USA vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Yanks aiming to do something never done before at the World Cup

Appearing in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time, Bosnia-Herzegovina will aim to spoil the party for the USA on Wednesday in round of 32 action in San Francisco.

Despite a 3-2 defeat to Turkey in their last match, the Americans topped Group D with six points, while Bosnia-Herzegovina finished third in Group B, beating Qatar 3-1.

USA vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Yanks and Bosnians aiming for historic firsts

While the knockout stages are a familiar feeling for the US, this is new territory for their upcoming opponents.

The Bosnians, in their second appearance at this tournament, kept their World Cup dream alive with a strong showing on matchday three of the group stage.

Their three goals scored were the most they had in 90 minutes since a 3-1 victory over Romania last November in World Cup qualifying.

Sergej Barbarez had seen his side score a goal or fewer in seven successive internationals before their victory over Qatar in Seattle.

As for the US, Wednesday will mark the fifth time they appear in the knockout stages at the World Cup this century, with the national team only winning one finals match beyond the group stage over that span (2-0 over Mexico in the 2002 round of 16).

On Wednesday, the men’s team can defeat a UEFA side in a knockout fixture for the first time in their World Cup history, with the Netherlands eliminating them in the last 16 four years ago, and Belgium taking them out in extra-time in 2014.

A victory would make Mauricio Pochettino the most successful American manager in the history of this competition, with the former Tottenham boss currently tied with Bruce Arena and Robert Millar for the most wins by a US coach in this competition (two).

USA vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Familiar faces

While these sides do not have a massive rivalry on the pitch, a few of the players we might see featuring will know each other well.

Esmir Bajraktarevic is well known to the Americans, as the Bosnia-Herzegovina winger was born in the US, in Appleton, Wisconsin.

He played his youth football with the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution before attracting the attention of European scouts.

These days, he is teammates with Americans Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi in the Eredivisie with PSV.

Bajraktarevic made one previous appearance with the US national team in a non-official match against Slovenia in 2024.

Later that year, FIFA granted him a one-time switch to commit to the Bosnia-Herzegovina national team.

USA vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Stepping up in pressure situations

It would be a cliche to say this is a pressure situation for both teams, though they each have been in their share of tense moments before.

The Bosnians qualified for this tournament by defeating Wales and Italy on penalties, coming from behind in both matches to win.

As for the US, they got past Costa Rica on penalties in the 2025 Gold Cup quarter-finals thanks in part to the heroics of goalkeeper Matt Freese.

A relatively unknown before that, the former second-choice goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union has been an intimidating presence for club and country, staring down opposing players from 12 yards away, saving three Costa Rican penalties in 2025.

The New York City FC shot stopper said after that victory that “penalties are my thing,” and he has backed it up in his career, making many huge penalty saves for his club side in an elimination game against FC Cincinnati during the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.

He will be among the players to watch out for if this match is tied beyond 90 minutes and extra time.

Freese is not the only player to have stepped up with a huge performance amid mounting pressure.

While Christian Pulisic did not get a lot of minutes in the group stage due to an injury, Pochettino will surely want to utilise his experience in big moments for this match.

The goal Pulisic scored in the group stage of the 2022 finals powered them to a 1-0 victory over Iran and a spot in the round of 16.

He netted in the 114th minute of their CONCACAF Nations League triumph over Mexico in 2021, the inaugural edition of the tournament.

Meanwhile, his hat trick against Panama in 2022 World Cup qualifying got them into that competition, while he netted a brace in their semi-final triumph over Mexico in the 2023 Nations League.

Folarin Balogun is another one to keep a close watch on, with the Monaco star scoring twice and making it look easy in the group stage of this competition.

The former Arsenal academy product has scored in the World Cup and Copa America, and netted in the 2023 Nations League final, which the US won 2-0 over Canada.

On the Bosnian side, the ageless Edin Dzeko is not only the national team’s record goalscorer but has been vital in big games.

He scored the opening goal in their first-ever World Cup victory in 2014, and had the second-most goals (10) in UEFA qualifying for that tournament.

Dzeko has never been afraid of big moments and will be one to keep an eye out for when Bosnia-Herzegovina and the USA do battle.

Freese’s counterpart on Wednesday should have opposing penalty takers shaking in their boots given his reputation.

Nikola Vasilj saved four of the five penalties he faced for St. Pauli during the 2024-25 Bundesliga campaign while stopping two of three in the German top flight last season.

The Welsh and Italian staff surely did their homework on the 30-year-old born in Mostar though the penalty takers for both of those teams seemed to be quite fearful of facing Vasilj.

The Bosnian keeper only stopped one shot in their victories over Wales and Italy combined, but his reputation seemed to do a number on both teams, as another Welsh effort missed the mark while Italy failed to find the target on two of their spot kicks.

The US have been eliminated from two World Cup finals this century in extra time, including the 2014 edition, when Tim Howard set a record for saves in a single match at this tournament (16).

If this match goes to penalties, both sides will fancy their chances given who is between the sticks, but it will be interesting to see which team ultimately cracks.