06/24/26 04:07:00
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06/24 16:05 CDT Bosnia-Herzegovina boosts chances of advancing at World Cup
with 3-1 win over Qatar
Bosnia-Herzegovina boosts chances of advancing at World Cup with 3-1 win over
Qatar
By ANDREW DESTIN
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) --- Bosnia-Herzegovina eliminated Qatar and boosted its chances of
advancing at the World Cup with a 3-1 victory in a Group B match on Wednesday.
With the victory, the third-place finishing Bosnia-Herzegovina is more than
likely to advance to the Round of 32 in the expanded field. The eight best
third-place finishers across the 12 groups advance.
Should Bosnia-Herzegovina advance to the knockout round, it would mark the
first time in national team history at the World Cup. Bosnia-Herzegovina has
played in only one other World Cup --- 2014 in Brazil.
Kerim Alajbegovic scored in the 29th minute to give Bosnia-Herzegovina a lead
it would never relinquish. The 18-year-old Alajbegovic became the
eighth-youngest scorer in World Cup history when he powered a shot past Qatar
goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada at the near post from 20 yards away.
Bosnia-Herzegovina tacked on a second goal in the 34th minute when Sead
Kolasinac launched a cross to the back post. A volley to the middle by Edin
Dzeko deflected off Qatar's Sultan Al-Brake for an own goal.
Hassan Al Haydos kept Qatar, which did not win a game in the tournament,
competitive with a goal in the 42nd minute. But in the second half,
Bosnia-Herzegovina once again went up by two goals when Ermin Mahmic, who
scored in a 4-1 loss to Switzerland, tallied another in the 80th minute.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
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