A puff of the cheeks, a drop of the shoulders and a sumptuous dipper to seal the deal. It may have been somewhat of a surprise when, eight minutes from time and 20 yards out, Christian Pulisic did not step up to take a free-kick just outside the Bosnia and Herzegovina penalty area. But midfielder Malik Tillman, born in Germany and eligible for the US through his father, made a mockery of such thoughts and, with it, secured American progression to the last-16 of the World Cup 2026. Their World Cup.
It is a first knockout victory in 24 years and just their second in World Cup history. And yet, five days out from a rip-roaring last-16 tie against Belgium, there is a rather big but.
Eyes bulging in disbelief, Folarin Balogun was one of 70,000 bemused. After jumping to his feet post-medical treatment, Mauricio Pochettino’s star striker – who scored the opening goal in the first-half, his third of the tournament – received a red card from Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for “serious foul play” midway through the second-half. Replays, aired in excruciatingly super-slow motion, showed Balogun’s foot scrape down the calf of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic, amidst a tangle of legs. There were no Bosnian appeals.
Regrettably, this is where we are with the game now. What can be given as a foul, with no card, on the pitch for a near-identical tackle by Lionel Messi in Argentina’s opening game against Algeria can now be upgraded to a red after a video review when, at first glance, it was the most innocuous of coming-togethers; nothing more than a typical footballing mishmash of legs. Consistency? What consistency?
For Balogun, the Londoner born in New York who has been one of the tournament’s revelations to this point, it is the cruellest of knockout blows. He will now be suspended for Monday’s match against Belgium in Seattle, with no grounds for appeal.
On a Californian evening which should have ended in unencumbered joy, it left a sour taste in the mouth. Balogun becomes the first player to score and be sent off in a World Cup match since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 final. That decision was somewhat more unambiguous. Still, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” bellowed out across this sun-soaked stadium at full-time. A high-pitched finale to a high-octane occasion.
Flicking through the local San Francisco news stations on Tuesday night, this knockout match didn’t just open up the broadcast – but was omnipresent throughout the whole programme. Whether it be team news, a clip of Pulisic and Pochettino downplaying their tag as “favourites”, or watch parties throughout this stretch of Californian coastline, the never-ending stream of content fed the sense of occasion in a manner only Americans can do.
Has a United States soccer game ever been more anticipated? And yet, for all that hype and incessant “USA, USA” chanting, it was Bosnia who had the first shot in anger, 10 minutes in. Going the old-school route from the back, Edin Dzeko laid up Ermedin Demirovic, who stung the palms of US keeper Matt Fresse.
At the other end, a first sight on goal for Balogun – so impressive in USA’s opening two games that he is being tipped for a big-money move away from Monaco this summer – was strangely timid, scuffing wide a decent opening in the penalty area. Moments later, the US frontman went down in the box under the challenge of Amar Dedic. There was contact, but the Brazilian referee waved it away. Balogun looked up, a face of perplexion. It wouldn’t be the last time.
The officials were the pantomime villains again a minute later, when Balogun thought he’d put the hosts ahead with a neat finish, before it was disallowed for a correctly called offside. But the US were probing their eastern European opponents and knocking on the door. And on the stroke of half-time, they broke it down.
Again, it was that man Balogun. Tyler Adams’s gorgeous flick in midfield found Tillman, who fed Balogun in behind and after a fortunate double ricochet off two hapless Bosnian defenders, it broke to the forward’s left-foot once more and his shot trickled through the legs of keeper Nikola Vadilj. Not the prettiest goal, but they all count. It was the USA’s seventh goal before half-time in this World Cup, more than any other team.
Balogun celebrated with his typical ‘The Silencer’ manoeuvre, made famous by LeBron James, who revealed this week he is leaving the LA Lakers. Of course, it’s back in Los Angeles where Team USA want to end up next Friday, in a potential quarter-final against European champions Spain. Balogun should have doubled the US lead before the interval, somehow slicing onto the bar and over from Sergino Dest’s header across goal. In no time at all, Bosnia were crying out for half-time.
To the second-half where, for the majority, US prospects looked decidedly merry. The Americans have only lost one World Cup match after leading at half-time and that was back in 1950 against the Spanish. And while Bosnia struggled to carve out any clear opportunities – not least their legendary striker and captain Dzeko, who on the occasion of his 151st cap looked like father time had caught up with him, aged 40 – the US were dropping deeper and deeper.
Then came Balogun’s unfortunate, inconspicuous moment. Bafflingly, the US cannot even appeal the decision, such is Fifa’s disciplinary code. Yet with an overwhelming sense of aggrievement, it actually spurred the US onto greater heights.
Tillman’s lush up-and-down free-kick – over a wall which, it should be noted, did not jump – made sure of American progression. Yet in this most optimistic and patriotic of nations, there is a caveat to the sense of feel-good as the US take the next step on their journey.
