The plan for Team USA to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina is simple: attack, grab an early lead, and add on

They definitely should win this one.

The US men’s soccer team has played seven knockout matches in the World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1930. They’ve won just one — a 2-0 stifling of Mexico, their regional archrival whom they knew well, in the 2002 round of 16.

Read more Here are the best photos from the Globe’s 2025-26 high school sports photojournalism program

But the Americans are a decided favorite over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Wednesday night’s round of 32 encounter in Santa Clara, Calif.

They won Group D with convincing victories over Paraguay and Australia. They’re healthy and fit. They’ll be playing in front of a flag-waving full house in Levi’s Stadium. And they’ll be facing the lowest-ranked (64th) of the 16 European teams in the field.

Historically, the Yanks have come to grief against rivals from the Continent. Since Team USA returned to the global stage in 1990, its record is 1-13-7, the sole triumph coming over Portugal in the 2002 opener.

The Americans have lost their last 10 meetings with European rivals. In Cup tuneups on home soil, they were beaten by Belgium (5-2), Portugal (2-0), and Germany (2-1).

But Bosnia and Herzegovina, the last European team the US defeated in 2021, is strictly second-tier. The Dragons finished second in a qualifying group whose best team was Austria and also included perennial minnows Cyprus and San Marino.

They had to come from behind in their playoff matches with Wales and Italy, winning both on penalties. So Bosnia and Herzegovina were delighted to make the tournament for the first time since 2014, and only the second time since Yugoslavia came apart.

That said, the Dragons have performed creditably in this tournament. They drew with co-host Canada in Toronto after leading with a dozen minutes to play.

While they lost, 4-1, to Switzerland, three of the goals happened after Tarik Muharemovic was sent off in the 80th minute. Then they put away Qatar, 3-1, helped by an own goal.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s style, similar to that of Paraguay and Australia, is suited to a side without a threatening attack. They maintain their structure diligently, they’re physical on the ball, and skilled at set pieces.

But the Americans have shown that, with their athleticism and speed, they can force opponents like that to backpedal and lose their bearings in the box. They scored four goals on a Paraguayan side that held the Germans to one and then beat them in a shootout.

The question now is whether America, which sat nine of its starters in the meaningless 3-2 loss to Turkiye in the group finale, can regain its offensive rhythm and flow.

Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun, the killer combination that struck sparks in the first half of the opener, hasn’t played together since. Pulisic, whose left calf muscle had tightened ominously, came off at intermission against Paraguay. And Balogun, who was sitting on a yellow card, was kept out of the Turkiye match lest he risk picking up another and getting suspended.

Read more ‘I’m sure he’s proud of me’: Tears flowed after Paraguay’s stunning World Cup upset of Germany

They’ll be back on the field Wednesday with the rest of the regulars suiting up, and Matt Freese back in goal. If they handle things the way they did in the first two matches, the Americans likely will advance to a round of 16 date against the winner of Wednesday’s Belgium-Senegal match in Seattle.

That means scoring first, preferably early. When they beat Mexico in 2002, Brian McBride scored in the eighth minute. Usually it goes the other way.

When the Yanks lost to Ghana in extra time in 2010, they conceded a goal to Kevin-Prince Boateng in the fifth. When they fell to the Dutch four years ago, they gave up one to Memphis Depay in the 10th.

The Americans never have been built to chase the game. They’re at their best when they’re going forward with energy and emotion, and then keeping the heat on after taking the lead.

The group that coach Mauricio Pochettino selected and shaped has the ability to do that. His charges are comfortable playing anywhere on the pitch with the defenders able to move up and add to the oomph.

What’s telling about this US edition is that its opening tallies in the first two matches came on own goals in the first dozen minutes.

They weren’t oops! miscues. They were the result of pressure in space that discombobulated defenders and gave the Americans a precious early advantage.

Playing from ahead in a Cup match is a novelty for them. The challenge will be to lock things down and finish them out. The longer that Bosnia and Herzegovina can hang around, the greater the likelihood that the match will go to extra time.

Brazil was on the verge of going there with Japan on Monday before Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner five minutes into stoppage time. The Germans did go there, couldn’t deliver and went out on PKs for the first time in Cup history.

That was an enormous upset, but not unthinkable. It’s also not unthinkable that Bosnia and Herzegovina could knock out the Yanks before the Fourth of July.

So the task for the home team is clear: Go up early, and then go for the knockout.

Read more What made AJ Dybantsa the No. 1 pick? He’s the exact type of player NBA teams are looking for.