It seemed like things were going to break the right way for the US Men’s National team. Unfortunately, the final round of the group stage didn’t go as planned, and the FIFA World Cup bracket got significantly more challenging for the home underdogs.

The US starts bracket play on Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they will be a -270 favorite, their largest for a single game so far in the World Cup. This round-of-32 match is simply a must-win for the United States.

Over the years, the USMNT has struggled to get Americans to buy into the World Cup, but after an exciting group-stage performance, buy-in is at an all-time high, with most of the tournament taking place on US soil.

Given how the US has looked under manager Mauricio Pochettino, they shouldn’t have many issues against Bosnia; however, they did beat Italy, FIFA’s twelfth-best team, which prevented them from playing in the World Cup. There’s no such thing as a gimmie, but this game cannot be lost at home.

It’s only uphill from there, with the second round a much tougher test between the winners of Belgium and Senegal. The US did beat Senegal in a recent friendly right before the start of the World Cup, but they also got walloped in a friendly one month prior against Belgium.

If they managed to get past the round of 16, they’d be faced with one of Spain, Portugal, Croatia, or Austria. A very challenging path for the red, white, and blue, a path they’ll need to climb if they want soccer to be more than a trendy fad within the United States.

This team felt different than years prior. They haven’t looked like the plucky underdog; they were the by far best team in the group. They weren’t sitting back in a defensive shell, looking for one attack to break through; they were on the front foot in the group stages.

This iteration of the USMNT has a level of talent they’ve never had in a World Cup. A healthy Christian Pulisic is a good starting point, but having outside backs like Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson has been a game-changer on the outside this year. Also, Folarin Balogun has been incredible up front for the US.

Veterans Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams have been incredibly solid in the middle, filling out a US team far more talented than we are used to. If they are matched up with Belgium in the round of 16, not only will it be a rematch of Tim Howard’s incredible performance in 2014, but it can be a changing of the guard.

Belgium’s golden generation might finally meet its match in Father Time, whereas the US would finally show they can contend on the World Stage. Winning is the only thing that truly matters in the US, and if they can’t make it to the quarter finals, we will have to wait four more years for Americans to be all in on soccer.

It feels like every week, where MMA fans, media members, fighters, and pundits can throw their arms up in frustration at something involving officiating. Whether it’s a questionable call by the referee, a questionable scorecard from a judge, or, even worse, the referee flat-out making a call that goes against the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, something happens involving the people we expect to uphold the rules, the integrity, and the spirit of great MMA competition. And it leaves people dumbfounded.

This week was especially notable considering a pair of events that occurred during the UFC Baku card on June 27.

The first instance came during the preliminary card’s opening bout between Tahir Abdullayev and Jefferson Nascimento. While the overall impact of this fight might be low, considering both men were making their UFC debuts, both were notable talents on the regional scene (Abdullayev in UAE Warriors and Nascimento in LFA).

And you don’t want to start the night with something that could take the wind out of an event’s sails. Well, while the night’s action was great, referee Jim Perdios made sure this card started with a groan instead of a bang.

The fight was already a boring one, considering a lack of offense between the two competitors, but things got weird when Nascimento received a warning from Perdios for lack of activity. Abdullayev, however, did not receive such a warning despite Nascimento outworking him in the first two rounds, per UFC Stats.

Even more egregious, Abdullayev landed a punch on Nascimento after the horn to signal the end of the second round. Abdullayev, however, did not receive a point deduction. And some fans flashed back to the horrid Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie bout from UFC 208.

The cherry on top of it came during the finishing sequence. Abdullayev dropped Nascimento and tried to rain down power shots. We’ve seen fighters in worse positions than Nascimento, and Nascimento grabbed onto Abdullayev from the bottom. But that’s the moment Perdios stepped in and stopped the fight. Nascimento got back to his fight and immediately protested – and the UFC’s own commentary team couldn’t defend the stoppage.

Leading off with a controversial fight is bad enough; it gets worse when your co-main event gets filled with ref controversy, too.

Even more of a spotlight gets put on this when the referee of the UFC Baku co-main event – Shara “Bullet” Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira – is Herb Dean. Dean is a longtime ref in the game, but his best days are far behind him. In fact, Dean is a near-frequent name brought up these days with controversial officiating. Alex Pereira is currently targeting him, accusing Dean of terrible officiating in his UFC Freedom 250 bout with Ciryl Gane.

Things started “great” in the first round, when Pereira dropped Magomedov. While Pereira was on top, trying to land shots, Magomedov pulled Pereira’s hair on more than one occasion.

Despite the obvious fouling, no disqualification (or TKO) finish was issued, and no point was deducted. Nothing. Just a “hard warning” levied against Magomedov.

Now, after a hard warning, should come a point deduction, right? Well, after a boring second frame, the third round saw Magomedov land an eye poke on Pereira. And what did Dean do?

The answer: Nothing! Not even a point deduction.

That would play a pivotal role in the outcome, as Magomedov won on the judges’ scorecards. Had Dean done his job, it would have been a draw at best for Magomedov, if not a Pereira win.

In his own post-event editorial, Andrew Richardson of MMA Mania mentions how common it is that officiating issues happen in MMA these days. And as he mentions, every time there is an outcry for more scrutiny and watchdogging of MMA’s officials, nothing ever happens.

This writer understands that referees and judges fall under the state athletic commissions, which have government oversight. But how much more is it going to take before somebody steps in and really shakes things up for these people who have huge roles in this sport’s matchups? How much can education and outcry really do? It’s time for consequences.

But this writer isn’t going to hold his breath…