TORONTO (AP) — Bosnia and Herzegovina has advanced to the final. world cup in Last day of the European qualifying round. The opening game of this tournament will be against Canada, one of the three co-host countries.
There is no problem at all on the Vulcan side.
“We did something that made everyone know who we are, even if we’re underrated, even if we’re an underdog,” forward Ermedin Demirovic said before Thursday’s practice. “To be honest, being the underdog is not the problem.”
Bosnia begin their second World Cup appearance on Friday with matches. Canada, A team that is 30 or more places higher in the FIFA rankings.
Bosnia are ranked 64th, making them the last team in Group B behind Switzerland (19th), Canada (30th) and Qatar (56th).
“We are a small country, this is our second World Cup, and we are certainly on the back foot in many of the upcoming games,” coach Sergey Barbares said. “But if you look at the last 20 or so games, there were only two teams that were lower than us. If you know what we’ve done, I think you can only praise what we’ve been able to achieve.”
The Bosnians qualified for the World Cup via the European play-offs, defeating Wales in the semi-finals and Italy in the final. They won on penalties every time.
Midfielder Amar Memic said Bosnia’s difficult qualifying road prepared the team for the world stage.
“I think this shows how much quality we have and are ready to play in these big games,” he said.
Bosnia’s only appearance in the World Cup was in Brazil in 2014. The team took third place in Group F by defeating Iran after losing to Argentina and Nigeria.
Two players from that team return: defender Sead Kolasinac and forward Edin Dzeko.
This time, the team brought their viral song “I Am from Bosnia – Take Me To America” to the World Cup. On Friday, the Bosnian team will be playing at least in North America, and judging by the blue jerseys found on the streets of Toronto on Thursday, there will be some support.
Dzeko, Bosnia’s career goal leader, injured his shoulder against Italy in March. Since then, he has played just 64 minutes and did not feature in Bosnia’s recent friendlies against North Macedonia and Panama.
The 40-year-old striker took full part in Bosnia’s final training session before their opening match and Barbares said he would be available for the match.
“His quality is really special,” Demirovic said. “There aren’t many teams with this level of quality.”
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Owen Cameros is a student at Penn State University’s John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
