Sergej Barbarez retired from international football on 12 October 2005. So did Ireland defender Kenny Cunningham, on the very same day. Cunningham went into TV work. Barbarez spent a decade as a professional poker player, then took his first management job, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and got them to the World Cup at the first attempt. Not a bad return on a bluff.
That odd bit of history is the best way into Group B, a pool of four teams with very different problems: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia beat Italy in March’s play-offs, a four-time champion, and so reached only their second World Cup. Their first, in 2014, ended in the group stage, and Dzeko is one of two players left from that squad, along with defender Sead Kolasinac, Reuters noted when Barbarez named his squad in May. The catch with Edin Dzeko is age. He is 40, he is the team’s all-time top scorer, and he picked up a shoulder injury at the end of extra time against Italy that kept him out of the shootout. He missed four games for Schalke afterwards, then returned from the bench in their final two fixtures. RTE describes him as fresh from promotion with Schalke and still the star of a side full of young players.
Canada
For the first time, Canada will play World Cup matches at home, and the mood is high. The co-hosts open in Toronto against Bosnia on 12 June, meet Qatar in Vancouver on 18 June and close the group against Switzerland, also in Vancouver, on 24 June. Jesse Marsch has a worry before any of that. Alphonso Davies, the Bayern Munich captain and the team’s biggest name, is not guaranteed to be fit. And Jonathan David has to do more after what RTE calls an underwhelming first campaign with Juventus.
One small detail from the squad list: Jonathan Osorio, 33, is the oldest player Canada are taking. He has been a one-club man at Toronto FC for more than a decade, having broken into the team in 2013 as a 20-year-old.
Qatar
Their last World Cup was a short, ugly one. Playing at home four years ago, Qatar lost all three matches and scored once. The federation’s answer was Julen Lopetegui, a well-travelled coach who led them to this tournament, and News18 points out they come in as Asian champions, ranked 51st in the world. The job now is to get more out of Akram Afif, their star.
Qatar start against Switzerland in San Francisco on 13 June and finish against Bosnia in Seattle on 24 June.
Switzerland
The Swiss are the highest-ranked team in the group and the favourites to win it, according to News18. Murat Yakin’s side lost on penalties to England in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. RTE notes that many of their main players are in their late 20s or early 30s, so this may be the end of an era, though the squad still has the quality to hurt anyone. Granit Xhaka is the star. Their best World Cup finish is the quarter-finals, reached in 1934, 1938 and 1954.
Switzerland meet Bosnia in Los Angeles on 18 June.
Sources
- World Cup 2026 group-by-group guide: Group B – RTE Sport
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B Preview: Canada's Homecoming Faces A Stern Test – News18
- Bosnia mix experience and youth with Dzeko and Mahmic named in World Cup squad – Reuters via The Straits Times
