Bosnia win 3-2, knock out Qatar to keep alive hopes of World Cup round of 32

Bosnia-Herzegovina are on the verge of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time after beating Qatar 3-1 in their final Group B match.Bosnia move on to four points and are in a strong position to be one of the best eight third-placed teams to progress to the last 32.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Paraguay’s Almiron handed one-match suspension for covering mouthlist 2 of 4World Cup: Top 10 takeaways from the second round of the group stagelist 3 of 4Is the World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race the best ever?list 4 of 4World Cup 2026: Full group schedule and top third-round matches to watchend of listQatar, meanwhile, exit at the group stage, just as they did four years ago when they hosted the World Cup.Goals from Bosnia’s youngest-ever World Cup player, 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic, and an own goal by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada looked to have put the European side in the box seat.However, Qatar made a game of it when 35-year-old Hassan Alhaydos, their most capped player, pulled one back late in the first half.Ermin Mahmic then put the game beyond the Qataris when he scored for the second successive match in the 80th minute.Bosnia flew out of the blocks as soon as the whistle went, testing Abunada twice inside the first four minutes.First, Abunada denied Ermedin Demirovic’s fierce drive, and then he tipped away Ivan Sunjic’s shot.Bosnia’s dominance finally paid off, but it was not the 40-year-old talisman Edin Dzeko who broke the deadlock, but the sublimely talented teenage left-wing.Edin Dzeko of Bosnia and Herzegovina (R) and his teammates celebrate the second goal [Stephen Buddhist/EPA]Abunada was unable to do anything about Alajbegovic’s screamer from outside the area, after he had beaten two players.The youngster was mobbed by his team-mates, and once they had trotted back to the halfway line, he stood and milked the moment, putting a finger to his lips.