These were the emotional words of Emir Suljagic, head of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, after Esmir Bajraktarevic scored the winning penalty against Italy last month to send Bosnia and Herzegovina to the 2026 World Cup.
Bajraktarevic, the 21-year-old PSV Eindhoven winger, is the son of Elmir and Emina Bajraktarevic, two Bosnian Muslims who fled the country after surviving the Srebrenica Genocide. The 1995 Srebrenica genocide was the systematic murder of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in just one month. The genocide was carried out on young men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in an area declared a 'UN Safe Zone.' Like many families, Elmir and Emina fled Bosnia for the United States, settling in Appleton, Wisconsin. It is there where in 2005, Esmir was born.
Personal Connection to Genocide
'Srebrenica is something I will never forget. It's a part of me and who I am. I carry it in my blood. It's a very important part of me,' Bajraktarevic told the Blazing Musket, a New England Revolution website, in 2023. The winger started his career in Major League Soccer with the Revs and featured for various USA age-group sides, earning one cap for the USMNT. That was before his switch to the country of his parents in 2024, since earning 14 caps. He then joined Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven in January 2025 with five goals and two assists so far this season in all competitions.
Diaspora Representation
'Many people were forced to leave the country and find a peaceful life somewhere else. This (the national team) is their opportunity to come back,' Ervin Krantic of the BH Fanaticos said about Bajkatarevic and the other members of the squad drawn from Bosnia's diaspora population. The BH Fanaticos are a global fan group for the Bosnian diaspora, who follow Bosnian representatives across all sports. 'Whenever you go to a Bosnia game, there are people from all corners of the world that are there,' Ervin told Mirror Online. The stadiums at their games in North America will be packed, with the US home to over 400,000 people of Bosnian origin, and many more travelling from further afield.
Bajraktarevic will not be the only exciting young winger playing for Bosnia this summer, with 18-year-old Austrian-born Kerim Alajbegovic starring for Red Bull Salzburg this season. He will rejoin former club Bayer Leverkusen in the summer after the club activated his buy-back clause. Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko is still going strong for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia will also be led by a couple of elder statesmen. Former Arsenal left back Sead Kolasinac is still a key man, while record scorer and appearance holder Edin Dzeko continues to roll back the years. Dzeko scored in the play-off semi-final against Wales and has managed six goals in eight appearances for Schalke in the Bundesliga second tier since joining in January. Dzeko's club teammate Nikola Katic was also imperious throughout World Cup qualifying. The former Rangers and Plymouth Argyle man starred in that crucial play-off against Italy.
Team Management and Challenges
The team are managed by national team icon Sergej Barbarez, who made 47 appearances for his country. 'He's an epitome of what it means to be Bosnian. He was born in Mostar which is in Herzegovina and his dad was of Serbian origin,' Ervin said about the Head Coach. The Bosnian War ended over 30 years ago in 1995 and the two autonomous regions, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska come together under one flag, but the reality of Bosnian football is far more complicated than that. The domestic game is often mired by sectarianism, and not all the country's residents even support the national team. Many Bosnians of Serbian and Croatian ethnicity choose to support those teams instead, and this is shown by several Bosnian born players who have represented those nations. Josip Sutalo, Dejan Lovren, Neven Subotic and Josip Illicic were all born in Bosnia but chose to represent different national teams.
'The unfortunate reality is that the national team only falls to a certain amount of people,' Ervin believes, making Bosnia's qualification for the tournament even more impressive. In a group with Qatar, Switzerland and co-hosts Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina will surely be in with a good chance of progressing. 'I think we can get past the group stage, this is our time to shine. We've got a lot of young players and we're building around them,' Ervin said. They have a good mix of youth and experience and are defensively solid, with Barbarez having created a well organised compact unit. They will set up to frustrate teams but utilise the searing pace of Bajraktarevic and Alajbegovic to break quickly.
Italy's players were videoed celebrating Bosnia's victory over Wales, seeing them as the easier opponent to face in the playoff final. The Azzurri paid the price for underestimating Bosnia. They may not be the last team to do so.
