Both seeking to secure a place at this year’s World Cup, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy will do battle in a play-off final tie at the Bilino Polje Stadium on Tuesday night.
The hosts narrowly missed out on automatic qualification via the group stage after conceding a late goal in a 1-1 draw against Group H winners Austria last November.
However, Sergej Barbarez’s side bounced back from that setback by defeating Wales in a play-off semi-final on Thursday night, winning 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Now standing in Bosnia’s way as they look to clinch a first World Cup appearance since 2014 – and only the second in their history – is a showdown with Italy on Tuesday night.
Having astonishingly missed the last two World Cups, Italy edged a step closer to returning to football’s biggest stage with a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland on Thursday night.
That win was the Azzurri's seventh across their last eight matches, and they know that another triumph on Tuesday night would finally end their extended absence from the top tier of international football.
How the bookies view it: Italy to get the job done
The bookmakers’ odds suggest that Italy will secure their spot at this summer’s showpiece with relative ease on Tuesday night, with an away win priced up at 4/7 on bet365.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, by contrast, are big outsiders at 11/2 on bet365, while a draw is also deemed unlikely at 11/4 with the same firm.
Head to head: History against the hosts
Across their previous six meetings, Italy hold the upper hand with four wins, while Bosnia-Herzegovina have won once and one match ended in a stalemate.
Italy claimed a narrow 1-0 win the last time the pair crossed paths in 2024, and the same scoreline on Tuesday night is trading at 9/2 on bet365.
Players to watch: Tonali worth taking?
After his impressive performance against Northern Ireland, where he scored a goal and set up another, Sandro Tonali offers good value at 9/4 on bet365 to either score or assist on Tuesday night.
Bosnia will again look to Edin Dzeko for inspiration after his crucial equaliser against Wales. The veteran striker has scored an impressive 73 goals in 147 appearances for his country and is available at 10/3 on bet365 as an anytime goalscorer.
Predicted line-ups
Dennis Hadzikadunic will miss out for Bosnia due to injury, but otherwise the hosts are in good shape.
Gianluca Scamacca missed Thursday night’s clash with Northern Ireland due to an abductor injury and remains a major doubt for this week’s play-off final.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Asilj; Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Memic, Hadziahmetovic, Bajraktarevic, Alajbegovic; Dzeko, Demirovic
Italy: Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco; Kean, Esposito
Anything else catch the eye?
In what could be a cagey affair, backing Italy to qualify alongside a goal range of 1-3 looks worthy of support at 4/5 on bet365.
This combination would have paid out in Italy's 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland last time out.
Backing Italy to score two or more goals at 5/6 on bet365 also catches the eye – this selection would have proven profitable in seven of the Azzurri’s last eight matches.
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