SAN JOSE, Calif. — The group stage was a rousing success for the U.S. men’s national team. And it won’t matter, not one bit, if it doesn’t follow that up with a win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night in Santa Clara.
The Round of 32 match against the Balkan nation that knocked out Italy to make it into the World Cup is not, like knockout games past, a match the U.S. can lose and still claim to have had a successful tournament. That does not mean it will be an easy win.
The Post breaks down the matchup between Team USA and Bosnia.
When the U.S. has the ball
With no injuries among the presumed starters and no reason to rotate, the starting 11 figures to be the same as it was in the opener against Paraguay.
As in that game and in the one against Australia, the U.S. should have most of the ball against an opponent that’s happy to play without it.
Bosnia can sit back in a low block and absorb pressure effectively while looking for moments to attack on the counter. Against a 4-4-2 formation that sticks to fairly basic principles, the easiest way to try to break it down isn’t much of a secret.
Get width, create gaps in defense and take advantage.
For that reason, Sergiño Dest on the right side and Antonee “Jedi” Robinson on the left will have huge roles to play.
Having Christian Pulisic, hopefully able to play the full 90, will be key as well given his ability to make something happen on the ball, especially if the USMNT is having trouble solving the puzzles Bosnia throws at it.
Bosnia’s centerbacks, Nikola Katic and Stjepan Radeljic, are 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-7, respectively, so aerial duels don’t project as an area where the USMNT can come out on top.
There will be moments where Bosnia presses high to try to force long balls that its center backs can win back, but for the most part, the USMNT has handled the press well in this tournament, and this is an opponent it should be able to build out from the back against.
When Bosnia has the ball
There’s something appealing about the simplicity with which Bosnia plays. It’s a 4-4-2 that, in possession, becomes a 4-2-4 with the fullbacks getting high and wide, wingers coming inside and strikers — Edin Džeko and Ermedin Demirovic — who can get on the end of crosses.
Ermin Mahmic, who’s come on as a substitute in Bosnia’s last two games, has scored in both of them as well.
The main thing the U.S. will be worried about, though, is defensive transition if Bosnia can get on the counterattack. Mauricio Pochettino’s system calls for such an aggressive rest defense, with even Tim Ream and Chris Richards high up the pitch when the Americans have the ball.
Kerim Alajbegovic and Esmir Bajraktarevic, Bosnia’s wingers, are two speedy, skilled players who can cause problems in those situations. The moments when they’re running upfield with numbers could be the most dangerous of the match for the USMNT.
It’s worth saying, though, that Bosnia generally isn’t a high-scoring team. Before its 3-1 win over Qatar that secured passage to the knockout rounds, it had been seven games since Bosnia scored more than one goal, last doing so against a 10-man Romania side in a Nov. 15 qualifier.
Intangibles
You can’t call it the biggest game in USMNT history, but it’s certainly the Americans’ best chance to win a knockout game at a World Cup since they last did so in 2002.
Every match of the FIFA World Cup will air on either FOX or FOX Sports 1. If you don’t have cable, you can take advantage of a DIRECTV free trial to stream it all.
Prefer to check out the action live and in person? Shop World Cup 2026 tickets on SeatGeek and make sure to use promo code NYPOST10 for $10 off purchases over $250 at checkout if you’re a first-time SeatGeek user.
As for Bosnia, it is without a doubt the biggest game in its history — the country has never qualified for a European championship and lost in the group stage in 2014, its only other time at a World Cup. Whatever gets said about not feeling nerves or pressure, both sides will have plenty of both.
Given home-field advantage and the ease with which the Americans have conducted themselves thus far in this tournament, it’s hard not to feel they’ll almost always have the edge in this category.
Prediction
USA 2, Bosnia 1. The Americans grit out a hard-fought win and avoid extra time.
