Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko is on course to join an elite group of players aged 40 or over to appear at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after being included in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s squad for this summer’s finals.
Only Roger Milla has previously played a World Cup match as an outfield player after turning 40, scoring for Cameroon at the 1994 tournament. Among goalkeepers, six players have reached the milestone, including Essam El Hadary, Faryd Mondragon, Pat Jennings, Peter Shilton, Dino Zoff and Ali Boumnijel.
Veteran stars Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo are also expected to feature for Croatia and Portugal respectively.
Dzeko, who has earned 148 caps, played in seven of Bosnia’s eight Group H qualifiers and both play-off matches. He scored his 73rd international goal in the semi-final victory over Wales.
Bosnia became the first nation to announce their 26-man squad for the tournament, which will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It will be only the second World Cup appearance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have been drawn in Group B alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
Bosnia and Herzegovina squad for the 2026 World Cup
Goalkeepers: Nikola Vasilj (St Pauli), Martin Zlomislic (Rijeka), Osman Hadzikic (Slaven Belupo)
Defenders: Sead Kolasinac (Atalanta), Amar Dedic (Benfica), Nihad Mujakic (Gaziantep), Nikola Katic (Schalke 04), Tarik Muharemovic (Sassuolo), Stjepan Radeljic (Rijeka), Dennis Hadzikadunic (Sampdoria), Nidal Celik (Lens)
Midfielders: Amir Hadziahmetovic (Hull City), Ivan Sunjic (Pafos), Ivan Basic (Astana), Dzenis Burnic (Karlsruher SC), Ermin Mahmic (Slovan Liberec), Benjamin Tahirovic (Brondby), Amar Memic (Viktoria Plzen), Armin Gigovic (Young Boys), Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg), Esmir Bajraktarevic (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards: Ermedin Demirovic (VfB Stuttgart), Jovo Lukic (Universitatea Cluj), Samed Bazdar (Jagiellonia Bialystok), Haris Tabakovic (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Edin Dzeko (Schalke 04)
