USA’s opponent in World Cup knockout round in Bay Area finalized. Who’s coming?
The opponent for the United States when they come to the Bay Area for the first knockout round of the World Cup is locked in.
The Americans, winners of Group D, will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, which was finalized Thursday when Japan and Sweden tied.
Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third in Group B by going 1-1-1 with a minus-1 goal differential after tying host Canada 1-1, losing to Switzerland 4-1 and beating Qatar 3-1.
Bosnia as of Thursday was FIFA’s No. 62 ranked team, while the United States sat at No. 14 before their final group stage match against Turkey. The U.S. men’s national team clinched Group D after beating Paraguay and Australia, the two teams squaring off at Levi’s Stadium to wrap their group stage Thursday night.
Suffice to say, the Americans will be heavy favorites to win and advance to the Round of 16, where they would take on the winner of the Round-of-32 matchup between the first-place finisher in Group G — featuring Egypt, Iran, Belgium and New Zealand — and a third-place team from Group A, E, H, I or J.
Betting markets showed the U.S. with a solid edge. FanDuel, as of Thursday, had the United States as a minus-165 favorite, implicating about a 62% probability of victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This iteration of the World Cup is the first time there’s been a Round of 32 knockout stage. It’s due to the larger format with the field growing from 32 to 48 teams. It’s caused the tournament to grow to 104 total games, up from 64 in 2022.
It also means that eight of the 12 third-place teams from group play — determined by a complicated series of tiebreakers — advance to the knockout stage. Bosnia and Herzegovina entered Thursday with more than a 99% chance of matching up with the U.S. via those tiebreakers, and the tie between Japan and Sweden sealed the deal.
The cheapest tickets for next Wednesday’s game are selling on StubHub for $2,212, with the most expensive pair going for $10,187.
FIFA’s official secondary ticket website was down for the game as of Thursday evening.
