USA vs Bosnia LIVE: Pulisic set to start as World Cup co-hosts seek rare knockout win – UK Times

This is the final match of the tournament at the ground normally known as Levi’s Stadium, with the 71,000 capacity arena soon to be back in the possession of the San Francisco 49ers. It’s a lovely spot.

The United States have been practicing their penalties in training this week, just in case they are required later.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work on penalties. I won’t go ⁠into that,” defender Tim Ream said with a chuckle earlier in the week.

“That’s something that we’ve been working on throughout the week together, even before the tournament started, so that’s taken care of really. We know that, especially in ‌the knockouts, one mistake on a set play ​can send you home. So we’re fully focused on all aspects and all phases of the game.”

Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez has ⁠shrugged off American slights against his team, saying they need no extra motivation for their World Cup round-of-32 clash against the United States.

Former USA goalkeeper Tim Howard said on a podcast that the Bosnians were in for a brutal reality check at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Wednesday, while a network reporter mocked the nation on live TV before later apologising.

Barbarez said the hot takes were inevitable in the social ⁠media age and had no effect on the team.

“I have to admit things`like that happen on a daily basis,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We are a small country and sometimes things like that happen, but I have no problem with it. My boys don’t have a problem with it … You’re playing for a place in the round of 16. If that’s not motivation enough, then I don’t really notice things like that.”

Adam Clery, meanwhile, is having fun at The Independent’s New York base – in his latest ACFC video, he asks the question if the US could really win the World Cup.

Have you been listening to Copa Independent, our World Cup podcast? Well, if not, there’s no time like the knockout stages to get your audio fix as our writers in the United States give you all of latest insight from the tournament. You can find the latest episode wherever you get your podcasts – or here.

Here’s a reminder of all of the results so far in the knockout round, and the full tournament bracket.

The winner of this tie will take on either Belgium or Senegal in the next round – and the action in Seattle is about to get underway:

The enduring class of Edin Dzeko provides a large part of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s threat. Before the tournament, Richard Jolly profiled a 40-year-old striker still causing trouble: