Special World Cup for Esmir Bajraktarevic next week | This is how Bosnia and Herzegovina performed at the 2014 World Cup
1 min readOn 31 March, PSV player Esmir Bajraktarevic sent his country Bosnia and Herzegovina to the World Cup in North America all by himself by slotting the fourth penalty during the shootout in the play-off final against four-time world champion Italy. As a result, the Balkan country secured qualification for the World Cup for the second time since independence in 1992.
The first time Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the World Cup was in 2014. The Bosnians managed to qualify directly for the tournament in Brazil and ultimately ended up in Group F with Argentina, Iran and Nigeria.
On 15 June 2014, the Balkan country made its debut on the world’s biggest stage against Argentina. In the third minute, left-back Sead Kolasinac was unfortunate on the Bosnian side by rolling the ball behind his own goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic.
Ultimately, the Bosnians lost 2-1 and in the second group match a meeting with Nigeria was scheduled. In the 21st minute, striker Edin Dzeko seemed to score the 0-1 on a pass from midfielder Miralem Pjanic, but the assistant referee raised the flag (incorrectly) for offside and the New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary therefore disallowed the goal.
In the 29th minute, Nigeria went ahead 1-0 via Peter Odemwingie, and this was also the final score. As a result, Bosnia and Herzegovina had already been eliminated after two matches, and afterward, in particular Dzeko was not happy about the fact that his goal was incorrectly disallowed.
The last group match against Iran was for the Bosnians nothing more than a match for pride. Even though Iran still had a chance to advance to the next round at Nigeria's expense, Bosnia-Herzegovina secured a 3-1 victory and thereby recorded their first ever win at a final tournament.
Twelve years later, the Balkan country is preparing for its second appearance at the FIFA World Cup, with PSV player Esmir Bajraktarevic in the squad. For the winger, it will be a special tournament anyway, since Bajraktarevic was born in the United States and therefore also grew up there.
The United States, together with neighboring countries Canada and Mexico, is hosting this edition of the World Cup, and Bajraktarevic indeed made his debut for the national team of Team USA in 2024, but nevertheless decided to pursue an international career with Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the winter of 2025, the Bosnian winger made the move from New England Revolution to PSV.
For Bajraktarevic and co., Friday evening at 9 p.m. Dutch time, the match against Canada is on the schedule. The match between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be played in Toronto, while the other group matches for the Bosnian team will be played in the American cities of Los Angeles (against Switzerland) and Seattle (against Qatar).
Comments5
tbh ik ben vooral benieuwd of Bajraktarevic z'n rol als vleugelspeler kan blijven pakken. Na 2014 toen ze al na 2 wedstrijden eruit lagen, is dit tweede WK gewoon peak motivatie. Maar tegen Zwitserland en Qatar wordt het ook gewoon punten pakken, geen marketing.
Die poule in 2014 was echt zuur. Kolasinac die al in de 3e minuut een eigen goal maakt... en dan Dzeko z'n doelpunt dat wordt afgekeurd omdat die vlag er weer eens "net" verkeerd staat. ngl, als je dat zo ziet, snap je wel dat ze nu wraak willen.
I love how Bosnië in 2014 al gelijk direct pech had tegen Argentinië, en Nigeria ook. Dat afgekeurde doelpunt van Dzeko, echt balen man... hopelijk blijft dat niveau aan taken in 2026 PSV-waardig.
Bajraktarevic is echt een underrated story. Van penalty-scoring tegen Italië naar nu WK-groep met Bosnië, dat is peak drama. Ben benieuwd of hij bij PSV dezelfde rust terugbrengt in het sleutelmoment.
Bajraktarevic die Bosnië aan WK schiet met die 4e penalty, dat is echt clutch. 👏 Ik hoop dat hij in de interlands hetzelfde tempo en lef brengt als bij PSV, want Canada gaat niet makkelijk worden in Toronto.