Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad in an international friendly against Austria in 2015
Bosnia and Herzegovina have seen a steady rise in their fortunes on the international football stage in recent times. Historically, they have managed multiple play-off appearances and qualified for one FIFA World Cup. More often than not, the team produces solid results in qualifiers and challenges for a top spot.
From 1920 to 1992, the players lined up for Yugoslavia, but following the outbreak of the Bosnian War and subsequent independence, a new football nation arose from the ashes.
This early period was followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina coming very close to qualifying directly for their first major competition, UEFA Euro 2004, narrowly missing out by a single goal against Denmark.[11]
Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, their first major tournament, by beating Lithuania in October 2013.[15][16][17][18] They managed to finish third in a group which included Argentina and won their first match 3–1 over Iran.[19]Nigeria pipped them for second place in the group with a 1–0 win marred with controversy following an incorrectly-disallowed goal by Edin Džeko in the first half.[20]
After the slow start, Bosnian performance improved dramatically, with five wins in their remaining six matches, including victories over Wales and Israel along with three clean sheets. However, they ultimately failed to qualify after a two legged playoff encounter with the Republic of Ireland.[24][25][26] Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to make back-to-back FIFA World Cups after failing to qualify to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Following several years of disappointment, Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev was named as Bosnia and Herzegovina's new manager, marking the first time a Bosnia and Herzegovina manager was not from the former Yugoslavia.[29] In their first campaign under Petev, Bosnia and Herzegovina were drawn into a group with 2018 FIFA World Cup champions France and kept their chances of qualification alive until the final two matches; ultimately failing to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He also led the team to winning Group 3 of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B, thus earning promotion back to 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A and guaranteed a play-off berth for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.[30]
A popular nickname of all Bosnian national teams is "Zmajevi", popularized by football TV commentator Mustafa Mijajlović during the Belgium vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2–4) 2010 WC qualification game on 28 March 2009.
General agreement among Bosnia and Herzegovina sports fans is that this nickname has historical context, as it is considered as an allusion to the famous Bosnian general Husein Gradaščević, who fought for Bosnian autonomy, and who was known as the "Dragon of Bosnia".[36]
In both local and foreign media, they are sometimes referred to as the Golden Lilies, which was the original nickname given to all of the country's national teams by fans after independence, in reference to the official state insignia at the time (the flag and the coat of arms), which itself referred to the golden lily, the historical state insignia that was featured on the coat of arms of the ruling Bosnian medieval Kotromanić dynasty.[37]
Currently, the national team uses Grbavica Stadium as its home ground following its renovation in 2018.[38][39][40]
Bosnia and Herzegovina also uses Bilino Polje Stadium, located in the city of Zenica, for many of its home games. The stadium, built and opened in 1972, underwent many reconstruction works since 2012 in order to comply with standards needed to host international games.[41][42][43][44][45][46][47]
A large number of national team's supporters come from Northern and Western Europe, North America, and some from as far away as Australia.[51] Most of these fans are members of BHFanaticos, Belaj Boys, BHLegion, Armija Zmajeva (Dragons Army) and Ljuti Krajišnici groups.[52][53][54]
In the game against Norway, at the Ullevål Stadium in Oslo on 24 March 2007, Bosnian fans caused an hour-long delay due to an unprecedented amount of flares that had been thrown onto the pitch in protest against corruption in the (now former) Football Federation of Bosnia.[55] On 1 June 2008, former Bosnia and Herzegovina players Meho Kodro and Elvir Bolić organised a friendly humanitarian game in Sarajevo called "Kodro, Bola and Friends" between former Bosnian football legends, in order to gain support, to say its time for changes in the Bosnian Football Association.[56] The game was organised to commence at the same time as Bosnia and Herzegovina national side faced Azerbaijan in a friendly in Zenica. The attendance in Sarajevo was 15,000 while in Zenica only about 50.[57] The game in Sarajevo was organised by the Federalna TV who broadcast the humanitarian game live. A significant number of Bosnian International players were involved in the game,[58] which ended 11–9 in favour of Team Kodro.[59]
Bosnia and Herzegovina's traditional kit colours are blue and white, taken from the country's flag. While the current home kits are primarily blue, and the away kits are primarily white, this colour scheme was initially used in reverse order. This is due to the fact that the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH), used before the Dayton Agreement, was predominately white.
Mehmed Baždarević is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Guingamp.
Association football is the most popular sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina since after gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, in 1995 they played their first international game against Albania, but they made the debut at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, their first ever appearance in the tournament.
Senad Lulić is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Milan Đurić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Monza.
Ognjen Vranješ is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back.
Ibrahim Šehić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Khaleej.
Anel Hadžić is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Muhamed Bešić is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Born in Germany, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Ermin Bičakčić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for 2. Bundesliga club Eintracht Braunschweig and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Edin Višća is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor.
Izet Hajrović is a professional footballer who plays as a winger. Born in Switzerland, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Sead Kolašinac is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Atalanta. Born in Germany, he plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Amar Rahmanović is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Russian Premier League club Krylia Sovetov. Born in Germany, he plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Deni Milošević is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Antalyaspor. Born in Belgium, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Smail Prevljak is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for 2. Bundesliga club Hertha BSC and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Kenan Kodro is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Gaziantep, on loan from Ferencváros. Born in Spain, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Armin Hodžić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for A Lyga club Žalgiris.
Amer Gojak is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Rijeka and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Riad Bajić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a forward for 1. Lig club Ankaragücü.
The history of football in Bosnia and Herzegovina dates back to the early 1900s during the Austro-Hungarian rule.
↑ "Tako blizu, a tako daleko". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
(28 November 2024) [1] 
Albania 2–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 7–0 Estonia 
Liechtenstein 1–8 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Germany 7–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
