The unique World Cup club that illuminates Edin Dzeko’s great quality with Bosnia and Herzegovina | OneFootball

A finisher has a different kind of finish on his mind. “Sometimes there is an end for all of us,” mused Edin Dzeko. “Maybe mine is coming soon.”

Dzeko has scored more than 450 goals and won almost 150 caps in a career that has taken him from his teenage years into his forties. He thought he would have been finished before now. His longevity has surprised even him.

And now, perhaps, for a few weeks that might mean as much as anything else he has achieved. Dzeko was born in the old Yugoslavia. War occupied some of his boyhood. He played in the first Bosnia and Herzegovina team to appear in a World Cup. Now he will captain the second, when several of his teammates are young enough to be his sons.

Perhaps he shouldn’t be here. Perhaps they shouldn’t. Not in the eyes of the wider world, anyway. Dzeko recalled the build-up to their play-off. “There was a lot of talk that Italy might not go to a third consecutive World Cup,” he said. “Almost no one talked about us as a team, that we truly are an excellent team with many young players.” Bosnia, then ranked 71st in the world, prevailed on penalties over the four-time World Cup winners.

Their young players will be augmented by an old-timer. So far, Roger Milla is the only outfield player in his forties to figure in a World Cup. Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to emulate him; Dzeko, too.

“I didn't think I would be playing at 40,” said a man who played in a Champions League final at 37. “If you asked me 10 years ago, I would say no, but I'm listening to my body as well and doing a lot of work before and after training to help my body.

“Maybe when you're young, you don't think a lot about coming earlier to training and staying 30-45 minutes before training in the gym doing the prevention work and then also staying after the training, like 30-45 [minutes] or one hour, and doing some other prevention works.

“Maybe as a young player, when you're 20, you say, ‘I don't have time for this, I want to go out for coffee or something with friends or lunch’. When you get older, you realise that something like this, your body needs, your leg needs if you want to compete at the best level and obviously staying so long in football.”

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Edin Dzeko and Kenan Karaman of FC Schalke 04 celebrate promotion to the Bundesliga (Getty)

Dzeko has stayed so long he has outlasted even the most famously durable of his colleagues. James Milner retired this month, also at 40, meaning that, of Manchester City’s 2012 Premier League winners, there are only Stefan Savic, Mario Balotelli and Dzeko still going; the striker scored the goal that facilitated the most dramatic of endings, his injury-time equaliser against QPR on the final day followed by Sergio Aguero’s decider.

He is no stranger to historic feats. He helped Wolfsburg win their only Bundesliga in 2009. His third league title also came in Germany, but a different division and 17 years later. Dzeko joined Schalke in January, helping them to promotion.

He linked up with a fellow Bosnian, manager Miron Muslic; he had his country in mind, too, when he chose Schalke over Paris FC, picking them in part with the World Cup in mind, getting himself match-fit for the March play-offs. Dzeko’s 73rd goal for his country was the late equaliser in the play-off semi-final against Wales. His six Schalke goals all came in games when they took points.

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Dzeko believes Group B is wide open at the World Cup 2026 (Getty)

“Schalke needs to be always in the first Bundesliga and not in the second,” said Dzeko. “I wouldn't say it's a rescue mission because Schalke was already at the top of the table in January and obviously they needed another push, let's say, and some more quality in the team as well because the second part of the season is always more difficult.”

For him, though, the first part of the season had its difficulties. The former Roma and Inter forward’s return to Serie A with Fiorentina plunged him into a relegation battle. His only goal came in the Conference League. “The first six months at Fiorentina were really difficult, but not only for me, but for the whole team, for the entire club,” he said.

It required the mental strength to carry on going, a fundamental part of his game over the years. He added: “When you're not playing like you used to play, there's a lot going on in the head, but I think the one thing I can say about myself is that I was always strong in the head and I know that part of the football players, professional football players, is also like up and downs.”

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Edin Dzeko of Bosnia & Herzegovina competes for the ball with Gianluca Mancini of Italy (Getty)

Dzeko is out of contract now, yet to announce if he will carry on. But there could be a further high. Bosnia will face the hosts Canada in Vancouver, then Switzerland in Los Angeles and Qatar in Seattle. Dzeko sees the Swiss as the favourites to win Group B, but thinks it is open after that.

It means Bosnia have the chance to reach the knockout stages for the first time. Dzeko scored in the win over Iran in 2014 and still laments his disallowed goal against Nigeria, wrongly ruled offside in a defeat. That, it seemed, would be his only experience of major tournaments. Bosnia, perennial play-off losers, never made a European Championships.

But then their prowess at penalties took them past first Wales and then Italy. “I'm so happy that I could do it in these last two years and especially helping the team with these young great players going to the next World Cup,” added Dzeko. “This is something amazing for these young players. They have a big future ahead and I think the last two games against Wales and Italy will change their lives.” As his footballing life nears its end, it is with the sense Dzeko has brought change to Wolfsburg, City, Schalke and Bosnia.