There are few people to whom Bosnia and Herzegovina’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ opener with co-hosts Canada means more than veteran goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
The Leicester City stopper, 38, played for Canada at the youth-team level, including on home soil at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup™, before switching to the country of his birth, whom he competed for at their first appearance in the global finals, at Brazil 2014.
Begovic’s ties to Canada run deep. His family fled the Bosnian War to Germany when he was four years old before moving again to Edmonton six years later. It was in Canada where Begovic developed as an aspiring footballer, which earned him a successful trial at English club Portsmouth FC in 2003.
The 6ft 6in goalkeeper has subsequently enjoyed a long and distinguished playing career in England, which has included stops at Stoke City, Chelsea, and Bournemouth. The highlight of his career, though, was helping Bosnia and Herzegovina qualify for Brazil 2014 and playing in all three of the nation’s World Cup matches to date.
Ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s return to the World Cup, Begovic spoke to FIFA about moving to Canada at a young age, his memories of Brazil 2014 and how Sergej Barbarez has helped turned his home country’s fortunes around.
Asmir Begovic: It’s a very unique game… it’s the country of my birth and the country I grew up in. It’s very close to home. It’s a special game without a doubt in terms of my roots and my history. Don’t ask me who I want to win! May the best team win. For my family, it’s a really cool, unique game.
Yeah, definitely. I’m in negotiations with a couple of different people about going to the World Cup and being part of it in different ways and capacities so I definitely hope to be there.
Really pleased. Both play-off fixtures, I think if we’re really honest, it was always going to be a difficult route to go to Wales and win there and then play Italy most likely in the final. So the fact that we were able to do that as underdogs in both games was incredible.
There was a lot of sheer happiness after the win and it was good to see the boys back in the country back on these sort of terms. It’s been difficult for Bosnian football over the past few years. Sergej Barbarez has been able to rebuild it very quickly and it’s great to see the country in a positive light again.
I think they’ve got a good chance [of getting past the group stage]. There is no such thing as an easy game in the World Cup but if you look at the group, it’s as wide open as it gets. Switzerland is probably the favourite due to their past and experience in major tournaments and I think after that it’s very much wide open. I think the first game is crucial. From my own experience in watching World Cups, it’s very important not to lose that first game.
We were in Germany as a family at the time before we moved to Canada and I promptly had to move, our circumstances changed very quickly for myself and my family. It was not a move that we voluntarily made, I think it was forced upon us and it was something that we had to deal with. It was difficult to leave everything you know behind, I was settled in Germany… I had a lot of friends in school and football started taking off for me.
It was very difficult but it made it easier going to Canada, it’s a really lovely country, a great place to grow up. The winters are harsh that’s for sure, but other than that it was a great place to move to. I enjoyed my experience there.
My football journey was like many, it was very traditional. I joined Portsmouth at 16 and at that time I started playing for the Canadian youth team as well. I was progressing quite well through all the age groups up to the U-21s and was able to participate in a couple of youth World Cups. Things were going pretty smoothly but I was never capped. That was the only little caveat to everything.
And then of course when you start establishing yourself in Europe and making it at the highest level options came your way. I knew always in the back of my head there was this option of playing for Bosnia, the country of my birth and the opportunity did not come until 2009 and then that’s when I had to make a decision. It wasn’t something that I planned on or thought too much of before, and when that option came, I had to make a decision about what was the next best step in my career and I joined Bosnia. I expected to represent Canada but then the option changed.
Yes, I think so. When you look at the circumstances, the golden generation that we had… our first major tournament as an independent country…. doing it in Brazil and having our opening game at the Maracanã against Lionel Messi and Argentina, it doesn’t get much better than that. It was a magical run for all of us involved so I’ll look back on that tournament very fondly.
I remember the night before the first game. We had all of our family and friends with us close to the team hotel and they were all invited to a training session the night before the game. It was the most perfect, magical stadium that I have ever been to. It was immaculate, not one blade of grass out of place. And we thought what an incredible journey for our team and for us as individuals… what we had all been through in our lives and how we all came together in this one place for this one goal was absolutely incredible.
The game was different as you are in game mode and you have all those other things going on, but that night before was really special. It definitely felt like an amazing experience to be part of.
I don’t go back to Canada very often, with my commitments and playing [in England] and my family based in Europe. But I still have a lot relationships in Canada… friends, coaches, people that I grew up with. I still keep in touch with a lot of people in Edmonton and you keep those things going. Hopefully I am looking forward to going back to Canada and being part of this tournament.
