Preview: USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina - prediction, team news, lineups

USA will be hoping that home advantage plays a major part in their last-32 clash with Bosnia-Herzegovina at the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday.

The Stars and Stripes finished at the top of Group D to punch a spot to the knockout round, while Bosnia-Herzegovina advanced as one of the best third-placed finishers at the tournament.

Match preview

USA were highly impressive in their opening two matches at the 2026 World Cup, beating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia 2-0 in order to secure their spot in the last-32 stage of the tournament with a match to spare.

Mauricio Pochettino's side did lose 3-2 to Turkey in their final group-stage fixture on June 25, but six points from three matches proved to be enough to top the group, two points ahead of both second-placed Australia and third-placed Paraguay.

The Stars and Stripes reached the semi-finals of the 1930 World Cup, ultimately finishing third, while they made the quarter-finals in 2002, in addition to last-16 appearances in 1934, 1994, 2010, 2014 and 2022, so their spot at this stage is not a surprise.

USA's reward for beating Bosnia-Herzegovina would be a last-16 clash against either Belgium or Senegal, so there is certainly a route opening up into the latter stages.

These two sides have only locked horns on three previous occasions, all of which have been friendlies, so history will be made on Wednesday in their first-ever competitive match.

Bosnia-Herzegovina have lost two of their previous three games against USA, including a 1-0 reverse when the national teams last locked horns in December 2021.

The Dragons finished third in Group B behind Switzerland and Canada, but a return of four points from three matches proved to be enough to advance into the round of 32.

Sergej Barbarez's team opened their tournament with a 1-1 draw against Canada, before losing 4-1 to Switzerland, but a 3-1 success over Qatar on matchday three proved to be crucial, with four points enough to secure a position in the knockout round.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were knocked out in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup and then failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions, so their position in the knockout round of the 2026 tournament represents a huge success story.

This match will take place in Santa Clara, California, so USA have home advantage, but Bosnia-Herzegovina will certainly believe that they are strong enough to make this a very difficult assignment for the co-hosts.

USA World Cup form:

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USA form (all competitions):

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Bosnia-Herzegovina World Cup form:

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Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):

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Team News

USA need to make checks on Christian Roldan (muscle), Mark McKenzie (foot) and Auston Trusty (ankle) before their final squad for the match can be confirmed.

However, no further issues have been reported to any of the nation's key players, with the likes of Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie all set to be in the starting side.

Folarin Balogun, who is being backed for a big-money transfer away from Monaco this summer, has scored twice at the competition thus far and will again lead the USA line.

As for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Amar Dedic (thigh) is viewed as a doubt at this stage of proceedings, but the Dragons are otherwise in strong shape in terms of their squad.

Tarik Muharemovic missed the clash with Qatar last time out following a red card against Switzerland, but the 23-year-old is back for this one and should start.

Edin Dzeko has not scored in his two appearances at the 2026 World Cup, but the 40-year-old, who has 73 strikes for his country in total, is in line to feature in the final third of the field on Wednesday.

USA possible starting lineup:

Freese; Freeman, Ream, Richards, Robinson; Adams, Tillman; Dest, McKennie, Pulisic; Balogun

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:

Vasilj; Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Bajraktarevic, Sunjic, Basic, Alajbegovic; Dzeko, Demirovic

We say: USA 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina are a tricky outfit and one certainly capable of upsetting the tournament co-hosts in the round of 32. However, we believe that home advantage will ultimately carry USA into the last-16 stage of the competition.

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For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.