USMNT's 10 pivotal games ahead of Bosnia World Cup test
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- The USMNT won Group D at the 2026 World Cup and faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 — its first World Cup on home soil since 1994 — with Belgium (round of 16) and Spain (quarterfinals) possible if the Americans advance.
- Bert Patenaude scored the first hat trick in World Cup history on July 17, 1930, in a 3-0 US win over Paraguay, but FIFA didn't officially credit the feat until 2006 due to a dispute over who scored the 15th-minute goal (attributed at various points to Tom Florie, Patenaude, and a Paraguayan own goal).
- Walter Bahr's deflected 37th-minute goal lifted the US over heavily favored England 1-0 on June 29, 1950 — the "miracle on grass" — with goalkeeper Frank Borghi starring for a team of mostly semi-pro players riding a seven-match losing streak.
- Paul Caligiuri scored the "billion-dollar goal" on November 19, 1989, a 30th-minute strike from outside the box in a 1-0 US win over Trinidad and Tobago that ended a 40-year World Cup drought and kicked off a string of automatic qualifications.
- John Harkes forced an own goal from Colombian defender Andres Escobar on June 22, 1994, in a 2-1 US win over Colombia — a side Pelé had picked to win the tournament — sealing the first US World Cup victory on home soil.
- Landon Donovan scored in the 65th minute to seal "Dos a Cero," a 2-0 US win over Mexico at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea — a result the article flags as the only modern knockout-stage game the USMNT has won to date.
- Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scored in a 2-0 Confederations Cup semifinal upset of No. 1-ranked Spain on June 24, 2009, ending Spain's 35-game winning streak; the US then led Brazil 2-0 in the final before falling 3-2.
Why it matters: With Bosnia awaiting in the 2026 round of 32, the USMNT chases its first modern knockout-stage win since Landon Donovan's 'Dos a Cero' over Mexico in 2002 — a 24-year gap the article explicitly flags as pressure on Mauricio Pochettino's squad. A win matches the 2002 side on home soil; a loss extends the program's longest modern wait between knockout-stage victories.
