Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team

Nickname(s)

Plavo-žuti (blue-yellow),
žuto-plavi (yellow-blue),
Golden Lillies, Lions

Association

Football Association of B&H

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Miroslav Blažević

Captain

Emir Spahić

Most caps

Elvir Bolić (55)

Top scorer

Elvir Bolić (24)

Home stadium

Bilino Polje, Zenica
Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo

FIFA code

BIH

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

25 (August 2007)

Lowest FIFA ranking

173 (September 1996)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

53 (February 28, 2001
May 28, 2006
May 31, 2006
August 16, 2006)

Lowest Elo ranking

87 (October 5, 1999)




Home colours




Away colours




Third colours

First international

Iran 1 - 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Tehran, Iran; June 6, 1993)

Biggest win

Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 - 0 Estonia

(Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina; September 10, 2008)

Biggest defeat

Argentina 5 - 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina

(La Plata, Argentina; May 14, 1998)

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team is the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is controlled by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They played their first match in 1995 after the split of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Before that, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team.

1 Previous qualifying campaigns
2 Euro 2008 qualifiers
3 World Cup 2010 Qualifiers
4 World Cup record
5 European Championship record
6 Previous managers
7 Notable players
8 Current squad
9 FIFA World Cup qualification
10 See also
11 External links

Previous qualifying campaigns

The team has never qualified for a major tournament, but in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, only one goal in the last game against Denmark separated them from the finals in Portugal.

In the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, the Bosnians played surprisingly well when matched against teams like Spain (drawing both times), Belgium (one win, one loss), and Serbia and Montenegro (one draw, one loss).

Playing against the Serbian team inspires much national pride, as is common with any match that features two former Yugoslav republics. Against Serbia and Montenegro, the Bosnian team drew at home but lost the second leg in Belgrade, 1-0. Both matches had extra precautions being taken by officials, to prevent nationalistic rioting. UEFA fined both football federations when Serb nationalists attacked and injured several Bosnian fans.

Bosnia finished as runners-up to a Yugoslavian Premier League XI in the 2001 Millennium Super Cup in India.

Bosnia's best player and top scorer of all times is Elvir Bolic. He scored 24 goals in 55 caps for his country.

Euro 2008 qualifiers

After the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, much was expected of the Bosnian squad for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying. Bosnia and Herzegovina opened their race for the tournament with a 5-2 victory over Malta playing away. However, major disappointing results followed with losses to Hungary and Greece at home soil, and an unexpected draw with Moldova in Chisinau. With nearly no hopes left for the squad, major changes took place. Coach Fuad Muzurović replaced Blaž Slišković and following the protest of 13 different players against the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina by not attending national games, Muzurović had to rebuild the national team from scratch.

A team was successfully put together but little was expected of the squad since they did not have enough time to go under proper training against the next qualifying match against the solid Norwegians which was awaiting of picking up 3 points as being the home side. However, with a stunning upset the Bosnians took advantage of all chances during the game and came to victory with a 2-1 win, bringing hopes of qualifying back to life.

After the game against Norway, the Bosnian team had two great successes with an astounding victory against Turkey and a marginal victory against Malta. After these two games, the Bosnian squad unfortunately entered their second success depression for the qualifiers which cost them the loss of qualification. A defeat by Hungary and a horrible bitter defeat by Moldova at home soil dramatically changed the morale of both the team and the fans. The Bosnians then suffered two more defeats against Greece and Norway officially dropping them out of qualifications and an extra final conclusive defeat by Turkey marking the end of their Euro 2008 dream.

Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina are the 67th best football nation in the FIFA World Rankings after a major sink from their record high, 25th place, past August.

World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

2008-09-06 22:00 UTC+2	Spain	1 – 0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Estadio Nueva Condomina, Murcia Attendance: 29,152 Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)
	Villa 58'	Report

2008-09-10 20:15 UTC+2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7 – 0	Estonia	Bilino Polje, Zenica Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Pavel Balaj (Romania)
	Misimović 25' 30' (pen.) 56' Muslimović 58' Džeko 60' 73' Ibričić 88'	Report

2008-10-11 21:00 UTC+3	Turkey	2 – 1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul Attendance: 23,628 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
	Džeko(O.G) 51' Mevlüt 66'	Report	Džeko 27'

2008-10-15 20:15 UTC+2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4 – 1	Armenia	Bilino Polje, Zenica Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Asaf Kenan (Israel)
	Spahić 31' Džeko 39' Muslimović 56' 89'	Report	Minasyan 85'

2009-03-28	Belgium	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina

2009-04-01	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Belgium	Bilino Polje, Zenica
				Bilino Polje, Zenica

2009-09-05	Armenia	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan
				Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan

2009-09-09	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Turkey	Bilino Polje, Zenica
				Bilino Polje, Zenica

2009-10-10	Estonia	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
				A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn

2009-10-14	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Spain	Bilino Polje, Zenica
				Bilino Polje, Zenica

World Cup record

1930 to 1938 - was part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1950 to 1990 - was part of SFR Yugoslavia
1994 - Did not enter
1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify
2010 - Qualify underway

European Championship record

1960 to 1992 - was part of SFR Yugoslavia
1996 - Did not enter
2000 to 2008 - Did not qualify

