Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the former Manchester United and Sweden striker, was visibly close to tears as he watched Bosnia and Herzegovina reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history. Working as a pundit for FOX Sports, Ibrahimovic struggled to compose himself after Bosnia’s 3-1 victory over Qatar, a result that secured their place in the round of 32. There, they will face co-hosts the United States.
Ibrahimovic, whose father Sefik was born in Bijeljina, Bosnia, and whose mother is Croatian, said his emotional reaction was rooted in his family’s past. “That’s what football is all about, bringing people together and especially for Bosnia,” he told FOX Sports. “How much this country has suffered and to see this happiness makes me very emotional. Gives me goosebumps because that’s my father’s roots.”
“Zlatan Ibrahimovic struggled to hold back tears as Bosnia and Herzegovina reached the World Cup knockout stage for the first time.”
The Bosnian War of the 1990s killed more than 100,000 people and forced many to flee, including Ibrahimovic’s parents, who relocated to Sweden in 1977, before Yugoslavia’s dissolution. Bosnia was not recognised by FIFA until 1996. The country first qualified for the World Cup in 2014, but this tournament marks their first knockout-stage appearance.
Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s all-time leading scorer with 62 international goals, never scored a World Cup goal in his own career. Watching the scenes in the stands, he said: “Just to see 70,000 singing, probably the Bosnian fans won already the World Cup and it makes me happy, very proud over them and see them also advance from the group stage. But the special moment is when the fans are singing, this is what makes me emotional, I cannot even express myself well now, but it’s a very emotional moment, and I’m just happy, I’m just happy.”
His father Sefik, known as “Kinko”, was a folk singer who launched his career in Bijeljina in 1985. For Ibrahimovic, Bosnia’s success carries the weight of a family history shaped by war and displacement. Whether the team can extend their run against the United States remains to be seen, but for one night, the joy of a nation was written on the face of a football legend.