Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1 in their final Group B match of the 2026 World Cup on June 24 in Seattle, moving closer to the knockout stage [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Eighteen-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a solo run and shot past Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada [1, 6, 2, 7, 3, 4, 5]. Five minutes later, Bosnia captain Edin Dzeko, celebrating his 150th international appearance, forced an own goal to make it 2-0 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Qatar captain Hassan Al-Haydos scored just before halftime to reduce the deficit to 2-1 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Substitute Ermin Mahmic sealed the win with a goal 10 minutes from time, setting the final score at 3-1 [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 5].
The victory lifted Bosnia to 4 points, putting them in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 5]. Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez praised the squad's combination of youth and experience, saying, "We came here as complete underdogs... We're trying to do something big and major, and this is now something that has come true" [8, 6, 5]. Dzeko highlighted Alajbegovic's talent, noting, "If you see a boy like that in the two most important games of his career so far, it means that this boy has something and quality" [5].
Bosnia had secured their World Cup spot earlier by winning a playoff semi-final against Wales, where Alajbegovic scored the winning penalty [6, 7]. Qatar finished bottom of Group B, eliminated after earning their first World Cup point in the tournament against Switzerland [1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11]. Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui expressed pride in his team’s progress, stating, "This last match ... allowed us to take one step ahead in Qatar football, Qatar history... I think that they showed that at least we were able to compete in these kinds of matches" [10].
Bosnia may face the United States in the round of 32, with the match likely in Los Angeles or Santa Clara [8, 2, 5].
