2026 World Cup: In Seattle, Bosnia-Herzegovina has breakthrough moment

by · The Seattle Times

Nearly 15 minutes after the final whistle blew, the seats at Seattle Stadium were still full of revelers. 

The Bosnia-Herzegovina fans simply didn’t want to leave. They danced to the music pumping through the stadium’s speakers and sang with whatever was left of their voices. Flags held high with pride. Witnesses of history. 

It was a salute to the team on the field that also didn’t want to depart. A group that will advance to the knockout rounds of the FIFA Men’s World Cup. Standing arm-in-arm, the Bosnia-Herzegovina men’s national team chanted and danced along with their roiling sea of supporters, soaking in one of the greatest moments in the country’s sporting history. 

“It’s incredible,” coach Sergej Barbarez said in Bosnian. 

Seattle played host to history Wednesday, as Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 3-1 victory against Qatar clinched a third-place finish in Group B for the Balkan country. With four points from three games, Bosnia-Herzegovina qualified for the World Cup’s knockout stage for the first time in its history. 

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Bosnia-Herzegovina will likely play the United States in the Round of 32 on July 1 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The winner of that game will return to Seattle for the round of 16. 

“It’s an incredible feeling, like I said before,” said winger Esmir Bajraktarević, an Appleton, Wis., native who’s represented Bosnia-Herzegovina since 2024. “Even throughout the qualifiers, when we qualified, so many times the fans are incredible, and to share that feeling with all of them is special.”

Bosnia-Herzegovina has waited a long time for a moment like it experienced Wednesday. The country founded its own football association in December 1992 amid the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian war waged across the country. 

FIFA finally recognized the country in 1996, but it was nearly two decades before Bosnia-Herzegovina made its debut on the world’s biggest stage. Led by star striker Edin Džeko, it qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but was eliminated after just three games in group play.

But the 2014 World Cup wasn’t the beginning of a Bosnia-Herzegovina emergence. It missed out on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. All while some of its Balkan neighbors — most notably Croatia, which finished runner-up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia — shined on the international platform. 

Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, at times, seemed similarly unlikely. Bosnia-Herzegovina finished second in its qualifying group behind Austria, missing out on a guaranteed spot for the tournament and instead heading into the confederation playoffs. 

Penalty shootout wins against Wales and Italy helped Bosnia-Herzegovina grab one of the final European qualifying spots. And after a 1-1 draw with Canada to open Group B, Barbarez’s team slumped to a disappointing 4-1 loss after going down to 10 players because of a red card against Switzerland. 

Needing a win to try and make history, Bosnia-Herzegovina put in an uncharacteristically attack-minded performance. A 29th-minute goal from 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegović, the standard-bearer of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s next generation, opened the scoring before an own goal induced by the 40-year-old Džeko doubled the lead. 

Qatar pulled within one goal with a 42nd-minute strike by captain Hassan Al-Haydos, but a scrappy 81st-minute score from substitute Ermin Mahmić sealed the historic victory. Bosnia-Herzegovina won despite registering fewer big chances and expected goals than Qatar. 

“I think we had a lot of resilience, and I think that’s just the Bosnian mentality is to fight to the end,” Bajraktarević said. “I think we showed that today and we’ll continue to show it throughout the tournament.”

For Barbarez, the 54-year-old coach who was born when Bosnia-Herzegovina was still Yugoslavia, it’s a situation beyond belief.

“There are no words to describe my happiness right now,” he said. “To be here. To be able to represent my country. To be able to lead a team that I have full conviction in.”