Bosnia and Herzegovina at the FIFA World Cup

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team appeared for the first time in a FIFA World Cup at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[1][2] It was eliminated in the Group stage.

Until 1992, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players were part of the Yugoslavia national football team. Bosnia and Herzegovina, which resulted from the breakup of Yugoslavia, is considered distinct entity from the Yugoslavia team which appeared eight times at the FIFA World Cup between 1930 and 1990.

Overview

After Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia on 1 March 1992, the national football team was soon formed but could not enter qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup as the national association was not yet a member of FIFA. During qualifiers for 1998 FIFA World Cup, Bosnia's first home match against Croatia was played at Bologna.[3] The match was held at the neutral venue due to the renovation of the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium. The team finished in third place during 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, recording two draws with Spain along the way. During qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Bosnia reached its first ever playoffs for a major tournament, eventually losing to Portugal 2–0 on aggregate. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the first time that Bosnia appeared at a major tournament as an independent nation, having qualified as winners of UEFA Group G.

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Position
1930–1994 Part of  Yugoslavia
France 1998 Did not qualify 8 3 0 5 9 14 4/5
South KoreaJapan 2002 8 2 2 4 12 12 4/5
Germany 2006 10 4 4 2 12 9 3/6
South Africa 2010 12 6 1 5 25 15 2/6 Lost Playoff
Brazil 2014 Group stage 20th 3 1 0 2 4 4 Squad 10 8 1 1 30 6 1/6
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022
Total Group stage 1/20 3 1 0 2 4 4 - 48 23 8 17 88 56 -

2014 FIFA World Cup

Qualification

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group G standings
Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 8 1 1 30 6 +2425
 Greece 10 8 1 1 12 4 +825
 Slovakia 10 3 4 3 11 10 +113
 Lithuania 10 3 2 5 9 11 −211
 Latvia 10 2 2 6 10 20 −108
 Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 4 25 −212

In 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Bosnia and Herzegovina were drawn to face Greece, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Liechtenstein in Group G. The Bosnia and Herzegovina national side started the qualifiers with an expected 1–8 away victory over minnows Liechtenstein, recording the equal largest victory for the side to date. This was followed with a 4–1 win against Latvia at home in Zenica. Bosnia-Herzegovina concluded their qualifiers in 2012 undefeated and placed at the top of Group G on goal difference ahead of Greece, doing so for the first time in their history, having come away with a 0–0 draw in Piraeus, Greece, and winning 3–0 at home over Lithuania in Zenica during the October qualifiers.[4] On 22 March 2013, Bosnia thumped group favourites Greece 3–1 with Edin Džeko scoring twice in the game.[5] This followed with a 5–0 win in Riga, Latvia. Bosnia lost their first and only game of the qualifiers, a shock 0–1 home loss to Slovakia in Zenica allowing Greece to come level on points, as they won away in Liechtenstein, mounting pressure on Bosnians to avoid the third consecutive play-offs for a finals tournament. Only four days later however, Bosnia managed to reverse the result thanks to a come from behind away 1–2 victory in Žilina enabling the team to remain placed first in Group G (on goal difference) keeping them in strong position to qualify for World Cup in Brazil as group winners ahead of Greece. Both goals for Bosnia were scored by players new to the national side, Ermin Bičakčić (third cap, first goal) and Izet Hajrović (second cap, first goal).

Bosnia and Herzegovina under manager Safet Sušić qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for the first time in their history after routine home victory over Liechtenstein followed by beating Lithuania 1–0 in Kaunas on 15 October 2013.[6] The national team finished level on 25 points with Greece at the top of Group G, but the superior goal difference earned the top spot and an automatic place in the finals.[7]

Finals

FIFA motto "For the Game. For the World." displayed during match between Nigeria and Bosnia at Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá attended by 40,499 football fans.[8]

Bosnia and Herzegovina was drawn into Group F in the final tournament. The other teams in the group were the two-times World Cup winners Argentina (who topped the CONMEBOL qualifying group), Iran (who topped AFC qualifying Group A), and reigning champions of Africa Nigeria

Their opening game was against Argentina at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on 15 June. Sead Kolašinac scored an own goal to give Argentina the advantage after 3 minutes, and their lead was doubled in the second half by former Ballon d'Or Lionel Messi. With five minutes to go, Vedad Ibišević scored Bosnia's first goal at a major tournament, and the game ended in a 2–1 defeat.[9]

On 21 June, at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá, Bosnia and Herzegovina played against Nigeria, knowing that a defeat would put them out of the tournament. Edin Džeko had a goal incorrectly disallowed for being offside, and seven minutes later Emmanuel Emenike ran past the Bosnian captain Emir Spahić on the right wing and put in a low cross for Peter Odemwingie to score the only goal of the game.[10] On 9 November 2014, Peter O’Leary, the game referee speaking to New Zealand Herald newspaper admitted Džeko's goal was disallowed in error.[11]

On 25 June, Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded its first World Cup victory, beating defensive-minded Iran 3–1, with the goals scored by Edin Džeko, Miralem Pjanić and Avdija Vršajević. Due to Bosnia's early elimination from the tournament, coach Safet Sušić experimented with the starting XI for this game, returning to a two-man front line that featured throughout qualifiers, and giving young players (who took no part in qualifiers) World Cup game time with the likes of Anel Hadžić (3rd cap), Tino-Sven Sušić (4th cap), Sead Kolašinac (6th cap) and Muhamed Bešić (12th cap) who moved from defensive midfield to centre midfield.

Standings

Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Argentina 3 3 0 0 6 3 +3 9
 Nigeria 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
 Iran 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1

15 June 2014
19:00 UTC−3
Argentina  2–1  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kolašinac  3' (o.g.)
Messi  65' 		Report Ibišević  85'
Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
Attendance: 74,738
Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)[12]

References

  1. ↑ Fifa.com (15 October 2013). "Bosnians make history". FIFA.com.
  2. ↑ uefa.com (15 October 2013). "Ibišević sparks Bosnia and Herzegovina joy". uefa.com.
  3. ↑ "World Cup 1998 qualifications". Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  4. ↑ fifa.com (16 October 2012). "First-half flurry sees Bosnia-Herzegovina cruise". fifa.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  5. ↑ fifa.com (22 March 2013). "Dzeko double sees off Greece". fifa.com. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "From the battlefield to football field: 20 years on from the Balkans bloodshed, Bosnia are ready to rival world's top teams in Brazil". Daily Mail. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "Bosnia-herzegovina qualifies for first world cup". Goal.com. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "Match report – Nigeria–Bosnia and Herzegovina" (Website). FIFA.com (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). 21 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "World Cup 2014: Argentina 2–1 Bosnia highlights". BBC Sport. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Oscroft, Tim (21 June 2014). "Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  11. ↑ Matthew Theunissen (9 November 2014). "Death threat ref's international return". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Referee designations for matches 9-11". fifa.com. 2014-06-13.