World Cup 2026: USMNT set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in Round of 32
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Nick BrombergSenior writerFri, June 26, 2026 at 4:41 AM UTC·2 min readBosnia and Herzegovina's World Cup journey will continue against the United States.
Bosnia and Herzegovina clinched a Round of 32 berth by finishing third in Group B with four points after a 3-1 win over Qatar. That was enough to secure one of the tournament's eight best third-place spots and set up a knockout meeting with Group D winner USA on July 1 in Santa Clara, California.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe winner will advance to the Round of 16, while Bosnia and Herzegovina will look to pull off one of the tournament's biggest upsets against an unbeaten U.S. side.
World Cup schedule | Group schedule, results | Standings
How the third-place teams were bracketed
FIFA determined the World Cup 2026 knockout-round bracket well in advance. The eight third-place teams will each play a team that finished first in its group.
With FIFA wanting to ensure that no teams from the same group meet again before the quarterfinals, third-place teams are slotted into the bracket based on which groups have third-place teams advancing.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn most of the combinations FIFA ran during the tournament, the third-place team from Group B — Bosnia and Herzegovina — was the most likely opponent for the winner of Group D. That scenario came to fruition and was confirmed after Sweden's draw with Japan on Thursday afternoon.
Third-place standings
Position | 3rd Place | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | GD | GF | TCS | Pts |
1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -5 | 4 | |
2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 4 | |
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 5 | -10 | 4 | |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 2 | -12 | 4 | |
5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 | -1 | 3 | |
6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 2 | -4 | 3 | |
7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 | -1 | 3 | |
8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 1 | -5 | 3 | |
9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 2 | |
10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -7 | 2 | |
11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 | -2 | 1 | |
12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 May you like | 0 | 0 |
