Bosnian Player Gives USMNT Bulletin Board Material for World Cup Matchup

The 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup has been plain sailing for the United States men’s national team (USMNT) in the group stage, but Bosnia-Herzegovina are preparing to play spoiler.

“They have a really quality team,” Bosnian defender Stjepan Radeljic said of the U.S., per Jon Morosi. “We are expecting a very hard game. It will be awesome for us, and amazing, to kick them out when they play at home.”

The USMNT is playing the World Cup on U.S. soil for the first time since 1994 and have made it well worth the wait for U.S. soccer fans. They blasted Paraguay 4-1 in the opener and handled Australia with relative ease in a 2-0 win to secure a spot in the knockout stage. With a little help from Paraguay, the U.S. won Group D in just two matches.

The USMNT is set to face the third-place finisher from Group B, E, F, I, or J in the Round of 32 on July 1. Barring unforeseen chaos between now and the group stage finales on Saturday, June 27, Bosnia will be the USMNT’s Round of 32 opponent as the Group B third-place finishers. That match is scheduled for Wednesday, July 1.

Bosnia fielded up-and-down performances in the group stage. The team, known as Zmajevi, opened with a 1-1 draw with Canada before getting thrashed 4-1 by Switzerland and defeating Qatar by a sound 3-1 score.

While the USMNT’s knockout stage has already been determined, they’ll close Group D play against a winless and eliminated Turkiye squad at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, later Thursday night.

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This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 7:24 PM.