Bosnia and Herzegovina turn progress into World Cup return

Bosnia and Herzegovina are heading to the FIFA World Cup for only the second time after coming through a tense play-off campaign that underlined both their composure and the nation's long-term football development.

In their previous World Cup qualifying campaign, they finished fourth in their group and claimed just one win. This time around, they came within two points and a matter of minutes of automatic qualification.

Their reward was a spot in the play-offs. In both ties, Bosnia and Herzegovina fought back for late equalisers before holding their nerve in penalty shoot-outs, first against Wales and then against four-time world champions Italy.

Their qualification was sealed in those decisive moments, but its roots ran deeper.

Battle-hardened Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s place in League A of the most recent UEFA Nations League provided a run of demanding matches against top-level opposition. For a team building towards future decisive fixtures, that kind of experience is priceless.

After a hard-fought home draw with the Netherlands in their final Nations League match of the campaign, head coach Sergej Barbarez said: “I am convinced that this point will mean a lot for the forthcoming matches. These six games were the reason why I accepted [the job of] being the coach.”

Captain and talisman Džeko echoed those sentiments. “This result can be a positive thing for the forthcoming period. You must look at who we played against this evening,” said the striker. “Every result like this brings some positive energy and gives a push for the team and coach.”

With World Cup qualification now secured, those words read rather well.

Laying the turf for success

Bosnia’s triumph also came against the backdrop of concerted efforts by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation (NSBiH) to improve football infrastructure across the country.

Supported by funding from the UEFA HatTrick programme, hybrid turfs have been installed at various stadiums over the past few years, while a redevelopment of Sarajevo's Olympic Stadium, the largest in the country, was completed in 2023.

Three years later and fans across Bosnia and Herzegovina can now look forward to even more opportunities to watch their team against football’s elite. World Cup group stage matches against Canada, Qatar and Switzerland await, but for Barbarez, that’s only the first step of the journey.

"We're two years ahead of schedule," he said after securing qualification. "Now, I've told [the players] that we have to go to a tournament every two years!"

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