SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Team USA spent Monday like millions of other interested followers. world cupwatch thrilling games including big upsets from other venues Germany falls to Paraguaythree games were close and two were nervous shootouts.
Then in the round of 32 Bosnia and Herzegovina That will go a long way in determining how successful this World Cup will be.
“The moment you become a fan, and then you realize this is the same tournament we’re playing, I think it’s a strange dynamic,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said Tuesday before the team’s final practice for the finals. “But we had an upset yesterday, so we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen to us.”
After starting the tournament with a convincing victory, paraguay and Australia Secured top spot in the group before meaningless results lost to Türkiye Last week, the Americans faced a Bosnian team that had never made it past the group stage until this year, entering the tournament as a contender for a place in the playoffs.
The United States has only won the World Cup finals once before.
but history is against the team That’s because the U.S. men have had little success in the past in World Cup finals or against European opponents.
In the first tournament in 1930, the United States advanced through the group stage and advanced to the semifinals, but its only victory in the finals came in 2002, when they defeated rival Mexico 2-0 in South Korea and lost to Germany in the quarterfinals.
In the other eight tournaments since the U.S. returned to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years in 1990, the U.S. has lost in the first knockout game (best of 16 instead of best of 32) four times, failed to make it out of its group three times, and didn’t even qualify in 2018.
Christian Pulisic said the approach has not changed this round and the team’s mood remains upbeat despite the high stakes in this part of the tournament. Pulisic missed one game but said he is healthy and ready to start. with a calf injury He also appeared in the second half of the final game.
“I want to extend it as long as possible because some of the best memories of my life are from the last World Cup in Qatar,” Pulisic said. “It’s special to be here right now. I just don’t want it to end. So there’s definitely a lot of enthusiasm within the team.”
USA struggles against European teams
The United States lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the final four years ago. This comes after a 2-1 loss to Belgium in 2014 and is part of a long and futile battle against European teams.
The United States has gone 1-13-7 against European teams at the World Cup since 1990, with its only win coming in the 2002 season opener against Portugal. Since then, the Americans have not won in their last 13 matches against European teams in this competition.
Bosnia, ranked 61st in the FIFA rankings, doesn’t have the pedigree of many of their past European opponents, but the Americans know this matchup won’t be easy. The Bosnian team qualified for the World Cup for the second time in their history by winning penalty shootouts against Wales and four-time World Cup champions Italy in the European play-offs, and advanced through their group with a draw with hosts Canada in Toronto and a 3-1 win over Qatar.
“Every team brings different challenges,” Richards said. “At the end of the day, the Bosnian team was great defensively and great going forward. That allowed us to definitely work on both flanks. They have a very experienced attack, so we’re able to do our best at the back to take it away from them.”
A win on Wednesday would advance the U.S. team to the Round of 16 next Monday in Seattle against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Belgium and Senegal.
Things will get tougher after that, with powerhouses like Spain still in the half, but the tournament’s previous results, where teams like Germany and the Netherlands were eliminated early, show what’s possible.
“It’s a chance to go even further in this tournament,” Richards said. “We’ve seen two big boys go down, so it’s just a matter of getting through this game and performing well and hopefully continuing to do that. Things will open up little by little, so it’s very exciting for us.”
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See more of The Associated Press’ World Cup coverage here.