Previous managers

Fuad Muzurović 1995 - 1998
Džemaludin Mušović 1998 - 1999
Faruk Hadžibegić 1999
Mišo Smajlović 1999 - 2002
Blaž Slišković 2002 - 2006
Fuad Muzurović 2006 - 2007
Meho Kodro 2008
Miroslav Blažević 2008 - present

Notable players

Zlatan Muslimović *
Sergej Barbarez
Elvir Baljić
Elvir Bolić
Vlado Gudelj
Mirsad Hibić
Meho Kodro
Hasan Salihamidžić
Safet Sušić
Saša Papac
Emir Spahić *
Muhamed Konjić
Zvjezdan Misimović *
Vedad Ibišević *
Mirsad Bešlija
Zlatan Bajramović *
Vedin Musić
Elvir Rahimić *

(* = Still active for national side.)

Current squad

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Kenan Hasagić	February 1, 1980 (1980-02-01) (age 29)	26	0	Istanbul B.B.
12	GK	Goran Brašnić	September 26, 1973 (1973-09-26) (age 36)	13	0	NK Inter Zaprešić

6	DF	Ivan Radeljić	September 14, 1980 (1980-09-14) (age 29)	8	0	Energie Cottbus
2	DF	Džemal Berberović	November 5, 1981 (1981-11-05) (age 27)	40	1	Litex Lovech
13	DF	Safet Nadarević	August 30, 1980 (1980-08-30) (age 29)	12	0	Eskisehirspor
4	DF	Emir Spahić (captain)	August 18, 1980 (1980-08-18) (age 29)	25	2	Lokomotiv Moscow

21	MF	Senijad Ibričić	September 26, 1985 (1985-09-26) (age 24)	9	2	Hajduk Split
5	MF	Zlatan Bajramović	12 August 1979 (1979-08-12) (age 30)	30	2	Eintracht Frankfurt
5	MF	Samir Muratović	February 25, 1976 (1976-02-25) (age 33)	11	0	Sturm Graz
8	MF	Dario Damjanović	July 23, 1981 (1981-07-23) (age 28)	11	2	Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
17	MF	Miralem Pjanić	April 2, 1990 (1990-04-02) (age 19)	3	0	Olympique Lyonnais
21	MF	Mirko Hrgović	May 2, 1979 (1979-05-02) (age 30)	28	3	NK Dinamo Zagreb
15	MF	Sejad Salihović	8 October 1984 (1984-10-08) (age 25)	6	0	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
24	MF	Admir Vladavić	June 29, 1982 (1982-06-29) (age 27)	11	0	MŠK Žilina
10	MF	Zvjezdan Misimović	June 5, 1982 (1982-06-05) (age 27)	38	16	VfL Wolfsburg
25	MF	Elvir Rahimić	April 4, 1976 (1976-04-04) (age 33)	14	0	CSKA Moscow

19	FW	Mladen Bartolović	October 4, 1977 (1977-10-04) (age 32)	11	1	Hajduk Split
14	FW	Vedad Ibišević	August 6, 1984 (1984-08-06) (age 25)	11	3	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
9	FW	Zlatan Muslimović	March 6, 1981 (1981-03-06) (age 28)	16	12	PAOK
11	FW	Edin Džeko	March 17, 1986 (1986-03-17) (age 23)	13	6	VfL Wolfsburg
	FW	Said Huseinović	July 10, 1988 (1988-07-10) (age 21)	3	0	Werder Bremen

FIFA World Cup qualification

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	4	4	0	0	10	1	+9	12
Turkey	4	2	2	0	5	2	+3	8
Belgium	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	7
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	2	0	2	12	4	+8	6
Estonia	4	0	1	3	2	13	−11	1
Armenia	4	0	0	4	1	12	−11	0


Armenia	–	9 Sep	5 Sep	28 Mar	10 Oct	0 – 2
Belgium	2 – 0	–	28 Mar	3 – 2	1 – 2	10 Oct
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4 – 1	1 Apr	–	7 – 0	14 Oct	9 Sep
Estonia	1 Apr	14 Oct	10 Oct	–	0 – 3	0 – 0
Spain	4 – 0	5 Sep	1 – 0	9 Sep	–	28 Mar
Turkey	14 Oct	1 – 1	2 – 1	5 Sep	1 Apr	–

Football in Bosnia and Herzegovina

League competitions	NSBiH	Cup competitions
Premier League	Bosnia and Herzegovina	National Cup
First League (FBiH, RS)	U-21 U-19 U-17	Super Cup
Second League (FBiH, RS)	League system	Bosnia and Hercegovina Cup
	List of clubs
	List of venues

International football

FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup
Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Island Games · Minor Tournaments
World Rankings · Player of the Year · Teams · Competitions · Organizations · Codes

	Asia	AFC - Asian Cup
	Africa	CAF - Africa Cup of Nations
	North America	CONCACAF - Gold Cup
	South America	CONMEBOL - Copa América
	Oceania	OFC - Nations Cup
	Europe	UEFA - European Championship
	Non-FIFA	NF-Board - Viva World Cup

National football teams of Europe (UEFA)