USMNT Stock Up, Stock Down: USMNT Wins Their First World Cup Knockout Game Since 2002

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

Photo courtesy of Cisco's Art/TopBin90

The United States Men’s National Team advanced into the Round of 16 following a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Folarin Balogun scored the opening goal for the U.S. and also received a red card, causing the U.S. to play a man down for much of the second half. They scored their second goal while playing a man down to reach the final score of 2-0 for their first knockout stage win since 2002 against Mexico.

Here’s our stock up, stock down for the USMNT Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Stock Up

Malik Tillman - The 24-year-old midfielder was not having his best game while both teams had 11 players on the pitch; it seemed everything he did was just slightly off, leaving some to be desired. The moment of the match and what earned him a spot on this list came in the 82nd minute, while the U.S. was still in squeaky bum time, being up just one goal late in the game and down to just 10 men. They were awarded a free kick just outside the box, which Tillman stepped up to take, bending it up and over the wall and under the crossbar for the USMNT’s first direct free kick goal in a World Cup game since Eric Wynalda in 1994. Tillman will need to step up and play a big part in the next game without Balogun at striker.

Resilience - The USMNT showed an incredible amount of resiliency in the match, having to play with just 10 men for over 30 minutes after the previously mentioned Balogun red card. While playing with a man disadvantage, the U.S. still controlled the game and didn’t face any real threats defensively and stayed on the front foot in the attack, scoring the goal in the 82nd minute to essentially put the game away. The whole team showed their grit and determination to not give up or sit back and be complacent despite having one less player on the pitch.

Matt Freese and the defense - Freese hasn’t been tested much in this World Cup, having faced few shots in the first two games and not playing in the third game against Turkiye. He once again didn’t face many shots against Bosnia, but saved all three shots on target he faced for his second clean sheet of the tournament. The defense gives Freese a lot of help and is the major reason why he hasn’t faced many shots on target. The U.S. defense limited Bosnia and Herzegovina to just seven touches in the box, only three shots on target out of 10 total, and 0.25 xG. The back line of Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, and Alex Freeman has played well so far in the World Cup and is a huge part of why they’re in the Round of 16 and will be crucial to their efforts to advance further.

Stock Down

Strikers - The U.S. finally has their answer at the striker position, with Balogun bursting out onto the scene this World Cup, becoming the third player in USMNT history to score three or more goals in a single World Cup campaign, and becoming the team’s fourth-highest World Cup goal scorer with three goals. The reason that this is in stock down instead of stock up is that he will not be available for the matchup against Belgium in the round of 16 after he was shown a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Without Balogun, the U.S. has Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright as the striker options, the former having played extensively in the group stage and giving lackluster performances for the most part, while the latter made his only appearance of the World Cup as a 96th-minute substitution for Balogun against Australia. So without the top goalscorer, the U.S. will have to pivot to an underwhelming replacement for Balogun at striker or switch to a different approach that would have no traditional striker in the lineup. Either way, the U.S. will need other players to step up in Balogun’s absence to replace his goalscoring if they are to advance past Belgium.