Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team

 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nickname(s) Zmajevi (Dragons)
Zlatni Ljiljani (Golden Lilies)
Association Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Safet Sušić
Asst coach Borče Sredojević
Elvir Baljić
Captain Emir Spahić
Most caps Zvjezdan Misimović (64)
Top scorer Elvir Bolić (22)
Home stadium Bilino Polje, Zenica
Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo
FIFA code BIH
FIFA ranking 20
Highest FIFA ranking 20 (December 2011)
Lowest FIFA ranking 173 (September 1996)
Elo ranking 38
Highest Elo ranking 38 (11 November 2011)
Lowest Elo ranking 87 (5 October 1999)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
non-FIFA International
 Iran 1–3 BiH
(Tehran, Iran; June 6, 1993)
FIFA International
 Albania 2–0 BiH
(Tirana, Albania; November 30, 1995)
Biggest win
BiH 7–0 Estonia 
(Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina; September 10, 2008)
Biggest defeat
 Argentina 5–0 BiH
(Córdoba, Argentina; 14 May 1998)

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team (Bosnian: Nogometna/Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovine; in Cyrillic: Ногометна/Фудбалска репрезентација Босне и Херцеговине) is the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, governed by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until 1992, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team.

The independent Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team has never qualified for a major tournament since its debut attempt for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but has come close on more than one occasion. Most notably the national team played against Portugal in both 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs and UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs.[1][2]

Bosnia and Herzegovina plays most of their home matches at a 15,600 capacity Bilino Polje Stadium in the city of Zenica. In a period stretching from April 1996 to September 2006, Bosnia were undefeated at home in Zenica. During 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Bosnia and Herzegovina national team played all their First Round home matches at this stadium, losing only once, to current European and soon to be World Champion; Spain. The larger Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in the city of Sarajevo, is the secondary home stadium of the national side.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's first ever FIFA international victory came against FIFA World Cup 1994 runners-up Italy on 6 November 1996. The national teams highest FIFA World Ranking was 20th in December 2011, 14th in UEFA Zone.[3]

Contents

History

Pre-independence

The game reached Bosnia and Herzegovina at the start of the 20th century, with Mostar the first city to embrace it in 1905. Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Zenica and Bihać were next along with numerous smaller towns as the sport spread. The country was under Austro-Hungarian rule when official competition began in 1908, though these activities were on a small scale within each territory.[4][5] At the outbreak of World War I, there were four clubs in Sarajevo and approximately 20 outside the capital. The creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia post 1918 brought an increase in the number of leagues, and soon a domestic national championship was organised featuring two teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1920, the direct predecessor of the football federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was founded as the Sarajevo football subassociation. The unified championship ran until 1939/40.

The Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded after the Second World War, being affiliated to the Yugoslav Football Association. Bosnia and Herzegovina's best sides played in the Yugoslavian first, second and third divisions with moderate success.

The Bosnian War post-independence (1992–1995)

Shortly after Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence from Yugoslavia, at the outbreak of Bosnian War, a selection of Bosnia and Herzegovina players under the name "Bosnia-Herzegovina Humanitarian Stars" took part in humanitarian friendly matches away from home versus K.R.C. Genk and 1. FC Kaiserslautern during 1992/93.[6] As result, Blaž Slišković became the first ever captain to lead the Bosnia and Herzegovina national side.[7][8] A few months later, Bosnia and Herzegovina football team played their first match against another national team, and it took place in Tehran against Iran. Bosnia and Herzegovina won 3:1.[9] However the result was never registered as Bosnia and Herzegovina was not yet a member of FIFA.

The team's first FIFA recognised friendly match, coming just nine days after the Dayton Peace Agreement brought an end to the Bosnian War, was played in Tirana against Albania on 30 November 1995. Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted provisional FIFA membership to play this game. All the gear needed to play was borrowed. Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 2:0. The starting eleven playing under head coach Fuad Muzurović at that friendly contest were: Ismir Pintol, Vedin Musić, Ibrahim Duro, Muhamed Konjić, Senad Begić, Nedžad Fazlagić, Esmir Džafić, Enes Demirović, Husref Musemić, Asim Hrnjić, and Almir Turković.

