In the third round of group B4 of the UEFA Nations League, Bosnia and Herzegovina drew 1:1 against Sweden at Bilina Polje in Zenica. The match was also Edin Džeka’s official farewell to the national team — the long-time captain of the Zmaj team ends his almost twenty-year long national team career with 152 games played and 73 goals scored.
Sweden had its first chance already in the 5th minute, when Viktor Gyökeres escaped the attention of the BiH defense and shot, but Salko Hamzić made a good save. On the other side, in the 11th minute, Kerim Alajbegović retaliated, but Viktor Johansson intervened well. In the 17th minute, Gyökeres shook the net, but the goal was canceled due to handball. The guests had another good chance in the 42nd minute, when after Anthony Nanasi’s free kick from the left, Victor Lindelöf headed the ball over the goal from a good position. In the second minute of stoppage time, Edin Džeko also hit the net, but the goal was disallowed because the ball left the field of play before Alajbegović’s cross, so the break went goalless.
Sweden took the lead in the 61st minute — Bernhardsson took the ball in the middle of the field and set up Gyökeres, who came out alone in front of Hamzić and scored a goal for 0:1. Two minutes later, Edin Džeko left the field through the goalpost of his teammates, and Haris Tabaković entered the game instead. Bosnia and Herzegovina equalized in the 80th minute, when Kerim Alajbegović’s attempted cross from the left side missed all the players in the penalty area and ended up in the net. The score did not change until the end of the match.
In the second match of our group, Poland defeated Romania with a score of 6:0. After three played rounds, Sweden leads the table with seven points, Bosnia and Herzegovina is second with five, Poland has four points, while Romania has no points.
In the fourth round, which is scheduled for Monday, October 5, starting at 20:45, Romania will play against Sweden, and Bosnia and Herzegovina against Poland.
