{"id":922563,"date":"2026-07-26T07:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T12:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/26\/malik-tillman-continues-stellar-world-cup-with-free-kick-goal-ive-been-dreaming-about-it\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T07:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T12:14:26","slug":"malik-tillman-continues-stellar-world-cup-with-free-kick-goal-ive-been-dreaming-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/26\/malik-tillman-continues-stellar-world-cup-with-free-kick-goal-ive-been-dreaming-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Malik Tillman continues stellar World Cup with free kick goal: \u201cI\u2019ve been dreaming about it\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Malik Tillman delivered an assist in his FIFA World Cup debut against Paraguay and followed that up in his first knockout stage appearance on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Tillman continued his stellar run with the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team by scoring his first-career World Cup goal in Wednesday\u2019s 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina. The 24-year-old midfielder iced the Americans result with a sublime free kick, helping Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s squad get over the line with 10-men. <\/p>\n

Entering the match with three senior USMNT goals to his name, Tillman delivered his best yet at a vital time in the tournament, admitting it was continued practice that led to his clinical execution in the moment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been going through all the ways you can possibly take this free kick,\u201d Tillman said postmatch to reporters. \u201cWe talked about going to the side, we talked about it going over the wall, and I know some guys say the story all over the world, but I practiced this in training and I\u2019m happy it went through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you talk to me, even yesterday I would say no [about dreaming about scoring on a free kick at the World Cup], but now I\u2019ve been dreaming about this game, I\u2019ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick,\u201d Tillman added. <\/p>\n

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The USMNT took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to Folarin Balogun\u2019s third goal of the competition, but eventually lost their star striker to a red card after the hour mark. Growing pressure from Bosnia-Herzegovina forced the Americans to try and grab an insurance goal and they did just that through Tillman\u2019s sensational strike. <\/p>\n

Tillman credited the USMNT\u2019s work ethic and togetherness to hang on for the result, even while playing down to 10-men for the final 25+ minutes. <\/p>\n

\u201c[We had] the right heart to keep going, keep fighting, and I think this game today showed our character,\u201d Tillman said. \u201cWe will always keep on fighting, keep on doing everything, and even though the game went to the end, we showed our character to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Belgium now awaits the USMNT in Seattle on July 6, with history not on the Americans side in past head-to-head meetings. The USMNT are 1-6-0 in seven all-time meetings with the Belgians, which most recently featured a 5-2 drubbing against Rudi Garcia\u2019s men in Atlanta last March. <\/p>\n

Earning a first knockout stage win since 2002 though will surely give the USMNT a confidence boost, something that Tillman thinks could prove crucial against another tough opponent in Belgium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough game, but I think this game today can give us a lot of confidence,\u201d Tillman said. \u201cWe just need to keep going the same way that we have done so far and of course it\u2019s going to be a tough opponent, but I think we are ready for it and ready to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Larry Henry Jr
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malik Tillman delivered an assist in his FIFA World Cup debut against Paraguay and followed that up in his first knockout stage appearance on Wednesday. Tillman continued his stellar run with the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team by scoring his first-career World Cup goal in Wednesday\u2019s 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina. The 24-year-old midfielder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":922564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29558,24015],"tags":[95373,134873],"class_list":["post-922563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-malik","category-tillman","tag-malik","tag-tillman"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/922564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}