USA reach World Cup Last 16 as FIFA reports surge in Online Racist Abuse

July.02 (Mirror Sports) - The United States booked their place in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 with a gritty 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina despite playing much of the second half with 10 men.

Folarin Balogun gave the hosts the lead before being sent off, but Malik Tillman's stunning late free-kick secured the USA's first World Cup knockout-stage appearance in 24 years. The victory also ended a 10-match winless run against European opposition and set up a last-16 clash with Belgium.

     While the USA celebrated on the pitch, FIFA revealed an alarming rise in online racist abuse during the tournament.     

According to FIFA's Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), more than 89,000 abusive posts were detected during the group stage—a 13-fold increase compared with the 2022 World Cup. More than one in every 10 abusive posts was racially motivated, while more than 100 cases met the legal threshold for further action. 

The warning comes after Netherlands players Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville were subjected to racist abuse on social media following their penalty shootout defeat to Morocco.

FIFA said it monitored more than six million posts and comments, hid 181,000 hateful comments, and flagged around 1,000 accounts for further investigation.

"Football unites the world. Racism has no place in the beautiful game."