Dugout Discussion
2 July 2026 26 comments
TopMarx TopMarx
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The USA take on Bosnia and Herzegovina for the right to play Senegal Belgium in the last 16.

Kick-off in San Francisco is at 01:00 BST.

The USA are overwhelming favourites to progress but Bosnia and Herzegovina have a habit of causing an upset – they beat Italy in a play-off to reach the World Cup.

TEAM NEWS

Christian Pulisic ($7.0m) is deemed fit enough to start for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. The former Chelsea player is yet to complete more than 45 minutes of football after struggling with a calf injury.

The popular Sergino Dest ($4.3m), the most-selected player among Fantasy managers, returns to the starting XI following a rest and brief appearance in the final Group D match. The attacking defender has produced returns in each of his two starts at the World Cup so far.

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kerim Alajbegovic ($4.2m), a scorer in the win over Qatar, starts alongside the evergreen Edin Dzeko ($6.1m) and Ermedin Demirovic ($6.2m) in attack.

None of the Bosnia and Herzegovina side surpass the five per cent threshold, meaning they all qualify for Scouting Bonus, whereas three of the USA team are above the crucial mark: Alexander Freeman ($4.0m) joins Dest and Pulisic.

LINE-UPS

USA XI: Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Malik Tillman, Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun

Subs: M. Turner, C. Brady, A. Trusty, G. Reyna, R. Pepi, B. Aaronson, M. Robinson, S. Berhalter, M. Arfsten, H. Wright, T. Weah, J. Scally, A. Zendejas

Bosnia and Herzegovina XI: Nikola Vasilj, Nikola Katic, Stjepan Radeljic, Tarik Muharemović, Amar Dedić, Armin Gigovic, Ivan Sunjic, Sead Kolasinac, Kerim Alajbegovic, Edin Džeko, Ermedin Demirovic

Subs: M. Jurkas, M. Zlomislic, N. Mujakic, D. Hadzikadunic, B. Tahirovic, S. Bazdar, I. Basic, A. Memic, A. Hadziahmetovic, D. Burnic, E. Bajraktarevic, H. Tabakovic, A. Malic, J. Lukic, E. Mahmic


TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

26 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    3 hours, 18 mins ago

    USA

    GK Matt Freese
    DL A. Robinson
    DC C. Richards
    DC Tim Ream
    DR Alex Freeman
    DMC M. Tillman
    DMC Tyler Adams
    AML C. Pulisic
    AMC W. McKennie
    AMR Sergino Dest
    FW F. Balogun

    Bosnia and Herzegovina

    GK N. Vasilj
    DC S. Radeljic
    DC Nikola Katic
    DC T. Muharemovic
    ML S. Kolasinac
    MC A. Gigovic
    MC Ivan Sunjic
    MR Amar Dedic
    FWL Edin Dzeko
    FWR K. Alajbegovic
    FW E. Demirovic

    Rectified.

    1. lilmessipran
      • 13 Years
      3 hours, 9 mins ago

      What position does Rectified play?

      1. CoracAld2831
        • 5 Years
        1 hour, 28 mins ago

        Outfield.

  2. puma
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    2 hours, 45 mins ago

    Lets go USA!!!!

    1. puma
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      2 hours, 38 mins ago

      And yeah, given politics, I feel dirty saying that

  3. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    2 hours, 24 mins ago

    1-0 USA

    1. CoracAld2831
      • 5 Years
      2 hours, 16 mins ago

      Balogun, no assist.

  4. SpaceCadet
    • 12 Years
    1 hour, 40 mins ago

    Bye bye Balogun

  5. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    1 hour, 39 mins ago

    Wow. Red card for Balogun.

  6. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    1 hour, 38 mins ago

    That is a massive loss for US team.

    1. Freshy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      1 hour, 30 mins ago

      If they make it thru Pepi is solid
      Not a huge difference

  7. Freshy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    1 hour, 32 mins ago

    Did the B&H player stay on?
    Nasty twist

  8. DeSelby
    • 3 Years
    1 hour, 26 mins ago

    These BBC announcers are woeful. I could announce someone checking a book out from the library and it would sound more exciting.

  9. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    1 hour, 21 mins ago

    2-0 USA

    1. CoracAld2831
      • 5 Years
      1 hour, 14 mins ago

      Nice freekick from Tillman.

    2. DeSelby
      • 3 Years
      1 hour, 14 mins ago

      Perhaps the players in the wall should have considered jumping. Jeez.

  10. The Florentine assassin
    • 3 Years
    1 hour, 21 mins ago

    Well done U.S.A.

  11. Freshy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    1 hour, 20 mins ago

    Puch should pull Dest for Berhalter now
    # DestHaul

    1. Freshy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      1 hour, 14 mins ago

      12 points locked for Dest

  12. The Florentine assassin
    • 3 Years
    1 hour, 19 mins ago

    Cheeky little DEST iny's child assist 🙂

  13. The Florentine assassin
    • 3 Years
    1 hour, 16 mins ago

    Dest goes off which locks in the clean sheet

  14. CoracAld2831
    • 5 Years
    1 hour, 2 mins ago

    USA wins, advances and faces Belgium in the last 16.

  15. Freshy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    52 mins ago

    Last player to get a goal and a Red Card in a WC match?

    ZZ
    Balogun in good company

  16. bso
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    51 mins ago

    I had a dreadful first 3 games...now up to 362 points, 97 this game, with 6 top players to go. Not bad.

    1. panda07
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 mins ago

      Well played, evil panda.

  17. bso
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    9 mins ago

    Who will win the Mexico vs England game guys?