Sports
After short-handed victory over Bosnia, U.S. turn focus to Belgium
July 1, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Folarin Balogun of the U.S. scores their first goal. Mandatory Credit: Pedro Nunes-Reuters via Imagn Images It took blood and sweat to produce tears of joy as the short-handed U.S. men’s national team moved to the World Cup’s round of 16 with a gritty 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif.
The USMNT’s first knockout-stage win in 24 years sets up a meeting with Belgium on Monday in Seattle with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
Amid the postgame jubilation was the realization that leading scorer Folarin Balogun, who popped in his third goal of the tournament in the 45th minute, will miss the next match. The forward received a red card in the 64th minute on Wednesday, leaving the U.S. scrambling to defend a 1-0 lead.
They did and more when Malik Tillman scored from a free kick in the 82nd minute to seal the win. The result ended the United States’ 10-match losing streak to European teams and also marked the first time the U.S. won three matches in the same World Cup.
Tillman paused after the match to reflect on his wonder goal but also to look ahead to Belgium.
“We have to enjoy this moment now,” he said. “(Against Belgium), we want to go as fast possible, and it won’t be an easy game, but now we will analyze them, we will analyze our game and hopefully we keep going.”
In the post-match interview room, Tillman was in his socks with blood noticeable on the right sock by the big toe. He explained that in the second half, his right boot had been cut open and that shortly before the free kick he had to change footwear.
After a potential Christian Pulisic goal was disallowed in the 78th minute because he was offside, Tillman sent an overpowering shot up and over the wall from 21 yards to the upper left corner. The restart was set up when Sergino Dest drew a yellow card as Stjepan Radeljic grabbed his shirt.
“I know some guys doubted me to go over the wall, but I practiced this in training,” Tillman said. “You never know when it’s going to happen, but luckily today it happened and now I was ready for it. I was very confident, and now I’m happy it went in.”
Balogun gave the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead with a wicked spin and shot from the top of the box. He followed a formula that worked in the first match against Paraguay when he had an early goal reversed because of an offside call before putting one on the scoreboard that stuck.
This time, he was offside in the 31st minute, but he would not be denied 14 minutes later.
The U.S. kept its defensive shape, pinning Bosnia and Herzegovina deep, resulting in a giveaway that led to the ball pinging off Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic.
Balogun ran onto the loose ball, stopped, turned to his left and fired in his third goal of the tournament.
A few minutes later in first-half stoppage time, Balogun pounded a shot off the crossbar from a pass by Sergino Dest.
The match took an ominous turn for the U.S. early in the second half when Balogun was issued a straight red card. When challenging for a header, his right foot landed on Muharemovic’s left ankle.
There was no foul called initially, but referee Raphael Claus reviewed the play and issued the red card.
When play resumed, the U.S. refused to back down while playing smart and composed for the most part.
“We had to dig deep for that one,” Pulisic said. “Obviously, I felt we put on such a good performance and didn’t deserve the red card. I mean, I didn’t see it, but it’s unfortunate. But for us to dig in deep like that and just to get another goal and to defend the way we did took a real team effort.”
Balogun became the first player to score and be red-carded in a World Cup knockout-phase match since France’s Zinedine Zidane tallied and was sent off in the 2006 championship match vs. Italy.
“For me, never was it a red card,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “… (After that,) I thought that is a moment that we need to be a team. We need to show that we are a team. I could see in the eyes of the players as a coach we are ready to go and to fight, and that’s amazing.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kahlil Watson, Guardians walk off White Sox again, move atop division
Jul 3, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges (27) tags out Chicago White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth (10) at home plate during the fourth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images Kahlil Watson singled up the middle off Sean Newcomb in the 10th inning, scoring Steven Kwan to give the Cleveland Guardians a 4-3 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Travis Bazzana led off with a single, moving automatic runner Kwan to third. Watson, a 23-year-old rookie, followed with Cleveland’s second consecutive walk-off hit to open the four-game series.
The Guardians took a one-game lead over Chicago in the American League Central.
Erik Sabrowski (3-1) pitched a clean 10th for Cleveland, preventing pinch runner Luisangel Acuna from leaving second base. Newcomb (0-2) failed to record an out.
The Guardians tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning on back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Austin Hedges and Kwan against Bryan Hudson.
Shortstop Colson Montgomery got a glove on Hedges’ hit, but deflected it. Left fielder Sam Antonacci fumbled Kwan’s sharp liner for an error.
Rhys Hoskins and Brayan Rocchio scored on the singles by Hedges and Kwan, respectively, after both reached on walks issued by Seranthony Dominguez.