The 1st generation in the making (1996–2002)

In July 1996 Bosnia and Herzegovina became a member of FIFA. In doing so Bosnia and Herzegovina became the only nation in the world in the modern times to first become a member of the World football organisation FIFA followed by becoming member of its continental organisation, UEFA.[10] On September 1, 1996 Bosnia and Herzegovina made their UEFA debut going down 3:0 versus Greece in the qualifying match for 1998 FIFA World Cup. UEFA affiliation came in 1998 in Dublin.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's first qualifying attempt for any major tournament saw them grouped with Greece, Denmark, and two former Yugoslav republics Croatia and Slovenia during qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Bosnia and Herzegovina finished the group in fourth position, having beaten Slovenia both home and away as well as beating Denmark 3:0 at home. The Bosnia and Herzegovina home game against Croatia was played at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in Bologna due to high tensions between the two countries at the time. Fuad Muzurović therefore led the team at it's first qualifying campaign.

UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying campaign was the one to forget as Mišo Smajlović’s Bosnia and Herzegovina side only managed to win 3 games from 10 played. The results were Czech Republic (two losses), Scotland (two losses), Faroe Islands (one win, one loss), Lithuania (one win, one loss), Estonia (one win, one draw).

Miraculously team managed to conclude the qualifiers in the third place with equal amount of total points with Lithuania and Estonia but with better head-to-head record.

In April 25, 2000 Bosnia and Herzegovina played a humanitarian game for Bosnian orphans against FIFA World Stars XI in front of 25,000 people at the Koševo Stadium in Sarajevo.[11] The game finished 0:1 in favour of the Stars through a Roberto Baggio penalty. Dunga and Ali Daei also made appearances for the World XI.

In the World Cup 2002 qualifying round, the Bosnians continued the bad form and finished in fourth place, behind Spain, Austria and Israel having only beaten Liechtenstein both home and away. After this campaign Blaž Slišković was named to replace coach Mišo Smajlović.

Bosnians' bid ends in tears (UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying)

In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, only one goal in the last home game against Denmark separated the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team from qualifying directly to the finals in Portugal.[12] The team ended the qualifiers in fourth position, with the same amount of won games as the other three teams. Denmark won the group, although Bosnia and Herzegovina took 4 points from them in two head to head matches.

The qualifying campaign for Euro 2004 did not start brightly as Blaž Slišković’s men lost a home game against Romania who scored all three goals of the game in the first half, which followed with a loss to Norway in Oslo to mark the end of qualifiers in 2002 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In March the following year team beat Luxembourg and came out with a stunning 2:0 win versus Denmark in Copenhagen. Romania however proved too strong once again for the Bosnians scoring once in each half to prevail in Craiova.

In September 2003 Bosnia and Herzegovina pulled another great result thanks to Zlatan Bajramović's 87th minute strike to lead his country to victory over the solid Norwegians in Zenica. This followed with a reverse victory in Luxembourg with Sergej Barbarez scoring the only goal of the game in first half. Thanks to this victory Bosnia climbed to third on the table with 12 points, two points short of both Romania and Denmark. At this point Romania completed their qualifying campaign and awaited results from the final round of matches. Norwegians were placed fourth, but had a home game against Luxembourg in the last round.

This meant that Bosnia with a victory over Denmark in the last round in Sarajevo could top the group and qualify directly for Euro 2004 in Portugal. Any other result meant finishing fourth as Norway were sure to beat the minnows Luxembourg. Denmark on the other side needed a draw to come through as group winners.

In the final match, the Bosnian team fell behind to a Martin Jørgensen's 12th minute goal, stunning the crowd of just over 35,000 spectators. In reply, Emir Spahic’s long pass was met by Hasan Salihamidzic who crossed the ball into the penalty area from the right side, with Elvir Bolić promptly heading in the equaliser in the 39th minute ensuring it was all to play for in the second half. However, both teams could not score again as it finished a heartbreaking 1:1 home draw for the Bosnians, who although played to win the group, had to settle for a fourth place finish instead. Denmark themselves finished with 10 men after Thomas Gravesen was sent off for his second bookable offence seconds before the end of match.[12]

Finishing third (World Cup 2006 qualifying)

In the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, the Bosnians continued to play good football when matched against teams like Spain (drawing both times), Belgium (one win, one loss), and Serbia and Montenegro (one draw, one loss), but suffered a shock home draw against Lithuania which cost them. 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, Bosnia and Herzegovina drew at home but lost the crucial second leg in Belgrade with a score 1–0. Bosnia and Herzegovina was hoping to finish in atleast second position with an away win over their Eastern neighbours and hoping Spain to lose. Both matches had extra precautions employed by officials to prevent nationalistic rioting. Disturbances occurred anyway and UEFA fined both football federations. Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third in the group four points behind second placed Spain.

