{"id":2802,"date":"2026-06-05T08:35:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2802"},"modified":"2026-06-05T08:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:35:15","slug":"bosnias-world-cup-pursuit-begins-at-a-home-away-from-home-in-the-american-midwest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2802","title":{"rendered":"Bosnia’s World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – Bosnia\u2019s Nikola Katic, right, and Bosnia\u2019s Dzenis Burnic celebrate after winning a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, on March 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Armin Durgut, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ST. LOUIS \u2014 Far from its European homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina has zealous fans in the American Midwest as it prepares for its second World Cup<\/a> .<\/p>

Read more World Cup anticipation reaches the center of the Brazilian rainforest<\/a><\/p>\n

An estimated 60,000-70,000 Bosnians live in St. Louis, with many arriving in the early 1990s during the Bosnian War and the breakup of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

Bosnia faces Panama on Saturday in an international friendly at St. Louis\u2019 Energizer Park and plays World Cup group matches in Toronto (vs. Canada), Los Angeles ( vs. Switzerland) and Seattle (vs. Qatar).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be able to create an atmosphere like a home match,\u201d said Elvir Kafed\u017ei\u0107, a Bosnia-born St. Louisan and an assistant coach for the city\u2019s MLS team, St. Louis City SC.<\/p>\n

He was only 9 1-2 when he fled Bosnia in 1992 with his mother and brothers to escape the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I remember a lot of it,\u201d said Kafed\u017ei\u0107, whose story mirrors many who rebuilt in St. Louis after meandering across Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of tumbled through some different countries like Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Sweden and wound up in Germany,\u201d Kafed\u017ei\u0107 explained.<\/p>\n

That ended when Germany stopped granting temporary protection to Bosnians in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have anywhere to go back to in Bosnia. And we already had some relatives living in St. Louis. So in 1999 we made the move with my mom and two older brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bosnia qualified for the World Cup<\/a> two months ago, defeating four-time World Cup champion Italy 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. The deciding penalty was converted by Esmir Bajraktarevi\u0107, a Bosnian-American from Appleton, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat day you could see cars flying Bosnian flags in the streets,\u201d Kafed\u017ei\u0107 said of the St. Louis scene. \u201cAll the restaurants, all the coffee shops were packed wall-to-wall with strangers hugging each other. For me, this goes beyond soccer. This shows who we are, the pride, where we come from and how deeply we\u2019re connected to our roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bosnia\u2019s World Cup team is led by 40-year-old captain Edin D\u017eeko and 18-year-old winger Kerim Alajbegovi\u0107. D\u017eeko has scored at least 50 goals playing in the English Premier League, Italy\u2019s Serie A, and the German Bundesliga.<\/p>\n

Bosnia\u2019s only other World Cup appearance was at Brazil in 2014, where it was narrowly eliminated in the group stage. The team\u2019s first World Cup goal was scored by Vedad Ibi\u0161evi\u0107 in a 2-1 loss to Argentina.<\/p>

Read more Jarvis scores in OT to cap Hurricanes\u2019 stunning Game 2 comeback in Cup final<\/a><\/p>\n

Ibi\u0161evi\u0107 played high school soccer in St. Louis, starred at Saint Louis University and followed up with a successful professional career, primarily in the Bundesliga.<\/p>\n

St. Louis surfaced as a destination for Bosnian refugees because it offered jobs, reasonable housing prices and had a small community in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all came looking for a better life because everything was taken away from us at home,\u201d Kafed\u017ei\u0107 said. \u201cYou can\u2019t put in words how thankful we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

A swath of the city\u2019s South Side is known as \u201cLittle Bosnia,\u201d anchored by rows of tidy red-brick houses, bars, cafes and bakeries and a replica wood fountain that mimics one in the capital Sarajevo, known as the Sebilj.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt represents Sarajevo in the heart,\u201d said Jasmina Sili\u0107, working across the street from the monument at the Skala Bar on Gravois Avenue, the fulcrum of the community.<\/p>\n

Skala is located just a few doors away from the \u201cAssociation of Survivors of the Srebrenica Genocide,\u201d a constant reminder of the war and the ethnic cleansing committed by Bosnian Serb forces.<\/p>\n

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims died in Srebrenica<\/a> , which was declared a genocide by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and others. It\u2019s estimated that 104,000 died from the war, 2 million were displaced, and 83% of the civilian deaths were Bosnian Muslims.<\/p>\n

Bosnia\u2019s influence is all over St. Louis, a metropolitan area of almost 3 million on the banks of the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n

The best-selling food at St. Louis\u2019 MLS stadium is Bosnian fare from a restaurant called the \u201cBalkan Treat Box.\u201d Saint Louis University houses the Center for Bosnian Studies, and several books document the diaspora including \u201cBosnian St. Louis: Between Two Worlds\u201d by Patrick McCarthy and Akif Cogo.<\/p>\n

It tells of tragedy, resilience and the community\u2019s ties to Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne woman in St. Louis still carries the keys to her house in Bosnia,\u201d they wrote. \u201cAnother man describes his feelings toward Bosnia as a divorce he did not want from a woman he still loves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bosnia was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation before the war, predominantly Muslim but with a large number of Croatian Roman Catholics and Serbian Orthodox Christians.<\/p>\n

The mix binds the World Cup team, a symbol of pride and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people from here go to Bosnia every year to see families,\u201d said Sili\u0107, speaking at the Skala Bar. \u201dThe team represents unity because it\u2019s all three religions and everybody is one like it used to be when it was still Yugoslavia.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Mexico recovers from an early deficit to beat Serbia 5-1 in a World Cup warm-up match<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Far from its European homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina has zealous fans in the American Midwest as it prepares for its second World Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nBosnia's World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bosnia's World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Far from its European homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina has zealous fans in the American Midwest as it prepares for its second World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T08:35:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0560970bc726273b50c68b7115b7aa17-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Bosnia’s World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T08:35:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802\"},\"wordCount\":928,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b86054a00b5c57d74e2b0b46f20b3ea9-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802\",\"name\":\"Bosnia's World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b86054a00b5c57d74e2b0b46f20b3ea9-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T08:35:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2802#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b86054a00b5c57d74e2b0b46f20b3ea9-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b86054a00b5c57d74e2b0b46f20b3ea9-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"FILE - Bosnia's Nikola Katic, right, and Bosnia's Dzenis Burnic celebrate after winning a penalty shootout during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, Bosnia, on March 31, 2026. 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