The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team defeated San Marino 6-0 away tonight in the fifth round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The Dragons’ captain Edin Džeko scored two goals in the space of just two minutes, Anadolu news agency reported.
The first half was completely dominated by the team of coach Sergej Barbarez. Already in the 13th minute, Kerim Alajbegović did a great job in the home team’s penalty area and passed the ball to Džeko, whose shot was not precise enough and ended up just outside the right post.
Three minutes later, Alajbegović and Džeko were once again in the spotlight. This time, Džeko played a great ball towards Alajbegović, who headed towards the goal, but was stopped by Alessando Golinucci with a foul. The San Marino player received a straight red card to start, so the home team played with a player less for almost the entire match.
Benjamin Tahirović gave Bosnia and Herzegovina the lead in the 21st minute. He received the ball outside the penalty area, shot accurately and beat goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo for 1:0. By the end of the first half, the “Dragons” had several more chances, and Ermedin Demirović scored the home team’s goal, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
In the second half, Barbarez introduced Esmir Bajraktarević instead of Haris Hajradinović, which quickly proved to be a winning move. In the 55th minute, Džeko headed in a corner kick, but Colombo saved it.
In the 70th minute, Amar Memić broke through the right side and crossed, and Džeko increased the lead to 2:0. Just two minutes later, after an assist from Bajraktarević, the captain of the Bosnian national team masterfully scored for 3:0 and then left the game to the applause of the fans.
In the 80th minute, Samed Baždar scored for 4:0 after a mistake by the San Marino defense. Then in the 85th minute, the excellent Kerim Alajbegović increased the lead to 5:0, and the final 6:0 for Bosnia and Herzegovina was set by Nihad Mujakić in the 90th minute.
After five rounds played, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the leader of Group “H” with a maximum of 12 points. Austria is in second place with nine, followed by Romania with six, while Cyprus has three points. San Marino is last without a point won.
Statements of the coach and players after the match against San Marino
Coach Sergej Barbarez did not hide his satisfaction with the final outcome of the match, the official website of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced.
“Not everything was “golden”, despite the convincing victory. We lost a little confidence in the passing game from the goal scored until the end of the first half. In the second half, we came back with the reserves and substitutions and scored five more goals. I said it earlier in the press conference, my job is to think about two games. We had an agreement on the minutes with Džeko, Demirović, Tahirović, we wanted them to be a little more careful. We played in a new formation, there will definitely be some changes for the game against Austria. I’m looking forward to the game on Tuesday, I expect a full stadium.”
With two goals in the second half, captain Edin Džeko brought a great relief to the entire team, which made the victory even more convincing in the end.
“For us, games like this, which are the easiest on paper, were always the hardest on the pitch. We took the game a lot more seriously, it was evident in the first 20 minutes, we went “to the maximum”. When we scored, we relaxed and relaxed a little in the game.
The second goal decided the winner and gave the team peace of mind, which after that played better and better. We were worn out, but we have three days until the game with Austria, a lot of players remained on the bench. The coach will find the best team for Austria. We expect a full stadium and great support from our fans. There were a lot of goals, no one got injured and we have four wins from four games, that’s good for confidence.”
Kerim Alajbegović became the youngest debutant for Bosnia and Herzegovina and crowned his debut with a goal.
“I can’t believe what happened to me today. I made my debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina, I scored a goal and we won. I’m very happy and on Tuesday we’re going to win against Austria. Sometimes when the opponent gets a red card it’s not easy to play, because the team retreats even more. We were patient, had good moments and in the end we scored six goals.”
