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“The whole group of us started crying, hugging, dancing, and singing: ‘I am from Bosnia, take me to America’, and throwing chairs across the lawn.”
An estimated 150,000 people took to the streets of Sarajevo to celebrate the country's second World Cup qualification, following their debut in 2014.
Zeljka Malesevic-Skenderija, a former Sarajevo resident who arrived in Canada in 1992, noted that soccer unifies diverse identities in Bosnia.
“Sarajevo is a place of many identities, but football collapses all of them into one,” she said.
“For a few hours, the city was feeling like a single organism breathing in sync.”
Alija Topuz, an Oakville resident, watched the playoff broadcast with his wife. “Bosnians are proud people even though we went through a horrible time,” he said.
Denis Sazdanovic recalled struggling with slow internet to watch games in the late 1990s.
Now, young players like 21-year-old Esmir Bajraktarević, who scored the decisive penalty against Italy, have revitalized older fans.
“When you realize what those [players] have done, you know, it really makes you proud,” he said.
After the opener, Canada will face Qatar in Vancouver on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
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Bosnia will play Switzerland at SoFi Stadium on June 18 and Qatar at Lumen Field on June 24.
