​Chris Richards (3) of USA celebrates a goal during a 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wednesday July 1st, 2026 in Santa Clara, Calif.SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty. But it was history for the United States men’s national team on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium.Folarin Balogun scored his team-leading fourth goal for the United States at this World Cup for an early lead in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but a second-half red card forced the Americans down to 10 men for the final 26 minutes.With the U.S. shorthanded, Malik Tillman put this game to bed with a laser free kick goal in the 81st minute, and the United States men’s national team advanced in the World Cup knockout stage for just the second time in program history with a 2-0 win over Bosnia.“I think this game today showed our character,” TIllman said, “and we will always keep on fighting, keep on giving everything. Like today, if you have a lead, and it just happened, and you try to bring this game to the end, and win this game. You see what we did today and showed our character inside the group.”The United States won only its second World Cup knockout game in men’s history and its first since 2002’s famous “Dos a Cero” win over Mexico in the Round of 16. The Americans also snapped a 12-game winless streak against European competition with their first win over a UEFA side since October 2021, which was also against Bosnia-Herzegovina.“Coming into the tournament, there was a lot of question marks about our whole team in general,” USMNT defender Chris Richards said, “and, again, I think, game by game, we start to prove people wrong, and prove ourselves right, I think we knew we had it the whole time. It was just a matter of showing it. I’m glad it’s coming out at this time.”The U.S. will look to make history in the Round of 16 against another European squad in Belgium, which came back from down two goals to score a penalty-kick winner in the 125th minute against Senegal.The Stars and Stripes will face the Red Devils on Monday in Seattle without their leading goal scorer, as Balogun’s red card earns a one-game suspension for the next round. Balogun is the first player to score a goal and receive a red card in a World Cup game since Frenchman Zinedine Zidane’s famous headbutt in the 2006 Final.“Pretty cool record, huh?” Richards said with a laugh. “One man’s down, the next guy steps up. I think people were asking the same question when Christian (Pulisic) went down (with a calf injury in the group stage). The next guy stepped up. We’re definitely a team. We’re more than just one player. We’re one of just 11 players, and everybody who came on today also did their job. So I’m really happy for the result, really happy for everybody in the Federation, and hopefully we can make some more history next round.”Aside from a couple early Bosnian corner kicks and one counterattack salvo, the first