Chicago had gone ahead 3-1 in the fifth when Miguel Vargas hit a three-run homer off Gavin Williams — ending a 10-pitch at-bat — immediately before a two-hour rain delay.
Tristan Peters and Antonacci came around on Vargas’ 374-foot shot to left. Williams threw two strikes to begin the duel, which saw thousands of fans seek shelter as it played out.
As soon as Vargas’ ball cleared the fence, third base umpire Vic Carapazza called for the tarp to be placed on the infield.
The Guardians managed only one hit off Anthony Kay in the first four innings, an RBI single by Bazzana in the third that plated Gabriel Arias.
Kay exited following the delay with two strikeouts and two walks. Dominguez was charged with two runs in one-third of an inning.
Williams worked 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked a pair.
On Thursday, Cleveland won 6-5 on Rocchio’s two-run homer off Grant Taylor that hit the foul pole in right field in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
Jul 3, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (48) throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Aroldis Chapman broke the record for most strikeouts by a reliever en route to his 17th save as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.
Caleb Durbin hit a home run and scored twice, Jarren Duran had two RBIs, Ceddanne Rafaela collected two hits and a stolen base and Willson Contreras doubled, singled and scored a run for Boston, which ended a two-game skid. However, the Red Sox won for the sixth time in eight games.
Red Sox starter Jake Bennett (3-3), who began the game throwing 4 1/3 perfect innings, allowed two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Chapman opened the bottom of the ninth by striking out Denzer Guzman with a 99 mph sinker for his 1,364th career strikeout, breaking the all-time reliever record previously held by Hoyt Wilhelm. Chapman then permitted two singles before inducing a game-ending double-play grounder from Jo Adell.
Jose Siri homered and Zach Neto had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which lost its fourth straight game. Reid Detmers (3-6), coming off a June that saw him allow just eight runs over 31 2/3 innings over five starts, permitted five runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and fanned five.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second when Gonzalez hit a sinking line drive for a triple under the glove of a diving Siri in center field, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Duran.
The Red Sox extended the lead to 4-0 in the third on a bases-loaded two-run single by Gonzalez followed by a safety squeeze bunt by Duran.
Durbin led off the fifth with his eighth home run, a 358-foot line drive inside the left field foul pole, to make it 5-0.
Los Angeles got back into the game with two runs in the eighth. Siri hit his fifth homer to right-center to cut the lead to 5-1. Josh Lowe followed with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Neto.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Without A'ja Wilson, Aces survive Sky in OT
Jul 3, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith (3) drives to the basket against Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) in the second quarter at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Las Vegas Aces may have been without perennial MVP A’ja Wilson, but the defending WNBA champions still survived at home despite a turbulent effort in a 98-90 overtime victory against the Chicago Sky on Friday.
Forward NaLyssa Smith picked up where her frontcourt partner Wilson was unable to, tallying a career-high 29 points for the Aces (15-5) on an efficient 11-of-14 shooting while also collecting eight rebounds. Jewell Loyd added 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Chelsea Gray chipped in 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Skylar Diggins paced the Sky (6-14) with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, making two of her four attempts from 3-point range. Natasha Cloud was the driving force behind Chicago’s fourth-quarter rally, adding 15 points and five assists in the loss. Kamila Cardoso also delivered an encore to her 24-point game against the Aces on Sunday, chipping in 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Trailing 86-84, Gray buried a mid-range pull-up jumper with 22.6 seconds remaining to knot the game at 86 and eventually send the game to overtime after an empty Sky possession ended regulation. Diggins gave the Sky an 88-86 lead to open the scoring in overtime, but the Aces answered with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 92-88 with 1:14 left in the extra period and didn’t look back.
After Gray put the Aces ahead by a game-high 14 points with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter, the Sky went on a 26-13 run to cut the lead down to 64-63 with 1:53 remaining in the frame. Loyd promptly answered with a rally of her own for Las Vegas, scoring seven of the Aces’ next nine points to push their lead back to 73-64 early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the fact that the Sky trailed by double digits in each of the first three quarters, they still managed to take their first lead of the game, 82-81, on a Cloud 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining and extended that lead to 84-81 on their next possession on a Diggins lay-in.
The Aces overcame a troublesome 4-of-22 clip from 3-point range (18.2%), while Chicago made 7 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc (35%). Despite that, Las Vegas still shot a superior 35-of-69 (50.7%) from the field overall, while Chicago made 28 of 65 field-goal attempts (43.1%).
–Field Level Media
Kahlil Watson, Guardians walk off White Sox again, move atop division
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