In August 2007, the national team played a friendly match in Sarajevo against Croatia. The result was 3:5 in favour of the Croatians. Zlatan Muslimović scored a hat-trick of goals for the Bosnians in the game.

The golden generation – Portugal play-offs (2008–Present)

After the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, much was expected of the Bosnia and Herzegovina squad for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying. Bosnia and Herzegovina opened their race for the tournament with a 5–2 victory over minnows Malta playing away. However, major disappointing results followed with losses to Hungary and Greece on home soil, and an unexpected draw with Moldova in Chisinau. With hopes of finishing in the top two fading, major changes in the team took place. Coach Fuad Muzurović was placed as an interim coach before a long term replacement was to be found for now departed Blaž Slišković. In addition to this change, 13 first team players protested against the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina by refusing to play for the national team until four FA officials – Milan Jelić, Iljo Dominković, Sulejman Čolaković, and Ahmet Pašalić – resigned.[13] As result, Fuad Muzurović had to rebuild the national team from scratch. This allowed for the next generation of players to come in. Players like Senijad Ibričić, Edin Džeko, Vedad Ibišević and Sejad Salihović, who played in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 play-offs vs Czech Republic, came up through the ranks and commenced their senior careers at this point.

A team was successfully put together but little was expected of the squad since they did not have enough time to undergo proper preparations for the upcoming qualifying match against the solid Norwegians. However, with a stunning upset Bosnia and Herzegovina took advantage of all chances in the game and came away with a 2–1 victory, bringing hopes of qualifying back to life.

After the game against Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina continued with two further wins at home, an astounding 3:2 victory against Turkey and a marginal victory against Malta. Edin Džeko and Elvir Rahimić made debut appearances for the Bosnia and Herzegovina against Turkey in Sarajevo. After these two games, the Bosnian squad unfortunately entered their second depression state for the qualifiers. 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. Bosnia and Herzegovina then suffered further defeats against Greece, Norway and Turkey, finishing their qualifiers in the fourth position. Following yet another failed campaign Meho Kodro was named as a replacement coach for Fuad Muzurović.

In October 2009, the Bosnia and Herzegovina made their greatest achievement to date in their history by qualifying for the UEFA Second Round in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification finishing second with a game to spare in a group won by then European Champions Spain.[1] Edin Džeko was the top scorer of the group, and achieved equal second place overall in the Europe section with 9 goals, having just been overtaken by Theofanis Gekas for the first place, who scored 4 goals against Latvia in their second last game of the qualifiers. Bosnia and Herzegovina played Portugal in the unlucky play-off contest having hit woodwork three times (Ibričić, Džeko, Muslimović) in the first game, and eventually bowed out losing both games by single goal. Along the standard qualification process the team beat Belgium, Estonia and Armenia at both home and away, and drew one game with Turkey. Bosnia and Herzegovina's manager in these qualifiers was Miroslav Blažević who also led Croatia national team to third place in 1998 FIFA World Cup. He replaced Meho Kodro after only a few months in charge.[14]

Team 1   Agg.   Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Portugal  2–0  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 1–0

Portugal was the only team from UEFA play-offs to reach knock-out stage of FIFA World Cup 2010, losing to the eventual World Cup Champions Spain, which shows how difficult opponent it was for Bosnia and Herzegovina to take on in the play-offs.

In October 2011, the national team coached by Safet Sušić successfully reached their second consecutive play-off birth during qualification for the UEFA Euro 2012 as they were unable to beat France national football team in Paris. The Bosnians had to win the game to top Group D and qualify for the tournament. Edin Džeko scored a superb goal and they led 0:1 until the 77th minute when Scottish referee Craig Thomson awarded a controversial penalty to France. The French leveled the game which meant that Bosnia and Herzegovina finished second, one point behind France.

