World Cup spoiler - US v Bosnia Herzegovina

[mcar]

US deserved this 2-0 win. The Balogun red card was bullshit.

[Walleye]

1. Seeing and hearing these guys lead to sing along on "Country Roads"

After their stunning victory, Almost brought tears to my eyes it was such a beautiful shared American moment of joy like we have few and far between these days. Congratulations men’s team, you guys earned it.

[mcar]

3. I love that!

The US coach, who is Argentine, was belting it out at the end.

[Ponietz]

7. Poch is Argentinian FYI

[mcar]

8. Oh thanks. I'll correct.

[3catwoman3]

16. It did bring tears to mine. So sad that John Denver is not here...

..to see and hear this. He lives on in his beloved music.

[sarisataka]

2. A good game, the US showed some grit

For that to be a straight red in a game that had been so laissez-faire was BS. It was more reckless than serious foul play, yellow not red.

[mcar]

4. Yes! Deserved a yellow but it wasn't intentional

Bullshit call.

[usonian]

5. What an ordeal.

Having to defeat BOTH Bosnia and Herzegovina to advance.

[Music Man]

19. I made the same joke to my family. Great minds :)

[usonian]

23. Got me a HaHa.

Raised my kid right!

[Ponietz]

6. Absolute worst refereeing I've seen so far

Malik Tillman is a breakout talent, the playmaker we lacked. I’d guess his value has gone up $20 million since the tourney started. Next up Belgium. We played them in March and lost 5-2 but we’re a different team now.

The Balogun red was soft. It will be appealed but I’m not hopeful. The ref played a huge role in creating the ugly shitshow.

[mcar]

9. It was a mess. nt

[Takket]

10. this is NOT a red card. HORRIBLE call and FIFA should overturn the suspension and expel the ref

Do not like the red for Balogun

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T01:32:38.997Z

also love how the bosnian player get stepped on the BACK of his ankle and proceeds to grab his SHIN below the KNEE after going down like he just got shot by an elephant gun

[mcar]

11. I'm seeing clips of Messi doing basically the same thing

and not even getting a yellow. No offense to Messi, just very selective.

[Ponietz]

13. Yes I saw that no call when Messi did it

Two completely separate universes.

This was the most one-sided match so far in the round of 16. I likes ours chances.

[D_Master81]

12. It's reactionary for soccer players

As someone who rarely watches soccer I will regularly mock guys who go down like they got shot only to be back to normal in 2 minutes. Every guy that goes down immediately grabs their shin

[Ponietz]

14. But that isn't happening nearly as much with the new rule

The player must leave the pitch for one minute if a trainer comes onto the field.

[Prairie Gates]

17. Disagree

I've been involved with soccer for forty years as player, coach, and ref. I've refereed various levels for 15 years.

That's a red card all day.

And, yes, of course, Messi's infraction should have been as well.

[Music Man]

20. This fellow referee/player and son of a coach disagrees with you :)

Looking at the language from Law 12, "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play."

Because of the way the ankle got twisted, you might be able to say that his safety was endangered, but there's no way that's excessive force. If Balogun lands two inches to the left, he's merely stepping on the guy's foot.

Yellow cards are for reckless behavior, which this more easily falls under. In my humble opinion, of course.

Nice to meet a fellow ref!

[Mark.b2]

15. Although not a soccer fan, I've really enjoyed following this team and the World Cup overall...

I love that so many other Americans seem to be getting into this WC, as well!

It’s not going to get any easier. Go USA!

[Music Man]

18. The red card was indeed bullshit.

I was a certified soccer referee for years, so I am slow to criticize officials (because so many fans don't know shit), but this was a bad call. Players got tangled up. Watching someone's ankle get stepped on is hard to watch in slow motion, but that doesn't change the fact that Balogun didn't approach the Bosnian player with any amount of seriousness and had no idea that he was about to land on his foot.

I've seen a couple times this World Cup where VAR is used to overanalyze judgement calls rather than correcting mistakes. Sometimes refs have first instincts for a reason.

[3catwoman3]

22. Thank you!

[3catwoman3]

21. Agree with the red card being BS. We've all seen the same or worse happen with no call at all.