2026 World Cup: Bosnia-Herzegovina continues unlikely run in Seattle

23 Jun 2026, 19:50 by Tim Booth · The Seattle Times

Here’s the truth about Bosnia-Herzegovina and its FIFA Men’s World Cup match at Seattle Stadium on Wednesday.

This was supposed to be Italy.

That’s not meant to be any sort of knock or criticism of Bosnia-Herzegovina being here. It deserves the place it’s at.

But remember back in December when the World Cup draw took place and a team still to go through the European playoffs was bound to play its final group-stage match here? When everyone looked a little closer, all eyes fell to the fact that Italy had the chance to make a trip through the Pacific Northwest.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was an afterthought and perhaps the least likely of the four possibilities to end up the team facing Qatar.

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But here are the Golden Lillies, the former Yugoslavian republic in just its second World Cup appearance with a workmanlike roster lacking many big stars one victory away from likely advancing to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Bosnia wasn’t supposed to beat Wales. It wasn’t supposed to topple mighty Italy and keep the Italians home as spectators for the third straight World Cup.

It’s a team forged in resilience and grit and with the chance to make a little bit of history.

“I’ve said this many, many times, I’m incredibly proud of where I am, who I get to work with and what I do, the path we’ve taken and how far we’ve got, how we played the games, every single one of them,” Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said through an interpreter on Tuesday.

While it’s not the most attractive matchup in the tournament, there are significant stakes to what happens over the 90 minutes and how it impacts several teams, including potentially the United States.

A win by either side almost assures them passage to the round of 32. Both teams picked up unexpected draws in their opening matches — Qatar drew with Switzerland, while Bosnia and Canada played a 1-1 match — and sit on one point coming into the game. Four points is likely the magic number to be one of the eight third-place teams advancing to the knockout rounds.

A draw this time does neither team any good as two points won’t be enough to get through. They must play for a win, which could make for a more open and potentially entertaining match. And depending on what happens up the road in Vancouver with Canada and Switzerland playing simultaneously, there are scenarios — albeit highly unlikely — where either could finish second.

As for how it pertains to the U.S., the third-place team from Group B is one of the possible opponents to face the Americans in the round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara, Calif. In fact, if there is a winner on Wednesday, that country is likely to be the U.S. opponent.

In other words, there are potentially a lot of moving parts.

“We have to face the last match of qualification with hope,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said. “There are a lot of teams in the current World Cup that don’t have hope in the last match. …. We are following one dream because it’s never happened in history. In this kind of situation that you have to enjoy it, to have this big challenge and big opportunity.

While Bosnia might lack the star power of other teams in the tournament, it does feature the most decorated player in its country’s history and a kid from Appleton, Wis.

Huh?

In a different scenario Esmir Bajraktarević might be playing for the U.S. in this World Cup. The Wisconsin native played for U.S. teams at the youth level, but when it came time to pledge his allegiance on the international soccer landscape, he chose the home country of his parents.

Bajraktarević appeared in one national team match for the U.S. in early 2024 before appealing to switch his sports citizenship to Bosnia. Once approved, he immediately factored into the national team plans and was responsible for scoring the winning penalty in the shootout against Italy that sent Bosnia to the World Cup.

Bajraktarević has been nicknamed the “Milwaukee Messi,” which is quite the moniker for a 21-year-old to carry.

At the other end of the spectrum for Bosnia is Edin Džeko. The 40-year-old is the soccer gem of the country, to the point he’s been nicknamed the “Bosnian Diamond.” He’s in the twilight of his career but still scored the equalizer against Wales in the European playoffs, making his 20^th straight year scoring at least once for the national team.

From the club perspective, Džeko won titles in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg and the Premier League at Manchester City. He was a star at Roma in Serie A and played in a Champions League final with Inter Milan.

The only thing missing from his career résumé would be advancement in the World Cup. That could come as soon as Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m happy to be his coach,” Barbarez said in English before continuing in Bosnian.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to put it into words in your second language. It’s really a privilege for me as a head coach. It’s a privilege to have him on my team,” he said.