The celebrations are officially underway across the country after the USMNT locked up a hard-fought victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2026 World Cup Round of 32, slamming the door on the European side’s tournament hopes in the process.
Bosnia has been eliminated from the knockout bracket following a clean sheet defeat at the hands of the Americans. Despite a furious tactical push from the Dragons after Folarin Balogun was shown a red card, a resilient ten-man US squad dug deep to secure its ticket to the next round and starts to think about their bracket.
After narrowly advancing as one of the top third-place finishers in the group stage, Bosnia failed to replicate that same magic under the knockout lights, while the United States emphatically proved that their strong opening-round form was no fluke.
With its next opponent officially locked in, the USA shifts its focus to the Round of 16—a stage that has become a familiar benchmark for the program since the 2006 tournament in Germany. The victory has fans and analysts alike wondering if this squad has what it takes to shatter their historical ceiling and mount a deepest-ever World Cup run.
Bosnia and Herzegovina players pose for a team photograph.
Bosnia’s path to the Round of 32
Landed in a highly competitive Group B alongside Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland, Bosnia navigated the opening round with a balanced scorecard: one win over Qatar, a hard-fought draw against Canada, and a costly defeat to Switzerland.
Though their four points and a minus-one goal differential were just enough to punch their ticket to the knockout stage, their overall form raised some red flags, most notably during a collapse against the Swiss, where they conceded four goals in a devastating 20-minute span.
Edin Dzeko calls it a career
The match also marked the bittersweet end of an era as Bosnian icon Edin Dzeko played the final minutes of his legendary career. Unfortunately, the star striker was denied a storybook ending, forced to exit early in the second half due to an untimely injury.
In his final international chapter, Dzeko was unable to find the back of the net in 2026, leaving his lone World Cup goal coming back in 2014. He bids farewell to the game as an undisputed modern great whose immense individual talent often lacked the international supporting cast to make a deeper run on the world stage.
