Bosnia-Herzegovina will face Italy for a place at the 2026 World Cup as\u00a0Nikola Vasilj’s penalty heroics sealed a 4-2 shoot-out win over Wales following a 1-1 draw in normal time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Brennan Johnson skied his penalty over the bar, Vasilj sprung to his left to deny Neco Williams, with\u00a0Kerim Alajbegovic stepping up to clinch their spot in the play-off final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wales started strongly and almost hit the front in the 22nd minute through\u00a0Harry Wilson, but the in-form Fulham midfielder saw his curling effort strike the top of the left post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson then forced\u00a0Vasilj into a smart stop from a clever free-kick out on the right-hand side, but Wales were unable to find the breakthrough during the opening 45 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, they needed just six minutes after the restart to edge in front when\u00a0Benjamin Tahirovic’s attempted clearance played James in behind, and he took a touch before crashing a brilliant half-volley in at Vasilj’s near post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Karl Darlow then produced a sensational stop to claw Ermedin Demirovic’s header to safety, but Wales’ hearts were broken four minutes before the full-time whistle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kerim Alajbegovic’s teasing corner was glanced into the net by Edin Dzeko and that goal forced\u00a0extra time, with Wales coming the closest to finding a winner when Sorba Thomas’ cross was headed back across by Johnson, but no one could provide a telling touch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The shoot-out started with Darlow saving\u00a0Demirovic’s spot-kick, with Wilson and\u00a0Mark Harris stepping up to put Wales in control, but they were unable to convert that advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson blazed over from 12 yards before Williams was thwarted by Vasilj, allowing Alajbegovic to send Darlow the wrong way and tee up a date with Italy\u00a0in\u00a0Zenica next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Data Debrief: Dzeko continues to prove that age is just a number<\/p>\n
Dzeko had hardly been involved in the game before heading in an 86th-minute leveller for Bosnia, and it proved to be yet another vital intervention by the 40-year-old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He has now netted six\u00a0goals in eight\u00a0games in 2026 World Cup qualifying. Since the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, only Robert Lewandowski for Poland (34) and Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal (34) have scored more\u00a0World Cup qualifier goals than Dzeko overall (30 in 44 games).<\/p>\n
Wales, meanwhile, are now winless in all five\u00a0of their matches against Bosnia (D3\u00a0L2). They have only faced Serbia (including\u00a0games as Yugoslavia, 13), the Netherlands (10) and Sweden (seven) more often without a win.<\/p>\n
But they had their chances. Craig Bellamy’s side finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.19 from 19 shots, compared to Bosnia’s 1.02 from 14 attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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