LOS ANGELES, June 18 (Xinhua) — Bosnia and Herzegovina, which qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a shock playoff win over Italy, is aiming to repeat that success by beating Group B leader Switzerland in Thursday’s clash.
“We come for three points,” Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “This is the World Cup, and we observe every single game as a final.”
Group B’s first round of matches saw Canada draw 1-1 with Bosnia, while Switzerland and Qatar also played out a 1-1 draw.
Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko, 40, did not feature against Canada in Toronto. Barbarez confirmed Dzeko was fit but would not be drawn on whether the striker would start against Switzerland.
Switzerland sits 19th in the latest FIFA world rankings, while Bosnia ranks 63rd.
Eyeing another upset over a football powerhouse, Barbarez said, “When we were playing against Italy in the playoffs, we had a similar sort of sentiment publicly, but we stayed focused on ourselves.”
Bosnia eliminated Italy in a penalty shootout in a tense playoff in March.
Bosnia defender Nikola Katic said that the team had not received the attention their achievement deserved, as nearly all the focus had been on Italy failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
“We managed to beat one of the biggest nations in the history of football. And I think after that we didn’t get the credit we deserve, and it was more spoken about ‘bad Italy’ than ‘good Bosnia,'” he said.
“For us, it was a great achievement, and it was a win that is going to boost our confidence for the future.”
In its only previous World Cup appearance in Brazil 2014, Bosnia failed to advance beyond the group stage.