As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, Bosnia and Herzegovina was drawn to play Portugal, who were the 8th ranked team in the world at the time.[2][15] After a scoreless first leg in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it all came down to a reverse in Portugal four days later. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (two goals) and Nani both scored as Portugal national football team went on to record an emphatic 6:2 win and spoil the Bosnian party once again. Bosnia and Herzegovina kept coming back after being 2:0 down after 25 minutes. First Zvjezdan Misimović scored in the 41st minute to reduce the score to 2:1 from a penalty kick before Cristiano Ronaldo again restored a two goal advantage after the interval. At this point, Bosnia and Herzegovina were reduced to ten men as Senad Lulić received two yellow cards in less than a minute; Lulić complained to Wolfgang Stark about Ronaldo's third goal which seemed offside. In the 65th minute, Bosnian captain Emir Spahić, against all odds, reduced the deficit to one goal once again knowing that a scoring draw was all that was required for Bosnia and Herzegovina to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012. However, it wasn't to be as the 10-men Bosnia and Herzegovina weren't able to contain the Portuguese onslaught, crashing out 6:2 on the day.[16][17]

Team 1   Agg.   Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Bosnia and Herzegovina  2–6  Portugal 0–0 2–6

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers will get under way in Liechtenstein on the 7th September, 2012. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in group with Greece, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Liechtenstein.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1998 Did Not Qualify 8 3 0 5 9 14
2002 8 2 2 4 12 12
2006 10 4 4 2 12 9
2010 12 6 1 5 25 15
2014 To Be Determined
2018 To Be Determined
2022 To Be Determined
Total 38 15 7 16 58 50

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record UEFA Championship Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
2000 Did Not Qualify 10 3 2 5 14 17
2004 8 4 1 3 7 8
2008 12 4 1 7 16 22
2012 12 6 3 3 19 14
2016 To Be Determined
Total 42 17 7 18 56 61

Minor tournaments

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
1997 Dunhill Cup Runners-up 2 5 3 1 1 9 5
2001 Millennium Soccer Cup Runners-up 2 5 3 1 1 7 5
2001 Merdeka Tournament Runners-up 2 5 3 1 1 7 4
2001 LG Cup Runners-up 2 2 1 0 1 4 6
2011 Green Soccer Bowl Withdrew
Total 17 10 3 4 27 20

Home stadiums

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national team uses a small capacity center called "Kulturno Sportski Centar Famos Hrasnica" located in Hrasnica in the city of Ilidža, a suburb of capital city Sarajevo for light training sessions ahead of international matches.

Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium is a stadium owned by the city of Sarajevo. It is also known as Koševo Stadium and formerly Olympic Stadium. The capacity is 37,500. Koševo Stadium is located in the Koševo neighborhood of Sarajevo and it is used mostly by FK Sarajevo. The stadium was opened in the year 1947. In 1984, it was reconstructed for the 1984 Winter Olympics, and is therefore often called Olympic Stadium. Now, it is officially called "Asim Ferhatović – Hase" since July 2004, after Asim Ferhatović, the legendary FK Sarajevo player who retired in 1967. Today Koševo can seat over 37,000,[18] though attendance for concerts can be expanded to roughly 80,000, such as for U2's PopMart Tour in 1997 and Dino Merlin's Burek tour in 2004. It is also the home stadium of the national football side of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bilino Polje is the home football stadium of NK Čelik from the city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of two main stadiums of the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The stadium was built and opened in 1972. It was used in Bosnia and Herzegovina's first match, a friendly played against Albania in 1995 with the final result being a 0–0 draw. The stadium is considered a "curse" for foreign national teams, due to the fact that the Bosnian national team usually wins or rarely loses their home games at Bilino Polje stadium. In a period stretching from 1995 to October 2006, Bosnia went undefeated at home in around 15 games played in Zenica. The city of Zenica had to wait another 5 years (1995–2000) before the next match of the national team was played at the stadium. This match was also a friendly, this time against Macedonia, with the final result being a victory for the home side 1–0. The Bosnian national team never lost on this field until the Euro 2008 qualifier against Hungary.

