‘We can relate’: Bosnia fans bring passion, Palestine support, to World Cup

It may be the night before Bosnia and Herzegovina face off against the United States in the Round of 32 of the World Cup, but at a small restaurant serving up Balkan specialities in the city of Santa Clara, California, the party is well under way.

Waiters dart through Euro Grill, whose walls are adorned with posters from the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, serving heaping portions of cevapi and burek to groups of fans sporting the blue jerseys of the Bosnian national team on Tuesday evening.
Outside the restaurant, groups of men smoke cigarettes and snap photos of vehicles decked out with flags and paraphernalia.

Many have travelled long distances – one fan says he drove 25 hours from Canada in a truck covered with faces of various players, a Free Palestine sticker, and an enormous model of the Marvel character, the Hulk, in a Bosnia jersey – to support their team as they fight to advance to the Round of 16 for the first time in history.

For members of the country’s diaspora, many of whom were displaced as a result of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, the tournament has been a testament to the tenacity of their shared identity.

“It’s like a big family,” 60-year-old Senad Durakovic, who moved to the US city of Boston in 1996, said of the many fans who have converged on the restaurant from around the US and further afield. “We’re all here for the same reason.”

“It feels like I’m part of something bigger than me,” he adds. “It feels like we’ve already won.”

Bosnian fans have also used the tournament to express solidarity with Palestine, a connection they say is informed by their own experiences of violence and displacement.
‘We’ll pull through’
Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the 2026 World Cup with a shock win over Italy in April, sending them to the global tournament for the first time since 2014 courtesy of a dramatic penalty shootout that prompted delirious celebrations across the country.

Helmed by the 40-year-old Edin Dzeko, the team has benefitted from tenacious defence and a new generation of talent in the form of younger players such as Kerim Alajbegovic and Ermin Mahmic.

The team won its last game, against Qatar, in convincing style, netting three goals to their opponents’ one and advancing to the knockout round of the tournament, where they will face a formidable US team that will be eager to move forward as one of the host nations.

“If we play like we did against Qatar, I think we’ll pull through,” 20-year-old Elvis Graco, who travelled to California from Jacksonville, Florida, told Al Jazeera. “We’ll win, of course.”