Expectations have never been higher for the United States at a men’s World Cup, but they have a tough assignment next. Look ahead to this round-of-32 encounter with our USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina prediction and preview.
USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Key Insights
USA are strong favourites to reach the last 16, defeating Bosnia-Herzegovina in 67.5% of the Opta supercomputer’s 25,000 simulations. Bosnia-Herzegovina have never kept a clean sheet in their six FIFA World Cup matches; no side has ever played more at the finals without a shutout. USA have lost seven of their eight World Cup knockout-stage matches, conceding 22 goals.USA face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 on Wednesday locally, and into the early hours of Thursday for those watching from Europe.
It is no exaggeration to say that expectations – and the accompanying pressure – may have never been higher for the USA.
This is not the first time they have played a World Cup knockout match on home soil. As hosts of the 1994 edition, they finished third in Group A, and were handed a daunting challenge in the round of 16: a meeting with eventual champions Brazil in Stanford, California.
USA were the clear underdogs and fell to a 1-0 defeat despite playing against 10 men for the majority of the second half.
One major similarity between that match and this upcoming tie is the location. The game will be played at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, just a 20-minute drive from the site of their 1994 defeat against Brazil.
But this time USA are far from underdogs. The whole country will be confident of victory here, and justifiably so.
They cruised through their group, defeating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia 2-0 to confirm themselves as group winners with a game to spare. It marked the first time they had won consecutive World Cup matches since the 1930 edition.
Those results allowed them to rotate almost their entire XI for their final group game against already-eliminated Türkiye, who defeated them in the eighth minute of added time.
USA will be enhanced by the return of Esmir Bajraktarevic, who was in fact born in the United States in 2004, where his family eventually emigrated after fleeing the Bosnian War. Bajraktarević decided to represent his parents’ nation of birth despite receiving his first international cap for USA in a 2024 friendly against Slovenia, switching allegiances a few months later.
USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Head-to-Head
This will be the fourth meeting between USA and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Stars and Stripes unbeaten in the first three (W2 D1), all in friendlies from 2013 to 2021.
USA have won just one of their last 21 FIFA World Cup meetings with UEFA nations (D7 L13), and are winless in their last 13 (D6 L7) since a 3-2 victory over Portugal in 2002.
USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Prediction
The Opta supercomputer views co-hosts USA as strong favourites for this match, with a 67.5% chance of winning the game, and a 76.6% chance of progressing via any method.
Across the supercomputer’s projections, the second-most likely result was a draw, at 18.3%, followed by a Bosnia-Herzegovina win, which occurred in 14.3% of simulations.
USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Squads
USA: Matt Turner, Matt Freese, Chris Brady, Sergiño Dest, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Auston Trusty, Miles Robinson, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scally, Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan, Malik Tillman, Max Arfsten, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun, Timothy Weah, Álex Zendejas.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Nikola Vasilj, Mladen Jurkas, Martin Zlomislic, Nihad Mujakic, Dennis Hadzikadunic, Tarik Muharemovic, Sead Kolasinac, Amar Dedic, Nikola Katic, Stjepan Radeljic, Nidal Celik, Benjamin Tahirovic, Armin Gigovic, Ivan Basic, Ivan Sunjic, Amar Memic, Amir Hadziahmetovic, Dzenis Burnic, Ermin Mahmic, Samed Bazdar, Ermedin Demirovic, Edin Dzeko, Kerim Alajbegovic, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Haris Tabakovic, Jovo Lukic.
USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Predicted Lineups
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USA vs Bosnia-Herzegovina: World Cup 2026 Match Preview Opta Analyst.
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