Stadium Results at Home GP W D L
Bilino Polje, Zenica 25 15 5 5
Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo 31 10 9 12
Grbavica, Sarajevo 2 0 2 0
Total 57 24 16 17
See also: List of football stadiums in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nickname(s)

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team is typically referred to as Lilies (Bosnian: Ljiljani), a reference to the Fleur-de-lis of the 14th century Bosnian Kingdom or Dragons (Bosnian: Zmajevi) which is not a reference to Husein Gradaščević, a Bosniak general who fought for autonomy of a Bosniak state in 19th century, even though he is known as Dragon of Bosnia (Dragon is a common Bosnian nickname for successful or aspiring men). The name Dragons was coined by Marjan Mijajlović a Bosnian sports commentator; first while he worked for Sport Klub when he was commentating Bundesliga matches in which Bosnian players played, he would call them Zmajevi (Dragons), later when he commentated the game against Belgium (during qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup), he used this name to refer to the whole team.

In foreign media, sometimes they are referred to as the Golden Lilies.[19]

Supporters

Large number of national team's supporters come from Northern and Western Europe as well as North America. Those are mostly former citizens who escaped the Bosnian War in the 1990s. In away games, these Bosnian supporters come in large numbers, sometimes outnumbering the opposing supporters. In addition support also comes from local football fans, namely "Horde Zla" (FK Sarajevo), "The Maniacs" (FK Željezničar Sarajevo), "Red Army Mostar" (FK Velež Mostar), "Robijaši" (NK Čelik Zenica) and "Fukare" (FK Sloboda Tuzla). Most of these fans are members of BHFanaticos, who are the most loyal supporters of Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.

These fans travel to all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the world in support of the national side. Within the last decade, BHFanaticos have strongly opposed Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina because of suspicions financial matters, among others. For these reasons, national qualifying games were the opportunity for BHF to visually show their opposition by lifting anti FA banners and throwing flares onto the pitch in hope that the federation would be fined. Bosnian rap artist Frenkie dedicated a song "Rat Savezu" (translated "War on FA") to the Bosnian Soccer Fans BHFanaticos in their war against the corrupt Bosnian Football Federation.[21]

In the game Norway v Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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.[22]

Before every game, during playing of Bosnian national anthem, BH Fanaticos sing lyrics from the old national anthem Jedna si jedina as current national anthem does not have lyrics in all international sports Bosnia is part of (mainly football, basketball and handball).[23][24]

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.[25] 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.[26] The game in Sarajevo was organised by the Federal TV who broadcast the humanitarian game live.

For team Kodro the following players played: Sedin Tanović, Mirza Kapetanović, Edin Mujčin, Dževad Šaćirbegović, Bulend Biščević, Vedin Musić, Anel Karabeg, Senad Repuh, Sergej Barbarez, Meho Kodro. For team Bolić and friends the following: Mirsad Dedić, Nermin Šabić, Muhamed Konjić, Mirza Varešanović, Sead Halilović, Almir Turković, Mirsad Bešlija, Samir Muratović, Predrag Pašić, Mersad Kovačević, Elvir Bolić. Substitutes for Team Kodro were Samir Šabanović, Cero, Gradimir Crnogorac, Enes Mešanović, Emir Granov, Senad Brkić, Jasmin Hukić, Elvedin Beganović, Adis Obad, Haris Medunjanin, Bujak, Dženan Zaimović, Sead Kajtaz, Senad Merdanović, Zijad Švrakić, Almir Gredić and Dino Đurbuzović, while substitutes for Bolić team were Adnan Gušo, Muhamed Alaim, Almedin Hota, Esmir Džafić, Adnan Osmanhodžić, Alen Avdić, Midhat Sarajčić, Aldin Ćenan, Dženan Hošić, Amel Džaka, Amer Osmanagić, Admir Velagić, Hadis Zubanović, Avdo Kalajdžić, Mirza Golubica and Samir Ćemalović.[27] The game ended 11–9 in favour of Team Kodro.[28]

Managers

Current coaching staff – Under Safet Sušić

On 28 December 2009, Sušić was named coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.[29] His debut was a friendly match against Ghana in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina won the game 2:1 after goals from Vedad Ibišević and Miralem Pjanić. After only 2 wins in Sušić's 6 first matches in charge of the national team, including an important 2:0 loss to France in the qualification for Euro 2012, Sušić came under a lot of criticism from several journalists and columnists who called for his head.[30][31]

