Bosnia and Herzegovina See Off Qatar for 3rd Place
- Timothy Belin
- Jun 26
- 3 min read
Credit Sky Sports
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Qatar fairly comfortably to seal third-place in Group B.
With four points, the Europeans are likely to advance to the Round of 32 as one of the best-ranked third-place teams, but will need to wait several days to have their fate confirmed.
Bosnia and Qatar came into the game with the same predicament. Both on one point, with the group’s two leaders on four, they knew they were fighting for third. But with four points likely to be enough to advance as one of the best third-place teams, either side still had a viable chance of progressing with a win.
The opening 15 minutes of the game saw a fairly even back-and-forth, though Bosnia fashioned more opportunities in the final third than their counterparts. The first real attempt came in the 17th minute when Ivan Basic sent a long-distance effort just over the bar.
But it wasn’t until nearly the half-hour mark that the Bosnians got off the mark.
With 29 minutes on the clock, Basic split the midfield with a pass to Kerim Alajbegovic. The forward still had plenty of work to do, slaloming from left to right before unleashing a powerful shot from distance just inside of Qatar’s right post.
Five minutes later, Bosnia’s talisman helped them double the lead.
Edin Dezko, captaining his country in his 150th national appearance at 40-years of age, found space at the back post. A deep cross found the veteran striker, who looked to divert the ball back across goal for a teammate. Instead, it took a deflection off a defender and Qatar’s goalkeeper, Mahmoud Abunada, to divert into the back of the net as an own goal.
Dezko nearly added a third soon after, but his shot cannoned off the post after going across goal in the 38th.
The drama was not over in the first half, as Qatar finally found some footing late in the half. The Middle Eastern team, who had yet to attempt a shot before Bosnia’s opener, built a head of steam which paid off in the 42nd minute.
After a low cross into the box missed everyone on the first attempt, it was sent back in from the left. Hassan Alhaydos pounced onto it this time to tap it home and halve the deficit.
The Gulf State then had the ball for the 2-2 in the second minute of stoppage time, when Pedro Miguel ran through on goal. In near identical fashion as Dzeko not even 10 minutes earlier, Miguel hit a powerful shot across the face of goal, only to see it rattle the far post and fly away from danger.
Qatar carried the momentum into the second period but could not make it pay. Despite at-times sustained pressure, the Qataris did not create any clear-cut chances and never truly tested Nikola Vasilj in goal.
They were then made to rue that lack of end product as Bosnia iced the game in the 81st minute.
After sending in a warning shot in the 80th minute that forced Abunada into a flying save, the Bosnians did not miss with their next chance. After a shot from the left of the box pinballed inside the area, Ermin Mahmic pounced onto the loose ball to slam home his team’s third.
The substitute ripped off his shirt in celebration as Bosnians went wild in the crowd. The small nation knew they had done everything they could to give themselves a chance of moving on to the knockouts.
It is now a waiting game for them to discover if they do.
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