The U.S. men’s national team is looking to keep its World Cup title dreams alive on Wednesday against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the round of 32, after topping Group D action.
Led by manager Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT’s effort will have to come as a bounce-back from a 3-2 loss to Türkiye in the group stage finale, a game where the manager opted to start a heavily-rotated lineup of second-choice players, given that the USMNT had already won out the group.
Bosnia & Herzegovina, meanwhile, advanced to the knockout stages for the first time in its country’s history, advancing from Group B in third place, after a draw with Canada, a loss to Switzerland and a win against Qatar.
Anticipation for the knockout round matchup has been building over the past week, and the USMNT is aiming to win a World Cup knockout game for the first time since 2002. Should the U.S. prevail, it will face Belgium in the round of 16 in Seattle.
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Pulisic Back in the Starting Lineup
Christian Pulisic is back in the USMNT starting lineup for the first time since the World Cup opener, a match against Paraguay that he left at halftime due to a re-aggravation of a pre-existing injury. He missed the second match against Australia, but returned for 32 minutes off the bench in the Group D finale against Türkiye.
Pulisic has played just one World Cup knockout game in his career, when the USMNT fell to the Netherlands in the round of 16 in Qatar four years ago. While his health returns, the team will be without two bench-role players: midfielder Cristian Roldan and center back Mark McKenzie, both of whom are suffering ailments and will not dress for the clash.
USMNT Starting Lineup vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Starting XI: Freese; Freeman, Richards, Ream; Dest, Adams, Tillman, A Robinson; McKennie, Pulisic, Balogun.
Subs: Turner (GK), Brady (GK), Trusty, Scally, M. Robinson, Aaronson, Reyna, Arfsten, Berhalter, Weah, Zendejas, Wright, Pepi
⚠️ Injured: McKenzie, Roldan
Bosnia and Herzegovina Starting Lineup vs. USMNT
Starting XI: Vasilj (GK); Radeljić, Katić, Muharemović, Kolašinac; Dedić, Gigović, Šunjić, Alajbegović; Demirović, Džeko