During 2011, Sušić's Bosnia national football side recorded a 7 game unbeaten run (beating Albania, Belarus twice, Luxembourg and recording three draws against Greece, France and Portugal), conceding one goal in the process, which led to FIFA rank of 21st in the world.[32] This year team has also beaten Romania. Three losses against Romania, Mexico and Portugal complete all the results for the mentioned year for the Sušić's Bosnia and Herzegovina national side. Even though the national side hasn't played a single game in December 2011, it still moved up 3 places in the December 2011 FIFA ranking, ending the highly successful year at the high rank of 20, the all time record for the national side. It is not yet clear whether the coach will extend his contract beyond 2011.

Safet Sušić: W 7 /D 5 /L 6

Position Name Nationality
Manager Safet Sušić  Bosnian
Assistant Manager Elvir Baljić  Bosnian
Assistant Manager Borče Sredojević  Bosnian
Goalkeeper Coach Tomislav Piplica  Bosnian
Doctor Edib Jerlagić  Bosnian
Kinesiotherapy Radomir Čosović  Bosnian
Kinesiotherapy Ismar Hadžibajrić  Bosnian
Managing Director Fuad Kečo  Bosnian
Secretary Elmir Pilav  Bosnian

Former managers

Manager Time Period Position in Qualifiers
Mirsad Fazlagic 1992–1993
Fuad Muzurovic 1993–1998 4/5 for WC 1998
Džemaludin Mušović 1998–1999
Faruk Hadžibegić 1999
Mišo Smajlović 1999–2002 3/6 for EURO 2000
4/5 for WC 2002
Blaž Slišković 2002–2006 4/5 for EURO 2004
3/6 for WC 2006
Fuad Muzurović 2006–2007 4/7 for EURO 2008
Meho Kodro 2008
Miroslav Blažević 2008–2009 2/6 Play-offs for WC 2010
Safet Sušić 2009– 2/6 Play-offs for EURO 2012

2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina  — 22 Mar '13 11 Sep '12 11 Oct '13 16 Oct '12 6 Sep '13
Greece  12 Oct '12 — 10 Sep '13 15 Oct '13 11 Sep '12 11 Oct '13
Latvia  7 Jun '13 7 Sep '12 — 16 Oct '12 6 Sep '13 15 Oct '13
Liechtenstein  7 Sep '12 6 Sep '13 22 Mar '13 — 12 Oct '12 7 Jun '13
Lithuania  15 Oct '13 7 Jun '13 11 Oct '13 10 Sep '13 — 7 Sep '12
Slovakia  10 Sep '13 16 Oct '12 12 Oct '12 11 Sep '12 22 Mar '13 —
7 September 2012
 Liechtenstein  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
11 September 2012
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Latvia Bilino Polje, Zenica
12 October 2012
 Greece  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
16 October 2012
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Lithuania Bilino Polje, Zenica
22 March 2013
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Greece Bilino Polje, Zenica
7 June 2013
 Latvia  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina Skonto Stadium, Riga
6 September 2013
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Slovakia Bilino Polje, Zenica
10 September 2013
 Slovakia  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina
11 October 2013
 Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Liechtenstein Bilino Polje, Zenica
15 October 2013
 Lithuania  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas

Results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team results
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ground H A H A A A A H A H
Result W D D L L

Last updated: 07 December 2011.
Source: nfsbih.net (Bosnian)
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Date Competition Venue Home Team Result Away Team Scorers
7 October 2011
UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Bilino Polje, Zenica
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
5 – 0
  Luxembourg
Džeko  12' Misimović  15', 22' (pen.) Pjanić  36' Medunjanin  51'
11 October 2011
UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
  France
1 – 1
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Džeko  40'
11 November 2011
UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers – Second Round
Bilino Polje, Zenica
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
0 – 0
  Portugal
15 November 2011
UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers – Second Round
Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
  Portugal
6 – 2
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Misimović  41' (pen.) Spahić  65'
16 December 2011
Friendly *
Antalya, Turkey
  Poland
1 – 0
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
29 February 2012
Friendly
–
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
7 September 2012
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
  Liechtenstein
–
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
11 September 2012
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Bilino Polje, Zenica
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
–
  Latvia
12 October 2012
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
  Greece
–
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
16 October 2012
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Bilino Polje, Zenica
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
–
  Lithuania

