The United States men's national soccer team will meet Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, July 3, 2026. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, California [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
The USMNT topped Group D with a 2-0-1 record, earning 6 points [1, 2, 3, 6, 7]. Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third in Group B with a 1-1-1 record, advancing to the knockout stage for the first time in their history [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Bosnia had never previously reached the World Cup knockout rounds [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10].
In FIFA rankings, the United States sits 15th while Bosnia and Herzegovina are 61st [1, 2, 3, 6, 7]. Despite their higher rank, the USMNT enters the game having lost four consecutive World Cup knockout matches [1, 2, 3, 6, 7].
Christian Pulisic, who recently recovered from a calf injury, will start for the United States, as announced on July 1 [11, 12, 5]. US coach Mauricio Pochettino has set a starting lineup matching the team that opened group play against Paraguay, including Matt Freese, Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, Pulisic, and Folarin Balogun [11, 12]. Bosnia’s coach Sergej Barbarez made three changes from their last group match, benching US-born winger Esmir Bajraktarevic. Their starting eleven includes Nikola Vasilj, Tarik Muharemovic, Sead Kolasinac, Amar Dedic, Nikola Katic, Stjepan Radeljic, Armin Gigovic, Ivan Sunjic, Ermedin Demirovic, Edin Dzeko, and Kerim Alajbegovic [11, 12].
Betting odds favor the United States strongly to win and advance to the Round of 16. Money line odds for a US win range from -250 to -290, with Bosnia’s odds at +700 to +800, and draw odds around +370 to +410 [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Odds for the US to advance vary from approximately -550 to -750, while Bosnia’s range from +400 to +510 [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The over/under goal total is set at about 2.5, with experts expecting a game leaning over that mark given both teams’ scoring abilities and defensive vulnerabilities [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Jon Eimer, a soccer analyst, said, "I'm expecting the USA to come out swinging against Bosnia, but I do believe that this match will be much closer than the books are thinking. Bosnia is no joke and won't be an easy win" [8].
The winner of the match will face Belgium in the Round of 16 [11, 12, 5]. The stage is set for this July 3 game at 8 p.m. ET in Santa Clara.
