USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina: Prediction, team news, lineups and odds | OneFootball

After watching neighbours Canada (managed by American Jesse Marsch) qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup, the USA will be desperate to follow suit. And after topping their group with two wins out of three, the co-hosts will be confident of doing so.

The USMNT opened the tournament in impressive style by thumping Germany’s last-32 conquerors, Paraguay, 4-1 and followed it up with a 2-0 success over Australia. A last-minute 3-2 loss to Turkey in what was a dead rubber drew some heat from the angle of losing momentum, but boss Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t having the criticism. For the Argentine, it was job done.

Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified as a third-best team, one that accumulated four points. That featured a 1-1 draw with Canada, a 4-1 loss to Switzerland in a game that was 1-0 to the Swiss with six minutes left and a must-win 3-1 success over Qatar.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina kick-off time

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina kicks off at 1am BST (5pm local) on Thursday, July 2 at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in California.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina how to watch

The game will be shown live in the UK on BBC One, with coverage starting at 12.50am.

BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT will both provide full match commentary.

USA team news

The fitness of talismanic playmaker Christian Pulisic always gets the most attention from a US point of view.

The former Chelsea star played the first 45 minutes of the Paraguay win, setting up two goals before being withdrawn with a calf strain, but missed out against Australia.

He came back and got 32 minutes under his belt against Turkey, with Pochettino stressing that all was okay.

Auston Trusty was stretchered off with an ankle twist in the loss to Turkey but the Celtic defender played down the injury later.

He’ll be given a late fitness test, along with Cristian Roldan and Mark McKenzie, who have also been carrying knocks.

Bosnia and Herzegovina team news

Tarik Muharemovic was suspended for the win over Qatar after his red card against Switzerland but the Sassuolo defender is available again.

Amir Dedic is thought to be the only other doubt for Sergei Barbarez’s men. The Benfica right-back is hoping to shake off a thigh issue.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina odds

The USA are hot 2/5 favourites to win in 90 minutes and book their place in the last 16.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are 7/1 while The Draw is 4/1.

In the ‘To Qualify’ market which also brings extra-time and penalties into play, the USA are just 2/11 to go through while Bosnia and Herzegovina are 5/1 to advance.

A last-16 tie with either Belgium or Senegal awaits the winner.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina prediction

A co-host who topped the group against a third-placed team seems a fairly easy one to call on paper. The odds certainly reflect that.

But Bosnia and Herzegovina are a tough nut to crack. They were clear underdogs against both Wales (semis) and Italy (final) in the World Cup playoffs but relished the status and came through.

And they were also close to beating another co-host, Canada, in their opening group game.

The market looks to be underrating them and there’s also this interesting stat: the Americans have lost their last 10 matches against European opposition.

That said, co-hosts do benefit from home advantage, whether it be climate or favourable decisions from incidents that could be interpreted two different ways.

Let’s back The Draw at 4/1 and also take the USA at 10/1 to win in extra time.

Perhaps as a cover bet, also have a small wager on Bosnia and Herzegovina to win on penalties at 16/1.

They beat both Wales and Italy on spot-kicks and Nikola Vasilj is a formidable presence in goal when it comes to shootouts.