Bosnia fans rally behind team and Palestine before US World Cup tie

Bosnia and Herzegovina fans gathered in Santa Clara, California, ahead of the national team’s World Cup knockout match against the United States, turning a local Balkan restaurant into a meeting point for a far-flung diaspora. Al Jazeera reported that many supporters used the occasion to celebrate Bosnia’s run and to show support for Palestinians.

At Euro Grill on Tuesday evening, Al Jazeera described fans in Bosnia’s blue jerseys eating Balkan dishes including cevapi and burek beneath posters from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Outside, supporters posed beside vehicles covered in Bosnia flags, player images and pro-Palestinian symbols.

One supporter told Al Jazeera he had driven 25 hours from Canada in a truck decorated with Bosnia football imagery, a Free Palestine sticker and a large Hulk figure wearing a Bosnia jersey. The gathering came before Bosnia’s Round of 32 match against the US, with the team seeking its first place in the World Cup Round of 16, according to Al Jazeera.

Diaspora pride around a rare World Cup run

Al Jazeera reported that the tournament has carried special weight for Bosnians abroad, many of whom left the country during or after the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. Senad Durakovic, who moved to Boston in 1996, told Al Jazeera that the fans who gathered in California felt united by a shared purpose and identity.

Bosnia reached the 2026 World Cup after beating Italy in April in a penalty shootout, according to Al Jazeera. It was the country’s first appearance at the tournament since 2014.

Al Jazeera reported that the squad is led by 40-year-old Edin Dzeko and has drawn strength from a tight defence and younger players including Kerim Alajbegovic and Ermin Mahmic. Bosnia advanced to the knockout stage after beating Qatar 3-1, setting up the match with a US team playing as one of the host nations.

Elvis Graco, a 20-year-old fan who travelled from Jacksonville, Florida, told Al Jazeera he believed Bosnia could beat the US if it repeated its performance against Qatar.

Palestine support tied to wartime memory

Al Jazeera reported that Bosnia fans have also brought Palestinian flags and chants into World Cup host cities. Videos on social media showed supporters chanting for Palestine and carrying Palestinian flags, according to the outlet.

Jasmin Mujanovic, a scholar of Balkan history, told Al Jazeera that Bosnia had little diaspora before the war, but that many families displaced by the conflict worked to pass Bosnian identity and culture to their children. He said the current team’s World Cup run reflected that generational connection, according to Al Jazeera.

The Bosnian War killed an estimated 100,000 people, Al Jazeera reported. Bosniak Muslims made up most of the victims, and the conflict included ethnic cleansing and forced expulsions of Bosniak Muslims and Croats by Serb forces and paramilitaries, according to the outlet.

Al Jazeera noted that international tribunals found the 1995 killing of 8,372 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica by Serb forces constituted genocide. The outlet reported that some Bosnia fans link that history to their support for Palestinians amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, where more than 70,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed since October 7, 2023.

Ildaj Husovic, who runs an Instagram account focused on Bosnia-Palestine ties, told Al Jazeera that many Bosnians see Palestinian civilian suffering through the memory of their own past. Graco told the outlet that fans wanted the violence to end and wanted to keep attention on Palestinians’ daily suffering.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.