Until the early 1990s, Bosnian-Herzegovinian players were part of the Yugoslavia national football team. In 1991, Yugoslavia split up and the independent countries of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia-Montenegro were formed. There have been players from this region who represented Yugoslavia at the World Cup, though traditionally most Yugoslavian players were Serbian and the Serbia team is accepted by FIFA as the official successor of Yugoslavia

Although Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia on 1 March 1992, due to the Bosnian War the country was unable to enter qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. They reached their first-ever playoffs for a major tournament during qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, eventually losing to Portugal.

Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as winners of UEFA Group G. This was the first time they appeared at a major tournament as an independent nation. They won one game, against Iran, but did not progress from the group stage.

Trivia

  • Bosnia was the only team to make its debut at the 2014 World Cup.