BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

Muharemovic speaks five languages and carries himself with a calmness that often makes people forget how young he actually is. Born in Slovenia to Bosnian parents, raised in Austria and developed in Italy, his story already stretches across half of Europe. His rise has been remarkably fast: Juventus scouts initially travelled to Austria to watch another player at Wolfsberger, but ended up signing Muharemovic instead. Since then, the left-footed defender has developed into one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most highly rated young players, notably comfortable stepping into midfield and progressing the ball under pressure. In Italy there is already a growing feeling that a much bigger transfer is probably only a matter of time.

Nicknamed the Tank, Kolasinac built his reputation on aggression, loyalty and old-school toughness. Born in Karlsruhe to Bosnian parents who fled the war, he worked as a nightclub bouncer as a teenager while coming through Schalke’s academy. At Schalke he became a cult figure because of his uncompromising style and connection with supporters, before later generating global news after confronting armed thieves during an attempted robbery involving his then Arsenal teammate Mesut Özil in London in 2019. One of only two players in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s squad with previous World Cup experience, Kolasinac is also remembered for the unfortunate own goal he scored after just three minutes against Argentina at the Maracanã in the country’s first-ever match at the tournament in 2014.

During Plymouth Argyle’s famous FA Cup victory over Liverpool in 2025, Katic lost a tooth early in the game, kept playing and then swore live on television afterwards because, as he put it himself: “I fucking love it.” It was probably the perfect summary of the defender Bosnia and Herzegovina supporters had already grown to love. Tall, aggressive and uncompromising, Katic belongs to a generation of centre-backs that treats defending as a personal battle. Before choosing Bosnia at senior level, he represented Croatia in youth categories and built his early career through the lower leagues of Croatian football before Slaven Belupo gave him his breakthrough. Rangers later signed him during Steven Gerrard’s rebuild of the club, where his physical style quickly made him an Ibrox favourite.

Lukic’s path to the Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup squad has been anything but straightforward. While many attacking players from his generation developed abroad early, he spent years building his career through Bosnian football before moving to Romania in 2024, where his first season at Universitatea Craiova was a failure; only two goals in 31 appearances and growing doubts about whether he belonged at that level. Then everything suddenly changed. Since moving to Universitatea Cluj last summer Lukic’s form has exploded: he finished the campaign as Romania’s top scorer and forced his way into Sergej Barbarez’s plans. “Even if I don’t play, it’s a big thing for me just to be there,” he said. Lukic joked this season that he had not scored a hat-trick “for five years” before finally doing it against Hermannstadt in December, dedicating all three goals to his young son and wheeling out a celebration the boy had asked for.