Bosnia-Herzegovina are going back to the World Cup after Esmir Bajraktarevic, a 21-year-old born and raised in Wisconsin, converted the decisive penalty in a shootout win over Italy. The victory sent Sergej Barbarez’s team to the 2026 finals and ended an 11-year wait for a return to the game’s biggest stage.
That is why Bosnia is being searched now. The team has just punched its ticket to the tournament and will open against co-hosts Canada, a matchup that gives the achievement immediate weight beyond the celebration. For supporters, the reward is simple and long overdue: Bosnia-Herzegovina are back at a World Cup for the first time since 2014.
The route there was anything but smooth. Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Wales and Italy on penalties in the play-offs, coming from behind in both matches, and the late answers came from two different generations. Edin Dzeko, 40, scored six times in qualifying and rescued Bosnia with a crucial late equaliser against Wales before Kerim Alajbegovic, only 18, held his nerve in the shootout against the Welsh. Bajraktarevic then finished the job against Italy.
That comeback run was built on more than one night of composure. Bosnia-Herzegovina scored in all 10 of their World Cup qualifiers, yet they also conceded in seven of them, a record that showed both their edge in attack and their fragility at the back. Early in Barbarez’s tenure, after he took over in April 2024, they were thrashed 7-0 by Germany, a result that could have broken a new coach’s project before it began.
Instead, the former Bosnia forward steadied it. Barbarez won 47 caps as a player, later found a career in poker and reached the final table of the World Series of Poker on more than one occasion. He has described the job as one aimed at qualifying for Euro 2028, but the immediate return has come sooner: a place at the 2026 World Cup and a team that has already shown it can survive pressure. Bosnia-Herzegovina play in a classic 4-4-2 with Dzeko leading the line, and they have leaned into the underdog role all the way through qualification.
The unanswered question is how far that formula can travel once the tournament starts. For now, Bosnia have something they had not had since 2014: a World Cup place earned the hard way, by twice coming from behind and by trusting a teenager and a Wisconsin-born midfielder to decide the biggest moments.
