PREVIEW: Bosnia and Qatar battle for World Cup survival | OneFootball

Bosnia and Herzegovina face Qatar in their crucial third and final Group B game of the World Cup in a fight to remain in the competition at the Seattle Stadium.

The two sides each sit on a single point after a draw and a loss, while Switzerland and tournament co-hosts Canada sit comfortably above them with four points each.

Both sides are trying to bounce back from heavy losses on matchday two, with Qatar suffering a bruising 6-0 defeat to Canada, while Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 4-1 to Switzerland, despite their consolation goal.

This is the first competitive match between the two sides. They have only met twice in their history, both in friendly matches. Qatar won their first contest 2-0 in 2000, and following that in 2010, they drew 1-1.

This is the second World Cup for both sides, with neither Qatar nor Bosnia and Herzegovina ever making it to the round of 32 – meaning each of them will be very eager to make history for their respective countries.

Qatar’s veteran captain, Hassan Al-Haydos, will be hoping to lead his team to an important victory, bringing back the same leadership that helped Qatar win back-to-back AFC Asian Cup titles in 2019 and 2013.

After Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic racked up a red card in the 80th minute, manager Sergej Barbarez will look to tighten his backline.

On the final game of the group stages, Barbarez told Reuters: “I told the players they have one hour ​to cheer up and lift their heads. Life goes on. We have another match ahead of us ​and, trust me, they will be ready.”

Despite being Qatar’s record goalscorer and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Boot winner, Almoez Ali has not started a game for The Maroons this tournament yet. This poses the question of whether Barbarez is saving his goal-scoring ability for a crucial game, and we’ll see Ali in action tonight.

Both sides will be playing for the third-place position, where the eight best third-place teams will also be advancing to the knockout stage.

A victory against Qatar would lift Bosnia and Herzegovina to four points, a tally historically sufficient to secure a place as a top third-place finisher, though they will want a few goals to repair their minus-three goal difference.

Conversely, Qatar would also reach the four-point mark with a win, but their damaging minus-six goal difference means they likely require a massive goal turnaround to progress.

The match is available to watch live on ITV4 and ITVX from 19:00 (BST) for UK viewers and is also available on FOX.

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