St. Louis will play an important role in setting the stage for this summer’s World Cup, following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s unlikely qualification to the tournament.
The Gateway City will now host the crucial final friendlies for both Bosnia and Panama when the two take the pitch at Energizer Park on June 6. Tickets have moved quickly since CITY announced the match on Monday afternoon.
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The friendly will be an important match for two national teams looking to continue their runs into the tournament. Panama’s road saw them go undefeated through the final round of CONCACAF qualifying to punch a ticket for the second time in program history.
Bosnia’s qualifying journey wasn’t nearly as straightforward. The Dragons finished behind Austria in the main UEFA qualifying campaign and needed to come from behind to upset both Wales and Italy to win Europe’s final spot. Edin Džeko’s 86th-minute goal in Cardiff kept the dream alive before Haris Tabaković’s 79th-minute goal helped Bosnia qualify, following a tense penalty shootout in Zenica.
In Bosnia’s World Cup opener, the home advantage will belong to the hosts in Toronto, but the program’s final send off in St. Louis might as well take place in Sarajevo. By most accounts, there are more than 60,000 Bosnians in St. Louis, making it the unofficial capital of the Bosnian diaspora. Initial refugees to the city fled war and genocide perpetrated against the Muslim population in Bosnia. Refugees created a community in St. Louis’ Bevo neighborhood, becoming the secondary landing spot for refugees originally placed elsewhere in the United States. While the community has grown into pockets beyond South St. Louis during the past 30 years, the community’s connection to Bosnia—and the team—hasn’t weakened.
“It’s going to be a massive party,” says Alen Bradaric, president of BOHFS soccer club. “There are people in this community who have been through so much, have seen things you wouldn’t believe, and that team means everything to them.”
Braderic’s BOHFS—itself a nod to Bosnian culture—qualified for the US Open Cup earlier this year, with approximately 2,500 spectators at Lindenwood University to watch the amateur side host Union Omaha.
Bosnia last qualified for the World Cup in 2014, when the team played in St. Louis twice in the buildup: a match against Argentina at Busch Stadium and a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast at The Dome.
“They’ve been through it over the last few years,” Bradaric says. “It was bleak for a while, but the new coach has brought everybody back. I still didn’t believe it was a possibility, and now we get to celebrate them in the community. I don’t think they realize how much this means to us.”
Along with the match against Panama, the Bosnian National Team will finish its World Cup prep in St. Louis during a six-day training camp at CITY’s Washington University Performance Center—one final taste of home before heading to base camp in Salt Lake City.
