Bosnia and Herzegovina squad vs. Austria, international friendly, 2015
Bosnia and Herzegovina have seen a steady rise in their fortunes on the international football stage in recent times. Historically, Bosnia and Herzegovina has managed multiple play-off appearances and has 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 ever 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, hosted by Brazil, in October 2013 by beating Lithuania, finally breaking their curse and participating in a major tournament.[15]
They managed to finish third in a group which included Argentina, and tasted their first victory thanks to a 3–1 win over Iran.[16]Nigeria pipped Bosnia and Herzegovina for second place in the group with a 1–0 win marred with controversy following an incorrectly disallowed goal scored by Edin Džeko in the first half.[17]
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.[21][22][23] 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. 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.
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".[24]
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.[25]
Currently, the national team uses Grbavica Stadium as its home ground following its renovation in 2018.[26][27][28]
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.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35]
A large number of national team's supporters come from Northern and Western Europe, North America, and some from as far away as Australia.[39] Most of these fans are members of BHFanaticos, Belaj Boys, BHLegion, Armija Zmajeva (Dragons Army) and Ljuti Krajišnici groups.[40][41][42]
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.[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] 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,[46] which ended 11–9 in favour of Team Kodro.[47]
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.
The team kit is currently produced by Spanish sports company Kelme.[48] The general sponsor of the team is m:tel.[49] Also sponsoring the team are Coca-Cola, ASA Osiguranje, and Privredna Banka Sarajevo.
The table below shows the history of kit manufacturers for the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Mehmed Baždarević is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Guingamp.
Mato Jajalo is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie B club Venezia.
Senad Lulić is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Toni Šunjić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bosnian Premier League club Zrinjski Mostar.
Ervin Zukanović is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club Asteras Tripolis.
Ognjen Vranješ is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back.
Dario Đumić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Segunda División club Eldense.
Ibrahim Šehić is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Khaleej and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Anel Hadžić is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Miroslav Stevanović is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Swiss Super League club Servette and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Muhamed Bešić is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Ferencváros. Born in Germany, he plays 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.
Izet Hajrović is a professional footballer who plays as a winger. Born in Switzerland, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Amar Rahmanović is a 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.
Kenan Kodro is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Ferencváros. Born in Spain, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Fudbalski klub Sarajevo is a Bosnian professional football club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is one of the most successful clubs in the country.
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 Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Ferencváros and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina FA Training Centre is the training ground of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina located in the Crkvičko brdo neighbourhood of Zenica, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The centre was officially inaugurated on 2 September 2013 by then-president of UEFA, Michel Platini, after the first stage of construction was completed.
↑ "Tako blizu, a tako daleko". sportsport.ba (in Bosnian). 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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3 (4 April 2024) [1] 
Albania 2–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 7–0 Estonia 
Liechtenstein 1–8 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Argentina 5–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
