Bosnian-Herzegovinian national soccer team / world championships

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosna i Hercegovina

World Cup record goalscorer:	Dušan Bajević (3 for Yugoslavia)
World Cup record players:	Safet Sušić and Zlatko Vujović (8 each for Yugoslavia)
Rank :	59
Balance sheet
3 World Cup games 1 win 0 draw 2 defeats 4: 4 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Bosnia and Herzegovina 1: 2 Argentina Rio de Janeiro ( BRA ); 15th June 2014
Biggest World Cup victory for Bosnia and Herzegovina 3: 1 Iran Salvador da Bahia ; June 25, 2014
Biggest World Cup defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina 1: 2 Argentina Rio de Janeiro ( BRA ); June 15, 2014 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1 Nigeria Cuiabá ( BRA ); June 21, 2014
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	1 ( first : 2014 )
Best results	Preliminary round
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: after the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian national soccer team at soccer world championships . Bosnia-Herzegovina has so far only participated in world championships. Players born in the area of ​​what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina were already part of the Yugoslav team at earlier World Cup tournaments . The successes of the Yugoslav team were but by the FIFA initially existing only from Serbia and Montenegro Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, under this name also in 2006, in 1998 as Serbia and Montenegro participated and now Serbia attributed the first time took part in 2010 .

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1998	France	not qualified				In the qualification of Denmark and Croatia failed.
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the qualification of Spain failed.
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Spain and Serbia and Montenegro failed.
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the qualification in the playoffs of the runners to Portugal failed.
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Argentina Nigeria Iran	19th	Safet Sušić
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification of Belgium and Greece failed

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Participation as part of Yugoslavia: 8 × (38%; 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1982 and 1990)
• Not qualified: 5 × (20%; 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2018)
• Sports qualification: 1 × (5% or 17% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 1 × (5%; 2014)

World Cup tournaments

1994 World Cup in the United States

Although Bosnia-Herzegovina gained independence in 1992, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Football Association , founded in 1992, was only admitted to FIFA in 1996 and was therefore unable to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Yugoslavia, drawn in Group 5, was excluded due to UN sanctions before qualifying began.

World Cup 1998

The team took part for the first time in the qualification for the second World Cup in France and was only fourth in Group 1 with Denmark , Croatia , Greece and Slovenia . The first World Cup qualifier on September 1, 1996 took place in Greece and was lost 3-0. On November 10, 1996, the first victory in a World Cup qualifier was achieved with a 2-1 win in Slovenia. A 3-0 win against group winners Denmark and a 1-0 home game against Slovenia weren't enough to qualify as all other games were lost.

World Cup 2002

Bosnia-Herzegovina was also unable to qualify for the first World Cup in Asia . Spain , Austria and Israel placed ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which only Liechtenstein was able to leave behind and only won against the Liechtensteiners.

World Cup 2006

The qualification for the second World Cup in Germany went a little better . Only Serbia & Montenegro and Spain were able to place ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Belgium, Lithuania and San Marino followed in the other places. There were even two draws against Spain.

2010 in South Africa

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Africa , Bosnia-Herzegovina took second place behind ten-game European champions, Spain, and thus reached the relegation games of the group runners-up. The former World Cup participants Turkey and Belgium as well as Estonia and Armenia were left behind. The 7-0 win against Estonia was one of the two biggest victories. In the play-off matches, Bosnia-Herzegovina then lost twice 1-0 to Portugal .

2014 in Brazil

Starting line-ups for the Bosnian-Herzegovinian team's first World Cup game

Four years later the first qualification for a major tournament was achieved. In March 2010, Safet Sušić took over the team. In a group with Greece , Slovakia , Lithuania , Latvia and Liechtenstein, Bosnia-Herzegovina was level on points with Greece, but because of the better goal difference, as group winners and qualified for the second World Cup in Brazil . In the 8: 1 against Liechtenstein, the team scored the most goals in their short international history and one of the two highest wins. In total, the team scored 30 goals, of which Edin Džeko scored a third, making him the second best goalscorer in Europe. Only three players ( Deon McCaulay (Belize), Robin van Persie (Netherlands) and Luis Suárez (Uruguay)) scored one more goal.

The draw then gave ex-world champions Argentina a big chunk, but the other two opponents Iran and Nigeria appeared to be at most equally strong. The opening game against Argentina was then lost 2-1, with Sead Kolašinac underlining an own goal in the third minute and Vedad Ibišević scoring the first World Cup goal for Bosnia-Herzegovina. But with a 1-0 defeat against African champions Nigeria, the chances of reaching the last 16 were lost. With a 3-1 win against Iran, at least the first World Cup victory was achieved. Sušić initially remained in office, but was dismissed in November 2014 after a 3-0 defeat in qualifying for the Euro 2016 against Israel. His successor was Mehmed Baždarević .