Matches not on specified FIFA dates and composed of Premier League players only are denoted by *.[33]

Players

Current squad

Match Date: November 11 and 15 2011
Opposition:  Portugal
Caps and goals correct as of: November 15, 2011

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Kenan Hasagić February 1, 1980 (1980-02-01) (age 32) 44 0 İstanbul B.B.
12 GK Asmir Begović June 20, 1987 (1987-06-20) (age 24) 9 0 Stoke City
22 GK Asmir Avdukić May 13, 1981 (1981-05-13) (age 30) 2 0 Borac Banja Luka
2 DF Muhamed Bešić September 10, 1992 (1992-09-10) (age 19) 5 0 Hamburger SV
3 DF Saša Papac February 7, 1980 (1980-02-07) (age 32) 38 0 Rangers
4 DF Emir Spahić (captain) August 18, 1980 (1980-08-18) (age 31) 55 3 Sevilla
5 DF Adnan Mravac April 10, 1982 (1982-04-10) (age 29) 13 0 Mattersburg
23 DF Boris Pandža December 15, 1986 (1986-12-15) (age 25) 17 0 Mechelen
6 MF Elvir Rahimić April 4, 1976 (1976-04-04) (age 35) 34 0 CSKA Moscow
7 MF Semir Štilić October 8, 1987 (1987-10-08) (age 24) 5 0 Lech Poznań
8 MF Miralem Pjanić April 2, 1990 (1990-04-02) (age 21) 30 4 Roma
10 MF Zvjezdan Misimović (vice-captain) June 5, 1982 (1982-06-05) (age 29) 64 20 Dynamo Moscow
15 MF Sanel Jahić December 10, 1981 (1981-12-10) (age 30) 20 1 APOEL
16 MF Senad Lulić January 18, 1986 (1986-01-18) (age 26) 15 0 Lazio
17 MF Senijad Ibričić September 26, 1985 (1985-09-26) (age 26) 33 4 Lokomotiv Moscow
18 MF Haris Medunjanin March 8, 1985 (1985-03-08) (age 26) 18 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv
20 MF Adnan Zahirović March 23, 1990 (1990-03-23) (age 21) 8 0 Spartak Nalchik
21 MF Darko Maletić October 20, 1980 (1980-10-20) (age 31) 17 1 Aktobe
— MF Sejad Salihović October 8, 1984 (1984-10-08) (age 27) 26 4 1899 Hoffenheim
9 FW Zlatan Muslimović March 6, 1981 (1981-03-06) (age 30) 28 11 Unattached
11 FW Edin Džeko (3rd captain) March 17, 1986 (1986-03-17) (age 25) 41 20 Manchester City
14 FW Vedad Ibišević August 6, 1984 (1984-08-06) (age 27) 34 8 1899 Hoffenheim
19 FW Ermin Zec March 28, 1988 (1988-03-28) (age 23) 9 1 Gençlerbirliği

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months:

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up
GK Ibrahim Šehić September 2, 1988 (1988-09-02) (age 23) 3 0 Mersin İdmanyurdu v.  Greece, 10 August 2011
DF Mensur Mujdža March 28, 1984 (1984-03-28) (age 27) 12 0 Freiburg v.  France, 11 October 2011
DF Muhamed Subašić March 19, 1988 (1988-03-19) (age 23) 3 1 Dynamo Dresden v.  Albania, 7 June 2011
DF Ognjen Vranješ October 24, 1989 (1989-10-24) (age 22) 2 0 Krasnodar v.  Albania, 7 June 2011
DF Safet Nadarević August 30, 1980 (1980-08-30) (age 31) 30 0 Eskişehirspor v.  Mexico, 9 February 2011
MF Mehmed Alispahić November 24, 1987 (1987-11-24) (age 24) 2 0 Dinamo Zagreb v.  Greece, 10 August 2011

