Bosnia name World Cup squad: Edin Dzeko, 40, and Kerim Alajbegovic, 18, included

Bosnia will play at its second World Cup, having also qualified in 2014 Elvis BARUKCIC / AFP via Getty Images Share articleBosnia and Herzegovina head coach Sergej Barbarez has named his squad for the 2026 World Cup, with Edin Dzeko and teenage winger Kerim Alajbegovic the standout inclusions. Veteran striker Dzeko, the side’s talisman and most important player, is one of two survivors from Bosnia’s 2014 World Cup squad alongside Sead Kolasinac, the former Arsenal defender now at Atalanta. Dzeko, 40, will captain his nation but winger Alajbegovic is symbolic of Bosnia’s future: the 18-year-old has starred for Red Bull Salzburg, for whom he has scored 12 goals and provided four assists, this term. Alajbegovic will rejoin Bayer Leverkusen this summer and operates on the left flank for Bosnia, with Esmir Bajraktarevic, the 21-year-old U.S. born winger of PSV Eindhoven, on the right wing. Defender Tarik Muharemovic has starred in Serie A for Sassuolo this year and been linked with a summer move, while Borussia Monchengladbach forward Haris Tabakovic has impressed in Germany’s top-flight this term with 12 league goals. Bosnia — who finished second to Austria in their qualification group with 17 points after just one loss in eight matches — beat Wales and Italy on penalties at the playoff stage to claim the final World Cup spot in Group B, alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. The Balkan nation, which gained independence in 1992, also qualified for the tournament in 2014 but did not progress beyond the group stage after one-goal losses to Argentina and Nigeria, along with a win over Iran. Bosnia’s modest playing pool means there are few surprises in the squad, but a handful of more experienced players — with no shortage of international representation — will be disappointed to miss out. Dzeko is the only Bosnian with more international goals in the current squad than midfielder Amer Gojak, a regular for last season’s Croatian champions Rijeka, who has scored four times for Bosnia. Gojak was a regular for the national side between 2018 and 2022, with his inclusion in the preliminary squad for the tournament suggesting he may be in the frame for the final cut, but he has been omitted. Another experienced midfielder, Haris Hajradinovic, 32, has been omitted. Hajradinovic has been capped 16 times at senior level and featured three times for Bosnia in 2025. Right-back Jusuf Gazibegovic was a regular for Bosnia while playing for Sturm Graz, but his move to FC Koln saw him lose his place for club and country. Despite a loan return to Sturm Graz and first-team football in January, he has not made the cut for Barbarez’s squad. It is eye-catching that there are three uncapped players in the squad, yet each has a logical explanation. Ermin Mahmic, the highly-rated Austria-born midfielder, has had his allegiance switch to Bosnia confirmed by FIFA and is immediately included in Barbarez’s squad. The 21-year-old has impressed for Czech side Slovan Liberec this season with eight goals, and may be a wildcard this summer. Centre-back Nidal Celik is seen as one of Bosnia’s brightest young stars. The 19-year-old joined French Ligue 1 club Lens last summer, and is now included in Bosnia’s senior squad for the first side. Third-choice goalkeeper Osman Hadzikic, of Croatia’s Slaven Belupo, is another who represented Austria at under-21 level before switching to Bosnia. He is unlikely to play at the tournament, with Nikola Vasilj established as first-choice and Martin Zlomislic also in the squad. The most notable absentee through injury is centre-back Adrian Leon Barisic. The 24-year-old, who has played 15 games for Bosnia and is on loan at Portuguese side Braga from Basel, has had his season disrupted by a muscular injury. The over-reliance on Dzeko, who is Bosnia’s talisman, captain, record appearance-maker and scorer. Now aged 40, the former Manchester City, Roma and Inter striker has remarkably scored at least one international goal for 20 successive years since 2007 and netted the crucial equaliser in Wales. Bosnia play a 4-4-2 formation with Dzeko’s hold-up play and aerial presence crucial for any attacking threat. Yet at this stage of his career, his fitness will need to be carefully managed and he is simply irreplaceable in this squad. Dzeko may not be able to play the full 90 minutes of each group match, so coach Barbarez will need to find solutions and new attacking outlets. Goalkeepers: Nikola Vasilj (St Pauli), Martin Zlomislic (Rijeka), Osman Hadzikic (Slaven Belupo) Defenders: Sead Kolasinac (Atalanta), Amar Dedic (Benfica), ⁠Nihad Mujakic (Gaziantep), Nikola Katic (Schalke 04), Tarik Muharemovic (Sassuolo), Stjepan Radeljic (Rijeka), Dennis Hadzikadunic (Sampdoria), Nidal Celik (Lens) Midfielders: Amir Hadziahmetovic (Hull City), Ivan Sunjic (Pafos), Ivan ‌Basic (Astana), Dzenis Burnic (Karlsruher SC), Ermin ​Mahmic (Slovan Liberec), Benjamin Tahirovic (Brondby), Amar Memic (Viktoria Plzen), ‌Armin Gigovic (Young Boys), Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg), Esmir ​Bajraktarevic (PSV Eindhoven) Forwards: Ermedin Demirovic (VfB Stuttgart), Jovo Lukic (Universitatea Cluj), Samed Bazdar (Jagiellonia Bialystok), Haris Tabakovic (Borussia Monchengladbach), Edin Dzeko (Schalke) Selektor Sergej Barbarez odabrao je 26 reprezentativaca koji će predstavljati Bosnu i Hercegovinu na Svjetskom prvenstvu u SAD, Kanadi i Meksiku.#NFSBiH #zmajevi #FIFAWorldCup2026 #dreambigdreambih pic.twitter.com/tnmmSNEXYx — NFS BIH (@NFSBiH) May 11, 2026 Bosnia play two warm-up matches against North Macedonia on May 29 in ​Sarajevo before travelling to the U.S., where they will play Panama in St. Louis in their final warm-up match before beginning their World Cup campaign ‌against Canada on June 12 in Toronto. 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