Bosnia vs. Qatar Match Preview | OneFootball

It all comes down to this. The final matchday of the World Cup group stage starts with Group B. Although most eyes will be on Canada vs. Switzerland as the co-hosts look to top the group, the other match has huge ramifications as well. Bosnia and Qatar will face off with a spot in the knockout rounds on the line. Unless they draw. Then it gets messy.

Match Details

Who: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. QatarWhat: World Cup Group BWhere: Seattle Stadium (Lumen Field), Seattle, WashingtonWhen: Wednesday June 24, 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PTWatch: FS1, Peacock ES, Fubo Sports, NBC Universo

Winner Advances, Loser Goes Home

The stakes for this game are pretty simple. If either Bosnia or Qatar wins, they’ll end up with four points and (likely) advance to the knockout stage as one of the best third place teams. That would almost certainly set up a matchup with co-hosts USA, as the Americans have already won Group D. 

However, a draw would be a disaster for both nations. They’d both end on two points and Qatar would be eliminated as last place in the group. Bosnia would have to wait for every other group to finish to see if they’d qualify as a third place team. According to Opta Analyst, finishing on two points would give a third place team just a 4.66% chance of advancing to the knockouts. If the game is tied in the last few minutes, expect to see both sides push for a winner and potentially leave themselves vulnerable to a counterattack since a draw likely means elimination for both.

Bosnia Look To Rebound After Late Collapse

Bosnia and Herzegovina got off to a solid start in the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Canada in their opening match. The next game against Switzerland was also looking like a draw for most of the match. 70 minutes came and went with no big chances for either side. It looked destined for a 0-0 draw. Then came Switzerland’s triple change in the 72nd minute. 

Johan Manzambi, Rubén Vargas, and Djibril Sow came on to try and win it for their country. Just two minutes later, Manzambi opened the scoring. Then the floodgates opened. Vargas scored to double the lead, then turned provider as he assisted Manzambi’s second goal. The Bosnians managed to pull one back through Ermin Mahmić, but then Sow won a penalty which was converted by captain Granit Xhaka. The Swiss won the game 4-1 and left Bosnia in dire need of a win against Qatar.

Sergej Barbarez will have to make an important change to the back line. Defense and grinding out results is Bosnia’s biggest strength, but that all went out the window against Switzerland. A big part of that was the straight red card to starting center back Tarik Muharemović in the 80th minute. After that, Bosnia conceded three goals. With Muharemović suspended, Bosnia are forced to turn to the bench and change a CB partnership that has worked so well.

Qatar Need Response After Canada Embarrassment

Similarly to Bosnia, Qatar started the World Cup well. They miraculously stole a point against Switzerland in their opening match with a 94th minute equalizer despite allowing 3.20 xG. The Swiss could have easily scored six that day. Canada actually did score six the next game. It was a catastrophe from start to finish for Qatar. They conceded three goals in each half and also were shown a straight red card in each half. The match ended 6-0 with Qatar down to 9 men.

They now go into the final matchday of the group stage without their starting left back and a starting midfielder. For an already relatively weak team, being shorthanded for their most important match is less than ideal. The other problem is that Qatar need a win to advance. Not only are their opponents Bosnia notorious for drawing matches, Qatar themselves have not won a game in 2026. In fact, they’ve only won three of their last 21 matches. Qatar have also never won a World Cup match and their last win over a team from outside their confederation was in 2023. Safe to say the odds are against them.

Qatar will need to rely on star winger Akram Afif to make things happen in the final third. The Al-Sadd veteran has been their best player for a while and had another stellar season domestically with 19 goals and 18 assists. He’s about all Qatar have to offer going forward. Their attack has really struggled as of late, only scoring once in their last five matches which was the goal against Switzerland. All time leading scorer Almoez Ali is in the squad but was an unused substitute in both World Cup matches so far and was sent off in his last appearance for Qatar. This could be the game to turn to Ali, especially if they need a goal late in the match.

Match Prediction

This is likely to be a tense and low-scoring game for the first 60-70 minutes. Neither team has shown that they can score many goals and will play it safe on the ball, not wanting to make a mistake and be the reason their country is eliminated. However, the last few minutes could get crazy if it’s tied. Both teams would be pushing for a winner since a draw helps nobody. I think this will be the case and the Bosnians will get a historic late goal that sends them to knockouts for the first time ever.

Prediction: Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 Qatar