Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team

Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Zlatni Ljiljani
Association	Football Association of B&H
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Meho Kodro
Captain	Emir Spahić
Most caps	Elvir Bolić (52)
Top scorer	Elvir Bolić (22)
Home stadium	Bilino Polje, Zenica; Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo
FIFA code	BIH
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	67
Highest	25 (August 2007)
Lowest	173 (September 1996)
First international
	Iran 1 - 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina ; (Tehran, Iran; June 6, 1993)
Biggest win
	Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 - 0 Liechtenstein ; (Zenica, B&H; October 7, 2001)
Biggest defeat
	Argentina 5 - 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina ; (La Plata, Argentina; May 14, 1998)
Appearances	(first in -)
Best result	-
Appearances	(first in -)
Best result	-

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team is the national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is controlled by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They played their first match in 1995 after the split of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Before that, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team.

Situation Today

The Bosnian Football Federation is one of the three most corrupt Football Federations in FIFA.^{[citation needed]} The leaders in the Bosnian Football Federation stole huge amounts of money, mostly from friendlies and secret lucrative deals with managers to allow unknown players to play.^{[citation needed]} Because of this, there have been not one, but two boycotts of the Bosnian National Team.^{[citation needed]} This has contributed to poor results, in which domestic players have usually participated. There has also been protests outside the building of the Bosnian Football Federation and a charity game particularly aimed to disband the current corrupt Bosnian Football Federation. ^{[citation needed]}The charity game was led by the former manager Meho Kodro and his assistant, Elvir Bolic.

Last and next games

Last game: Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 Azerbaijan - Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 01 June, 2008. (Friendly)

Previous Qualifying Campaigns

The team has never qualified for a major tournament, but in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, only one goal in the last game against Denmark separated them from the finals in Portugal.

In the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, the Bosnians played surprisingly well when matched against teams like Spain (drawing both times), Belgium (one win, one loss), and Serbia and Montenegro (one draw, one loss).

Playing against the Serbian team inspires much national pride, as is common with any match that features two former Yugoslav republics. Against Serbia and Montenegro, the Bosnian team drew at home but lost the second leg in Belgrade, 1-0. Both matches had extra precautions being taken by officials, to prevent nationalistic rioting. UEFA fined both football federations when Serb nationalists attacked and injured several Bosnian fans.

UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifiers

After the World Cup 2006 qualifying round, much was expected of the Bosnian squad for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying. Bosnia and Herzegovina opened their race for the tournament with a 5-2 victory over Malta playing away. However, major disappointing results followed with losses to Hungary and Greece at home soil, and an unexpected draw with Moldova in Chisinau. With nearly no hopes left for the squad, major changes took place. Coach Fuad Muzurović replaced Blaž Slišković and following the protest of 13 different players against the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina by not attending national games, Muzurović had to rebuild the national team from scratch.

A team was successfully put together but little was expected of the squad since they did not have enough time to go under proper training against the next qualifying match against the solid Norwegians which was awaiting of picking up 3 points as being the home side. However, with a stunning upset the Bosnians took advantage of all chances during the game and came to victory with a 2-1 win, bringing hopes of qualifying back to life.

After the game against Norway, the Bosnian team had two great successes with an astounding victory against Turkey and a marginal victory against Malta. After these two games, the Bosnian squad unfortunately entered their second success depression for the qualifiers which cost them the loss of qualification. A defeat by Hungary and a horrible bitter defeat by Moldova at home soil dramatically changed the morale of both the team and the fans. The Bosnians then suffered two more defeats against Greece and Norway officially dropping them out of qualifications and an extra final conclusive defeat by Turkey marking the end of their Euro 2008 dream.

Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina are the 67th best football nation in the FIFA World Rankings after a major sink from their record high, 25th place, past August.

World Cup record

1930 to 1938 - was part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1950 to 1990 - was part of SFR Yugoslavia
1994 - Did not enter
1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify
2010 - Qualify underway

European Championship record

1960 to 1992 - was part of SFR Yugoslavia
1996 - Did not enter
2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - Did not qualify
2008 - Did not qualify

Previous Managers

Fuad Muzurović 1995 - 1998
Džemaludin Mušović 1998 - 1999
Faruk Hadžibegić 1999
Mišo Smajlović 1999 - 2002
Blaž Slišković 2002 - 2006
Fuad Muzurović 2006 - 2007
Meho Kodro 2008

Notable Players

(* = Still active for national side.)

