{"id":5958,"date":"2026-06-30T10:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5958"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:35:24","slug":"usa-men-have-one-world-cup-knockout-win-now-is-best-chance-to-change-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5958","title":{"rendered":"USA men have one World Cup knockout win; now is best chance to change that"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IRVINE, Calif. \u2014 Right now is a good time to remember that the U.S. men\u2019s soccer team has won just one World Cup knockout game in its history.<\/p>\n

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In fact, every day for the rest of this tournament is a good time to remember that, especially leading up to Wednesday\u2019s round of 32 contest with Bosnia & Herzegovina (8 p.m.).<\/p>\n

This is the moment that the players have dreamed of, whether since growing up or since leaving Qatar four years ago. This is the moment Mauricio Pochettino was hired for, with U.S. Soccer bringing in hedge fund billionaires to help fund the famed manager\u2019s salary.<\/p>\n

And this is the moment when history echoes. The U.S. men have played eight World Cup knockout games all-time, from their first in 1930 (a 6-1 loss to Argentina) to their latest in 2022 (a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands). Their lone victory came in 2002, 2-0 over Mexico.<\/p>\n

Beyond that? 7-1 to Italy in 1934, 1-0 to Brazil in 1994 (more on that in a moment), 1-0 to Germany in the 2002 quarterfinals, 2-1 in extra time to Ghana in 2010 and 2-1 in extra time to Belgium in 2014.<\/p>\n

If reading that opens some old wounds, apologies. But it\u2019s necessary to explain why one of the most tense moments of any World Cup, the start of the knockout rounds, is especially tense for this program. There is no sterner test of a national team\u2019s quality than whether it can win the do-or-die contests that live longest in the memory.<\/p>\n

The last time the U.S. men played a World Cup knockout game on home soil was 1994 at the old Stanford Stadium \u2014 just down the road from the 49ers\u2019 NFL palace in Santa Clara where Wednesday\u2019s game will take place.<\/p>\n

It was a stroke of coincidence, if not quite fortune, that the Americans landed in a July 4 matchup with Brazil after finishing third in their group. Finishing second would have sent them to Washington to play Spain, and finishing first would have had them at the Rose Bowl (where they already were) to play Argentina.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Challenging the team that would go on to win the title was always going to be a mountain of a task. But the U.S. battled gamely, losing 1-0 to a Sele\u00e7ao squad that saw defender Leonardo sent off in the first half for a nasty elbow to American star Tab Ramos.<\/p>\n

This time, the U.S. is favored, and not just by the bookies. Bosnia & Herzegovina is No. 64 in FIFA\u2019s global rankings, well below the U.S.\u2019 No. 17.<\/p>\n

The Dragons are also the lowest of the five third-place teams across the field that the U.S. could have faced, depending on which eight groups\u2019 third-place finishers advanced. The opponent could have been from Group E, F, I or J in other circumstances, and those teams turned out to be No. 23 Ecuador, No. 38 Sweden, No. 15 Senegal and No. 28 Algeria.<\/p>\n

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On top of that, Bosnia is the second-lowest-ranked team of all eight. Only No. 73 Ghana is lower. (The others are No. 28 Paraguay and No. 46 Democratic Republic of the Congo.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Still, an American sports fan watching soccer in the summer needs only to think of any given March to know it\u2019s never so easy.<\/p>\n

The players know this, even someone like USMNT forward Folarin Balogun who has spent almost his entire life in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can feel the difference in the atmosphere,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for me, there\u2019s a change in my mindset and mentality as well. Not that I wasn\u2019t taking it seriously before, but you can go to another gear. Because you want it more, and I don\u2019t want the journey to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another point he made about himself might feel especially resonant to a U.S. fan base that has seen Balogun prove his worth as the striker the program long craved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis the business end,\u201d he said, \u201cand this is the stage where, in my opinion, the big players step forward and the big players carry the pressure and make things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The growing strength of the U.S. player pool is a project that has taken decades to fulfill, and could still take many more years to deliver a true World Cup contender. But a tournament on home soil is an opportunity unlike any other to make a statement, whether to the soccer world or to the non-soccer American public.<\/p>\n

So while it may feel clich\u00e9 to say this is one of the biggest moments in U.S. men\u2019s program history, it\u2019s also true.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my personal experience, the best way to break history is not to think about what hasn\u2019t been done,\u201d Balogun said. \u201cIt\u2019s just to think about what you need to do and just to think about what needs to be done in order to progress. And as I said, that\u2019s just to win on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The U.S. soccer team faces Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in a World Cup knockout match. The Americans have only won a knockout match once in the team’s Cup history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nUSA men have one World Cup knockout win; now is best chance to change that - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5958\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USA men have one World Cup knockout win; now is best chance to change that - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. soccer team faces Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in a World Cup knockout match. 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