The United States national team qualified with an important victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina with a score of 2-0, in a match that was decided by the hosts despite playing with ten men during the second half.
The first half ended with the United States leading by one goal without a response, after Folarin Balogun succeeded in opening the scoring in the 45th minute, with a left-footed shot from the middle of the penalty area to the middle of the goal, giving the American team an important advantage before entering the break.
At the beginning of the second half, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team made three substitutions at once in the 51st minute, with Esmir Bajrktarevic replacing Armen Jegovic, and Benjamin Tahirovic replacing I. Sunjic, and Ermin Mehmic instead of Edin Dzeko, who was out due to injury.
But the match took a new turn in the 63rd minute, after video technology intervened to review a clip belonging to Balogun. After review, the referee decided to expel the American player in the 64th minute, so the United States team completed the match with ten players.
Despite the numerical deficiency, the American team maintained its balance, while the Bosnia and Herzegovina team tried to take advantage of the new situation and apply pressure in search of a draw. In the 75th minute, the Bosnian national team made two new substitutions, with Haris Tebakovic replacing Said Kolasinac, and Amar Memic replacing Nikola Katic.
In the 80th minute, Stjeban Radeljic received a yellow card after a bad foul, before the United States took advantage of a direct free kick in the 82nd minute, from which Malik Tillman scored the second goal with a right-footed shot into the top left corner.
After the goal, the American team made substitutions to preserve the result, with Sebastian Berhalter replacing Sergino Dest in the 87th minute, then Ricardo Pepe replacing Christian Pulisic in the 88th minute, before Giovanni Reyna came in for Weston McKennie in stoppage time.
The United States national team maintained its lead until the final whistle, emerging with a 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a match that witnessed a goal by Balogun before he was sent off, and a late victory from Tillman with a direct free kick.
