After Bosnia and Herzegovina’s late 4-1 defeat to Switzerland on Thursday, June 18, the Dragons’ hopes of making it to the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup are hanging by a thread.
The only realistic way that the Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup hopes and dreams could continue beyond the group stage is a win against Qatar on Wednesday, and hopefully that will be enough to send them through as one of the best eight third-placed teams.
Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup Hopes: A Victory Against Qatar Was Always Going To Be Necessary
We predicted before the games in North America kicked off that if there was any chance that the Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup hopes and dreams of reaching the knockout stages for the first time as an independent nation, they would have to beat Qatar in their last group match and hope that it is enough in the end.
Without meaning any disrespect to the host nation of the 2022 World Cup, they are, objectively, by far Bosnia’s weakest opponents in the group stage, and they have shown why that label has been placed on them.
Even though they had been completely outplayed by Switzerland, they only conceded once against them, and equalised through a freakish last-gasp strike to earn their first-ever World Cup point.
In their second game against co-hosts Canada, they deservedly fell to a 6-0 defeat and are pretty much out of the tournament, barring a miracle against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup Hopes: Subpar Dragons Needing A Huge Performance In The Last Group Game
The Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup hopes have really been crushed so far, as they haven’t been great so far, but that can be explained.
In the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-off, through which they sensationally earned their right to play at the tournament, the Dragons had all of their key players performing at their best.
This is simply not possible now, due to the many injuries these players have dealt with.
Haris Tabaković, for example, had scored several important goals toward the end of the Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup qualifying campaign.
At the tournament, though, he has so far been unable to play because of a nagging foot injury. He should easily be ready for the Qatar game; however, is it too late to rescue the Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup hopes?
We cannot fail to mention the shoulder injury issues the Dragons’ captain Edin Džeko has had, as he sat out the opening 1-1 draw against Canada because of them.
With that being said, others in the squad struggled to regain full fitness, and the Bosnia and Herzegovina squad has simply been depleted.
In the defeat to the Swiss, it was a super-sub performance by SC Freiburg youngster Johan Manzambi that made the decisive difference; however, the Dragons were still heavily defeated.
Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup Hopes: A Win Is A Must
It is quite clear that we haven’t seen the best from the Dragons at this tournament yet.
However, there is a very good chance that we will see the real quality of the Bosnia and Herzegovina side against Qatar. If they do win the decisive final group game, it is not certain by any stretch that it would be enough to advance.
Even so, a potential four points should be more than sufficient to move on as one of the World Cup’s best group third-place teams, especially if they also manage to somewhat improve their goal difference by more than one along the way.
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