United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino has decided to revert to his original 4-2-3-1 formation when he begins his 2026 World Cup round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Pochettino used the formation in the opening Group D match when the US crushed Paraguay 4-1. He had previously changed the formation to 3-5-2 when they won 2-0 over Australia and 3-4-3 when they lost 2-3 to Turkey in the final match.
Not only did he return to the original formation, Pochettino also fielded the exact same starting eleven that beat Paraguay, after making rotations in the previous two matches.
Folarin Balogun, who was rested against Turkey, returned to the US starting eleven against Bosnia and is expected to play the clinical spearhead role he played when he contributed two goals against Paraguay.
Sergino Dest and Christian Pulisic also returned to the starting lineup -- after coming off the bench against Turkey -- to form the second line of the US attack alongside Weston McKennie.
Meanwhile, the duo of Malick Tillman and Tyler Adams remained the trusted double pivot in the US midfield, in front of the defensive quartet of Alexander Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, and Antonee Robinson.
