Teams
Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for only their second ever World Cup via the playoffs in the European section of qualifying after finishing second in Group H behind Austria but comfortably ahead of third placed Romania. But it was in the play offs that the real drama began; first against Wales, where they managed to score an equaliser with 5 minutes to go by none other than 40 year old Edin Dzeko, as they went onto win in a penalty shootout. It booked a date with Italy in a winner-takes-all game, and despite conceding early, Bosnia and Herzegovina equalised late and managed to prevail on penalties again to condemn the Italians to a third straight World Cup qualification failure. They are a side who will be looking their only other appearance at a World Cup when they were dumped out of the group stages in Brazil 2014, losing to Argentina and Nigeria along the way.
28 year old striker Demirovic, currently playing at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, is likely to be the focal point for Bosnia going forward. Whilst Dzeko is still playing regularly for his nation, his 40 year old legs may not last every minute of a major tournament, and it will fall on Demirovic to provide the goals. He has nine goals already for his club this season and is one of the few household names who will be representing Bosnia and Herzegovina at these championships.
