The United States overcame a controversial second-half red card to defeat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, securing their place in the World Cup round of 16.

The European side started brighter and forced Matt Freese into two important early saves, first denying Ermedin Demirovic before pushing away a corner from Kerim Alajbegovic. However, the hosts grew into the game and found their breakthrough on the stroke of half-time. Tim Ream intercepted a clearance in midfield and fed Tyler Adams, who flicked the ball to Malik Tillman. The midfielder slipped a pass into the penalty area where Folarin Balogun kept his composure to fire a low, left-footed strike past Nikola Vasilj. Balogun almost added a second moments later, but his looping effort clipped the crossbar.

The complexion of the match changed completely in the 64th minute when Balogun was shown a straight red card following a video assistant review for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic. Bosnia pushed forward with the numerical advantage, but a resilient American defence kept them at arm’s length.

Any hopes of a Bosnian comeback were extinguished in the 82nd minute. The tournament co-hosts won a free-kick 20 yards out, and Tillman curled a sublime right-footed effort over the wall. Vasilj got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out. Mauricio Pochettino’s 10-man side held firm through ten minutes of stoppage time to keep a clean sheet and book a date with Belgium in Seattle.

USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina result, highlights & stats

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