2018 in Russia

In the qualification , which started in September 2016, the team faced Belgium , Greece , Estonia and Cyprus . After three home wins, a draw in Greece and a defeat in Belgium, the Bosnians were in third place halfway through the games. In the second half, the team could only win in Faro / Loulé against Gibraltar and on the last matchday in Estonia. Since the Greeks, with whom the team was fighting for second place behind Belgium, but won against Gibraltar at the same time, it stayed with third place. The Greeks were then unable to prevail against Croatia in the playoff games of the group runners-up.

player

Ranking of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Safet Sušić , Zlatko Vujović : 8 appearances each in 2 tournaments (all for Yugoslavia)

03. Enver Hadžiabdić , Josip Katalinski , Enver Marić , Vlatko Marković , Branko Stanković : 6 appearances in 1 and 2 (Marković and Stanković) tournaments (all for Yugoslavia)

07. Faruk Hadžibegić , Davor Jozić : 5 appearances in 1 tournament (all for Yugoslavia)

09. Refik Šabanadžović : 4 appearances in 1 tournament (for Yugoslavia)

10. Dušan Bajević (for Yugoslavia), Asmir Begović , Muhamed Bešić , Predrag Đajić (for Yugoslavia), Edin Džeko , Vedad Ibišević , Miralem Pjanić , Edhem Šljivo (for Yugoslavia) and Emir Spahić : 3 appearances in 1 tournament

Ranking of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian World Cup players with the most goals

01. Dušan Bajević - 3 goals (for Yugoslavia)

02. Edin Džeko , Vedad Ibišević , Miralem Pjanić and Avdija Vršajević - 1 goal each

World Cup captains

• 1962: Muhamed Mujić (1st game, for Yugoslavia)
• 1990: Zlatko Vujović (for Yugoslavia)
• 2014: Emir Spahić

Bosnian-Herzegovinian players in the Yugoslav team

• 1930: none
• 1950: Predrag Đajić (3), Branko Stanković (3)
• 1954: Lev Mantula (0), Branko Stanković (3)
• 1958: none
• 1962: Vlatko Marković (6), Muhamed Mujić (1), Nikola Stipić (0)
• 1974: Dušan Bajević (3), Enver Hadžiabdić (6), Josip Katalinski (6), Enver Marić (6), Rizah Mešković (0), Franjo Vladić (0)
• 1982: Vahid Halilhodžić (2), Predrag Pašić (0), Miloš Šestić (2), Edhem Šljivo (3), Safet Sušić (3), Zlatko Vujović (3), Zoran Vujović (0)
• 1990: Mirsad Baljić (1), Faruk Hadžibegić (5), Davor Jozić (5), Fahrudin Omerović (0), Refik Šabanadžović (4), Safet Sušić (5), Zlatko Vujović (5)

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Legionnaires made up the majority of the players in the first World Cup squad. Only one player, the third goalkeeper Asmir Avdukić , who played in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was there.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
2014 (3)	22 (1 in China, 7 in Germany, 2 in England, 2 in Italy, 2 in Croatia, 1 in Austria, 5 in Turkey, 1 in Ukraine, 1 in Hungary)	Zvjezdan Misimović (2); Ermin Bičakčić (1), Jasmin Fejzić (0), Vedad Ibišević (3), Sead Kolašinac (2), Sead Kolašinac (2), Sejad Salihović (2), Emir Spahić (3); Asmir Begović (3), Edin Džeko (3); Miralem Pjanić (3), Senad Lulić (2); Tino-Sven Sušić (2), Avdija Vršajević (1); Anel Hadžić (1); Izet Hajrović (2), Senijad Ibričić (0), Haris Medunjanin (2), Edin Višća (2), Ognjen Vranješ (1); Toni Šunjić (2); Muhamed Besic (3)

Players banned from World Championships

No player has been banned yet.

Games

Bosnia-Herzegovina has played three World Cup games so far, one won and two lost.

All World Cup games
No.	date	opponent	Result	occasion	venue	Remarks
1.	15th June 2014	Argentina	1: 2	Preliminary round	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )
2.	June 21, 2014	Nigeria	0: 1	Preliminary round	Cuiabá ( BRA )	First international match against Nigeria
3.	June 25, 2014	Iran	3: 1	Preliminary round	Salvador da Bahia ( BRA )

Highest victories and defeats

The team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Iran : preliminary round 2014 3-1 (only win against Iran)

The team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Nigeria : Preliminary round 2014 0-1 (only game against Nigeria)

See also

• Football World - Statistics - Bosnia-Herzegovina on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Brazil (1950), Switzerland (1954), Chile (1962), Germany (1974), Spain (1982) and Italy (1990) as players in the Yugoslav team.
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2014 (PDF file; 195 kB)