USA moves on!

This is The Sports Reset for Thursday July 2nd

In World Cup soccer, the United States beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 to 0 and moved into the last 16 with a win that had some bite to it. Folarin Balogun scored just before halftime, then was sent off with a red card in the 64th minute, and Malik Tillman’s 82nd-minute free kick gave the Americans room to finish the job with 10 men. Belgium made sure it will be waiting, beating Senegal 3 to 2 after Youri Tielemans converted a 125th-minute penalty to finish a comeback from 2 to 0 down. England also survived a scare, beating Congo DR 2 to 1 behind two late Harry Kane goals after trailing early. In MLB, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10 to 6 after Paul Skenes allowed a career-high eight runs, and the Chicago Cubs rolled past the San Diego Padres 23 to 3 with a huge power night.

Looking ahead, World Cup soccer keeps the knockout stage moving today with Austria against Spain at SoFi Stadium, Croatia against Portugal at BMO Field, and Algeria against Switzerland at BC Place. Portugal-Croatia is the matchup to watch, because Cristiano Ronaldo’s role remains the central question for a team trying to turn one more run into something real. The United States now has Belgium on Monday in Seattle, and Balogun’s suspension makes the attacking plan more complicated. In MLB, the San Diego Padres go straight from that rough day at Wrigley into a road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, while the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies run it back after the Skenes start got away early. The WNBA has Atlanta Dream-Washington Mystics, Dallas Wings-Connecticut Sun, and Seattle Storm-Phoenix Mercury. Off the field, the Boston Celtics sending Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia is the NBA story of the week.