It’s never easy, especially in the knockout rounds of the World Cup, but the USA did it.
So, what now?
The USA will play at 8 p.m. ET on July 6 against Belgium at Seattle’s Lumen Field, the scene of their 2-0 group stage win over Australia last month. It’s a rematch of the 2014 World Cup Round of 16 when Belgium defeated the USA 2-1 in extra time.
Belgium’s best players from that team have largely aged out of the side, although Kevin De Bruyne and Romelo Lukaku – the men who scored the two goals in 2014 – are still the central pieces for the Red Devils. The Belgians underwhelmed early in this tournament before thumping New Zealand 5-1 in the final group stage.
The Belgians could have easily gone out on Wednesday in the game before the USA-Bosnia-Herzegovina showdown, trailing 2-0 to Senegal until the final minutes when they struck twice in three minutes to even things. They then scored a penalty in the final minute of extra time to defeat Senegal.
The Belgians and Americans played in a friendly this spring, with Belgium coming out 5-2 victors.
The USA will now be without Folarin Balogun, who received a straight red card for a risky challenge in Wednesday’s match. It’s a huge loss for the USA as Balogun has been the team’s best attacker in the World Cup, but the USA will be optimistic that they can take advantage of Belgium in the attacking third.
If the USA were to beat Belgium, it would make even more history: The USA has never won two World Cup knockout games in one tournament and would see them back into the quarterfinals, something they have only done once in 2002 when the tournament did not have a Round of 32.
USA star Christian Pulisic said after the match that the way the US pulled together after the red card to Folarin Balogun shows the strength of the team.
“It takes a lot. The guys really had to dig in deep. It didn’t go exactly to plan with the red card, but we said in the hydration break that this is what it takes to be a strong team,” Pulisic told the Fox broadcast.
The USA had to play with 10 men for more than 30 minutes, but still managed to keep a rare clean sheet against the Bosnians.
Fans in Santa Clara sang along to John Denver’s classic song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” much to the delight of USA players celebrating advancing to the round of 16 in the World Cup.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino joined in on the action while embracing his assistant coaches.