Records

Most appearances

# Name Career Caps Goals
1
Zvjezdan Misimović
 2004– 64 20
2
Emir Spahić
 2003– 55 3
3
Elvir Bolić
 1996–2006 51 22
4
Sergej Barbarez
 1998–2006 47 17
5
Vedin Musić
 1995–2007 45 0
6
Kenan Hasagić
 2002– 44 0
7
Hasan Salihamidžić
 1996–2006 43 6
8
Edin Džeko
 2007– 41 20
9
Muhamed Konjić
 1995–2006 40 3
10
Saša Papac
 2002– 38 0

Most goals

# Name Career Goals Caps
1
Elvir Bolić
 1996–2006 22 51
2
Zvjezdan Misimović
 2004– 20 64
3
Edin Džeko
 2007– 20 41
4
Sergej Barbarez
 1998–2006 17 47
5
Elvir Baljić
 1996–2005 14 38
6
Zlatan Muslimović
 2006– 11 28
7
Vedad Ibišević
 2007– 8 34
8
Hasan Salihamidžić
 1996–2006 6 43
9
Dželaludin Muharemović
 1997–2001 6 19
10
Senijad Ibričić
 2005– 4 33

Undefeated streak

Opponent Type Date Result
 Albania UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers 2011-06-07 2–0
 Greece
Friendly
 2011-07-10 0–0
 Belarus UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers 2011-09-02 2–0
 Belarus UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers 2011-09-06 1–0
 Luxembourg UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers 2011-10-07 5–0
 France UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers 2011-10-11 1–1
 Portugal UEFA Euro 2012 Play-offs 2011-11-11 0–0

Head-to-Head records against other countries

[9][34]

Opponent Games Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Differential
 Argentina 1 0 0 1 0 5 −5
 Brazil 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1
 Chile 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 Paraguay 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3
 Uruguay 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1
 Mexico 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2
 Ghana 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
 South Africa 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2
 Tunisia 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
 Zimbabwe 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0
 Albania 4 1 2 1 3 3 =0
 Armenia 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5
 Austria 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2
 Azerbaijan 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 Belarus 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3
 Belgium 4 3 0 1 8 7 +1
 Bulgaria 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
 Croatia 4 0 0 4 5 14 −9
 Czech Republic 2 0 0 2 1 6 −5
 Denmark 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3
 Estonia 5 3 1 1 14 3 +11
 Faroe Islands 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1
 Finland 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 France 4 0 2 2 3 6 −3
 Germany 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2
 Greece 5 0 1 4 2 11 −9
 Hungary 4 0 2 2 3 6 −3
 Israel 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2
 Italy 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
 Liechtenstein 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8
 Lithuania 4 2 1 1 7 6 +1
 Luxembourg 5 5 0 0 13 1 +12
 Macedonia 5 1 3 1 8 8 =0
 Malta 4 3 0 1 9 4 +5
 Moldova 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1
 Norway 4 2 0 2 3 5 −2
 Poland 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1
 Portugal 4 0 1 3 2 8 −6
 Romania 4 1 0 3 2 9 −7
 San Marino 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5
 Scotland 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2
 Serbia and Montenegro 3 0 1 2 0 3 −3
 Slovakia 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2
 Slovenia 3 3 0 0 7 4 +3
 Spain 6 0 2 4 6 14 −8
 Sweden 1 0 0 1 2 4 −2
 Turkey 5 2 1 2 7 6 +1
 Wales 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0
 Bahrain 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 Bangladesh 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2
 China PR 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3
 Indonesia 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2
 Iran 5 0 1 4 7 15 −8
 Japan 2 0 1 1 2 5 −3
 Jordan 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
 Malaysia 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3
 Oman 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
 Qatar 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2
 South Korea 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2
 Uzbekistan 2 0 1 1 1 2 −2
 Vietnam 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4
61 Countries 148 54 35 59 200 217 −17

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b UEFA.com (October 13, 2011). "Draw for the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs". http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1695932.html#draw+uefa+euro+2012+play+offs. 
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  16. ^ "Portugal overwhelm ten-man Bosnia and Herzegovina". November 15, 2011. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2012/matches/round=2000113/match=2008831/postmatch/report/index.html#portugal+storm+into+finals. 
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  34. ^ rsssf.com (March 26, 2008). "Bosnia-Herzegovina – List of International Matches upto 2008". rsssf.com. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/bos-intres.html. Retrieved 2008-03-26. 

External links

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