Twenty four years of hurt, gone. On the stroke of halftime Folarin Balogun pounced on a Bosnia defensive mistake and slotted the USA in front, and in the eighty second minute Malik Tillman curled a stunning free kick past Nikola Vasilj to make it two. In front of a roaring home crowd at Levi's Stadium, the co-hosts finally won a World Cup knockout match for the first time since 2002.

Naturally, they made it stressful. Balogun, the man who broke the deadlock, was then shown a controversial red card after a VAR review, and the USA played the final half hour with ten men, clinging to their lead and their nerve. They held on, but the hero of the first half will now sit out the next round, which is the kind of plot twist only this team could write.

So Mauricio Pochettino's side march into the Round of 16 to face Belgium, drought broken, belief restored, and their best striker suspended. Bosnia never really got going and go home. The USA got the win the whole nation has been demanding, did it the hard way with a man down, and immediately handed themselves a selection headache. Progress, American style.