World Cup debut next up | War in former Yugoslavia played a major role in the decision

On 31 March of last month, PSV player Esmir Bajraktarevic personally fired his country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the World Cup in North America. The Bosnians, in the final of the play-offs against all expectations, managed to settle matters after a penalty shootout with four-time world champion Italy, which as a result missed the World Cup for the third time in a row.

It was none other than PSV’s Bajraktarevic who delivered the verdict on the Italians by scoring the fourth and decisive penalty behind the goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. This allowed the Balkan country to qualify for the second time in history for the FIFA World Cup since independence in 1992.

Bajraktarevic was born in 2005 in Appleton, Wisconsin, and made his debut in 2024 for the national team of the United States. Despite this, the current PSV player decided to pursue an international career with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this has mainly to do with his family’s past.

The parents of Bajraktarevic come from Srebrenica and on 11 July 1995, in that city, within a few days more than eight thousand Bosnian Muslims were systematically slaughtered. In the end, the parents of the wing attacker managed to survive the Yugoslav wars by fleeing their city, and in 2001 they ended up in the United States via Switzerland.

In The States, Bajraktarevic was born in 2005 as the youngest child of his parents. Despite the fact that the PSV player was born in the United States, his family always spoke Bosnian at home and, in addition, Bosnian food was eaten and Bosnian music was listened to.

Not only these aspects played an important role in the choice of the wing forward to choose Bosnia and Herzegovina. The impact of the war in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide of Srebrenica on 11 July 1995 also helped tip the decision of the 21-year-old attacker.

This is what the PSV player told in a conversation with the medium The Blazing Musket. ''It was very, very terrible. My parents have lost a number of family members, very tragically. It’s something I of course never forget. It’s part of who I am, it’s my blood. It’s a big part of me'', Bajraktarevic said about it.

The name Bajraktarevic appears a total of thirteen times on the list of the victims who were murdered during the genocide in Srebrenica. Although the talented attacker did not experience the war in the former Yugoslavia, the PSV player carries the scars of his family with him.

Just over 30 years after the atrocities that took place in Srebrenica, Bajraktarevic is getting ready to make his debut on the highest stage with Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the PSV player, the World Cup is extra special because part of it is organized in the country where he grew up, namely the United States.

The Bosnians will compete in Pool B at the World Cup against fellow host Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. In addition, it is expected that some thousands of Bosnian supporters will cheer for their country during the World Cup, which during the group stage has the first match in Toronto against Canada and the other two pool matches in the American cities of Los Angeles (against Switzerland) and Seattle (against Qatar).