Current Squad

Caps and goals as of June 01, 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Kenan Hasagić	(1980-02-01) 1 February 1980 (age 45)	24	0	Istanbul B.B.
-	1GK	Jasmin Burić	(1987-02-18) 18 February 1987 (age 38)	0	0	NK Celik Zenica

8	2DF	Veldin Muharemović	(1984-12-06) 6 December 1984 (age 40)	4	0	K.S.C. Lokeren
3	2DF	Samir Merzić	(1984-06-29) 29 June 1984 (age 40)	5	0	FK Teplice
-	2DF	Saša Papac	(1980-02-07) 7 February 1980 (age 45)	27	1	Rangers FC
-	2DF	Emir Spahić (captain)	(1980-08-18) 18 August 1980 (age 44)	19	1	FC Lokomotiv Moscow
16	2DF	Ivan Radeljić	(1980-09-14) 14 September 1980 (age 44)	6	0	FC Energie Cottbus
13	2DF	Safet Nadarević	(1980-10-30) 30 October 1980 (age 44)	10	0	Eskisehirspor

26	3MF	Sanel Jahić	(1981-10-12) 12 October 1981 (age 43)	0	0	Aris Thessaloniki FC
21	3MF	Senijad Ibričić	(1985-09-26) 26 September 1985 (age 39)	4	0	NK Zagreb
-	3MF	Miralem Pjanić	(1990-04-02) 2 April 1990 (age 35)	0	0	Olympique Lyonnais
10	3MF	Zvjezdan Misimović (captain)	(1982-06-05) 5 June 1982 (age 43)	24	9	VfL Wolfsburg
11	3MF	Darko Maletić	(1980-09-20) 20 September 1980 (age 44)	2	0	FK Partizan
17	3MF	Sejad Salihović	(1984-10-08) 8 October 1984 (age 40)	2	0	TSG Hoffenheim
-	3MF	Zlatan Bajramović	(1979-08-12) 12 August 1979 (age 45)	30	2	FC Schalke 04
25	3MF	Elvir Rahimić	(1976-04-04) 4 April 1976 (age 49)	2	0	PFC CSKA Moscow
4	3MF	Dario Damjanović	(1981-07-23) 23 July 1981 (age 43)	11	0	FC Luch-Energia
24	3MF	Admir Vladavić	(1982-06-29) 29 June 1982 (age 42)	2	0	MŠK Žilina
-	3MF	Semir Štilić	(1987-10-08) 8 October 1987 (age 37)	0	0	Lech Poznań

9	4FW	Zlatan Muslimović	(1981-03-06) 6 March 1981 (age 44)	6	7	Atalanta B.C.
23	4FW	Edin Džeko	(1986-03-17) 17 March 1986 (age 39)	2	1	VfL Wolfsburg
14	4FW	Vedad Ibišević	(1984-08-06) 6 August 1984 (age 40)	9	2	TSG Hoffenheim
-	4FW	Adnan Čustović	(1978-04-14) 14 April 1978 (age 47)	4	1	Excelsior Mouscron
-	4FW	Želimir Terkeš	(1981-01-08) 8 January 1981 (age 44)	0	0	NK Zadar
	4FW	Said Huseinović	(1988-07-10) July 10, 1988 (age 36)	2	0	SV Werder Bremen
	4FW	Stevo Nikolić	(1984-12-04) December 4, 1984 (age 40)	1	1	SC Freiburg

FIFA World Cup qualification

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 5

Euro 2008 Qualifications

Template:UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C

September 2, 2006
17:15 BST

Malta	2 – 5	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pace 6' Mifsud 86'		Barbarez 4' Hrgović 10' Bartolović 45+1' Muslimović 46' Misimović 50'

Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta'Qali
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Vejlgaard (Denmark)

September 6, 2006
19:15 BST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 – 3	Hungary
Misimović 64' (pen)		Huszti 36' (pen) Gera 46' Dárdai 49'

Bilino Polje, Zenica
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Kapitanis (Cyprus)

October 7, 2006
17:00 BST

Moldova	2 - 2	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Rogaciov 13' Rogaciov 32' (pen)		Misimović 63' Grlic 68'

Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău
Attendance: 11,000
Referee: Piccirillo (France)

October 11, 2006
19:15 CEST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	0–4	Greece
		Charisteas 8' (pen) Patsatzoglou 82' Samaras 85' Katsouranis 90+4'

Bilino Polje, Zenica
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Baskakov (Russia)

March 24, 2007
19:00 EEST

Norway	1–2	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Carew 50' (pen)		Misimović 18' Muslimović 33'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance:17,000
Referee: Riley (England)

June 2, 2007
20:00 CEST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–2	Turkey
Muslimović 27' Džeko 45+2' Ćustović 90'		Şükür 13' Sabri 39'

Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)

June 6, 2007
20:15 CEST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	Malta
Muslimović 6'

Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Richards (Wales)

September 8, 2007
16:00 CEST

Hungary	1 – 0	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Gera 39' (pen)	Report

Stadion Sóstói, Székesfehérvár
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Trefoloni (Italy)

September 12, 2007
20:00 CEST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	0 – 1	Moldova
	Report	Bugaev 22'

Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Hyytiä (Finland)

October 13, 2007
21:30 EEST

Greece	3 – 2	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Charisteas 10' Gekas 57' Lyberopoulos 72'	Report	Hrgović 54' Ibišević 90'

Olympic Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Gilewski (Poland)

October 17, 2007
20:30 CEST

Bosnia and Herzegovina	0 – 2	Norway
	Report	Hagen 5' B. Riise 74'

Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Lannoy (France)

November 21, 2007
21:00 EET

Turkey	1 – 0	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nihat 43'	Report

Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: Braamhaar (Netherlands)

2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifications