. dreams of a deep run at this World Cup in serious jeopardy. The Americans would be forced to play down a man for the final 35 minutes of regulation, plus ten minutes of stoppage time, giving their feisty opponents the chance to equalize and upset the hosts.
Then came the miracle.
After a yellow card on Bosnian defender Stjepan Radeljić granted the U.S. a free kick near the top of the penalty area, midfielder Malik Tillman answered the Americans' prayers. Through a wall of defenders, he floated the shorthanded goal that clinched the U.S. win — and thrilled the crowd of 68,827 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
It is the first victory for the American men in the knockout round of the World Cup since 2002. The U.S. now advances to the Round of 16, where they will face Belgium on Monday, July 6.
They must play that game without their striker Balogun, who will be suspended due to the red card. Balogun has now scored three goals in three World Cup games so far, leading all American players. He is now only one goal shy of tying the all-time record of goals scored in a single World Cup by an American man, set in 1930 at the inaugural tournament by Bert Patenaude.
U.S. Coach Mauricio Pochettino disagreed with the referee's decision to remove Balogun from the game. "For me, never was it a red card," he said during the post-match news conference. "Never was it the intention to step on the player. That was a normal action in football. It happened by accident."
After Balogun's red card, the U.S. players knew they had to step up. "Keep going. Keep fighting," Tillman told reporters afterward. "I think this game today showed our character."
U.S. defender Chris Richards said not having Balogun in the lineup against Belgium will be tough, "Ultimately we're going to miss him for the next game, but we know that if it's [Ricardo] Pepe or Haji [Wright] or whoever the case is going to step up next, that they're going to do their job just as well as he did."
The loss ends Bosnia's run at the World Cup, their second-ever appearance after being eliminated in the group stage in 2014.
The American-born winger Esmir Bajraktarević came on early in the second half for Bosnia. The 21-year-old native of Appleton, Wisconsin, was born to Bosnian parents who came to the U.S. in 2001 after fleeing conflict in their home country during the 1990s.
In Bosnia, Bajraktarević's parents and their families lived near Srebrenica, where some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in July 1995 in one of the only events in history formally deemed a genocide by the International Court of Justice. Multiple members of their families were killed.
Bajraktarević grew up speaking Bosnian at home, he has said, and stayed close with relatives who remained in Bosnia. Although he came up through MLS academies and U.S. Soccer youth national teams, Bajraktarević formally switched his national team to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024. Then, he scored the game-clinching penalty that sent Bosnia to the World Cup in its March play-off upset of Italy.
"He can feel the jersey he's wearing. It means very much to him," said Bosnian coach Sergej Barbarez before the match, Bajraktarević's first time facing his birth country. "He knows where he belongs. He knows which team he plays for. He knows where his parents come from."
NPR's Russell Lewis contributed reporting
Copyright 2026 NPR
