2026 World Cup Team Chronicle·Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dzeko at forty, still the lamp

Bosnia and Herzegovina's World Cup memory always arrives a little late. The country's football cannot be written lightly: Balkan hills, winter streets, old wounds, and names split from the great Yugoslav football tree.

In 2014 they reached the World Cup for the first time as an independent nation. Maracana, Argentina, an early Sead Kolasinac own goal, then Messi. Bosnia lost 2-1, but for many Bosnians the score was not the point. They were finally under the World Cup lights.

That team had Dzeko, Pjanic, and Vedad Ibisevic, whose goal against Iran became the country's first World Cup goal. Bosnia beat Iran and still went out. The tournament gave them sweetness and incompletion.

Twelve years later, Pjanic is gone. Dzeko remains.

A forty-year-old striker should not usually be asked to remain the center of a national team. Dzeko is different. He was never only speed. Wolfsburg, Manchester City, Roma, Inter: what lasted was his knowledge of where the ball would fall. An old striker becomes a lamp. He does not light the whole street, but the small patch inside the box still belongs to him.

Sergej Barbarez, another man from Bosnia's old football memory, now has to guide the team around that lamp. The playoff nights sharpened the story: Wales beaten on penalties in Cardiff, Italy beaten on penalties at home. Penalties suit Bosnia in a cruel way. They test not only technique but the chest.

Group B gives them Canada, Switzerland, and Qatar. No monster, no easy mouthful. Canada bring speed and home energy, Switzerland make matches hard as cardboard, Qatar know possession and Asian rhythm. Bosnia cannot only wait for Dzeko to nod in a cross. They must move the match into places where he still matters.

Benjamin Tahirovic, Armin Gigovic, and Amir Hadziahmetovic cannot be asked to become Pjanic. They simply have to keep the road from defense to attack open. Ermedin Demirovic matters because old strikers fear loneliness. If the young runners gather around Dzeko, Bosnia may find a second voice.

I do not see Bosnia as a giant dark horse. The squad is not deep enough. But this is not merely a farewell tour. Dzeko can still finish, still hold the ball, still turn an ordinary cross into a possibility. Bosnia's task is to turn nostalgia into match ability.

Some teams make you watch because of the future. Bosnia make you watch because one man from the past has not quite left.

2026 squad list by position

Note: projected from recent call-ups and qualifying use as of May 2026. The final 26-player squad depends on the official roster.

• Goalkeepers: Nikola Vasilj, Martin Zlomislic, Osman Hadzikic
• Defenders: Sead Kolasinac, Amar Dedic, Dennis Hadzikadunic, Nikola Katic, Tarik Muharemovic, Nidal Celik, Stjepan Radeljic
• Midfielders: Benjamin Tahirovic, Armin Gigovic, Amir Hadziahmetovic, Ivan Basic, Ivan Sunjic, Dzenis Burnic
• Forwards: Edin Dzeko, Ermedin Demirovic, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Samed Bazdar, Haris Tabakovic, Kerim Alajbegovic

If you like reading the World Cup through nationality, position, and roles, play a round here: https://wordlecup.today/en/football/