Who would the US need to beat to win the World Cup? Probably only Spain, France and England

F ootball Unites the World … in wishing it had paid more attention in applied mathematics class. Or so the Fifa slogan could have been expanded to say, given the mind-warping that arose from the formula for slicing the newly expanded 48-team tournament down to 32 sides for the first knockout round . After all, why do a random draw when you can build a matrix with 495 possible scenarios in order to assign the fixtures for the eight best third-placers? Anyway, what matters is that Mauricio Pochettino’s team will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, and no new format is going to stop us from – in time-honored fashion – speculating wildly about what may happen next while we still have the chance, with the potential for American wins rated using one of the mantra-loving manager’s motivational rallying cries of choice. The US’s potential path to the final Round of 32 Opponent: Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 July, 8pm ET, Santa Clara) In a World Cup of twinkling veteran stars, striker Edin Džeko remains influential at the age of 40, while winger Kerim Alajbegović – 22 years his junior – is an emerging talent who scored in the 3-1 win over Qatar that secured Bosnia and Herzegovina third place in Group B and a first-ever trip to the knockout stages. The US won’t want this to go to penalties, since their opponents beat Wales and Italy on spot-kicks in the qualification play-offs. …