At 40, the captain who never expected to still be playing is leading Bosnia and Herzegovina into the World Cup — and Canada may be the first test of one final upset.
Edin Džeko has spent most of his career proving that timing matters. The right run into the box. The extra second before finishing. The calm touch when defenders rush. Now, at 40, the Bosnia and Herzegovina captain is trying to master football’s hardest clock of all: age.
“I didn’t think I would be playing at 40,” Džeko admitted before Bosnia’s World Cup opener against co-hosts Canada. A decade ago, even he would not have imagined arriving at another World Cup still central to his country’s hopes. But the striker has listened to his body, adapted his routines and kept himself relevant through the kind of discipline that separates great careers from long ones.
For Bosnia and Herzegovina, Džeko is more than a veteran forward. He is memory, authority and belief. He links the country’s first World Cup appearance in 2014 with a new generation now stepping onto the biggest stage. He is the last great symbol of Bosnia’s golden football era, but also the captain of a team trying to write something new.
Their route to the tournament has already given the squad a sense of defiance. Bosnia stunned Wales in the playoff semi-final and then shocked Italy, one of European football’s great powers, to reach the World Cup. For a country with a smaller football infrastructure and far less tournament experience than many of its rivals, qualification itself was a statement. Doing it through Italy made it something closer to a national sporting myth.
Džeko was central to that journey. His late equaliser against Wales helped drag Bosnia into extra time and penalties. Against Italy, his presence mattered even when he was not scoring. The former Manchester City, Roma, Inter and Wolfsburg striker still gives Bosnia a focal point: a player who can hold the ball, organise attacks, occupy defenders and calm younger teammates when pressure rises.
That leadership may be just as important as his finishing. Bosnia arrive at the World Cup with younger talents around him, including a new wave of players eager to announce themselves internationally. Džeko’s task is not only to score. It is to teach them how to survive tournament football — how to manage difficult spells, how to suffer without panic, and how to believe against stronger opponents.
The opening match against Canada offers exactly that kind of test. As co-hosts, Canada will carry the emotion of the home crowd and the expectation of a country determined to show that its football rise is real. Bosnia, meanwhile, will enter as outsiders again, a role that may suit them. After eliminating Italy, they have already shown they are comfortable ruining bigger stories.
For Džeko, the Canadian challenge is also a reminder of how much football has changed around him. The modern game is faster, more athletic and more system-driven than when he emerged. Younger forwards press harder, run more and operate in tactical structures built around intensity. Džeko has survived by changing without losing what made him dangerous. He may no longer be the explosive striker of his prime, but he remains intelligent, strong, technically clean and ruthless when chances appear.
That evolution explains his longevity. At 40, he cannot play as if he were 25. Instead, he plays as if he has seen everything before. He reads defenders, chooses his moments and uses experience as a weapon. In tournament football, where pressure often reduces even elite players to nervous decisions, that composure can be decisive.
There is also an emotional weight to his presence. Džeko’s career has carried Bosnia through different eras: from the optimism of qualification in 2014 to years of near-misses, frustration and rebuilding. For supporters, seeing him lead the team at another World Cup is not just about football. It is about continuity, pride and the idea that a small nation can still stand among the giants.
He knows the end is closer than the beginning. Džeko has spoken openly about the fact that every player eventually reaches a final chapter. But that awareness seems to have sharpened him rather than softened him. This World Cup is not a farewell tour built around nostalgia. It is a competitive mission.
Bosnia’s ambitions will be tested quickly. Canada will want to start fast, feed off the crowd and turn the opening match into a celebration of co-host status. Bosnia will need discipline, set-piece strength and moments of control. They will also need Džeko — not necessarily for 90 minutes of dominance, but for the one action that can change a match.
That has always been his gift. Even now, after hundreds of goals and two decades at the top level, Džeko remains a player opponents cannot ignore. One cross, one corner, one mistake in marking, and the oldest man on the pitch can still become the most dangerous.
At 40, Edin Džeko did not expect to be here. Bosnia and Herzegovina may not have been expected to be here either. Yet together they arrive at the World Cup with a familiar message: underestimate them, and they might make history.
