Bosnia’s veteran captain has discussed the viral footage of Italy players celebrating his team’s qualification
The atmosphere surrounding Tuesday’s 2026 World Cup playoff final between Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina has taken an unexpectedly sharp turn following a controversial video from the Azzurri camp.
On Thursday evening, moments after Italy secured a 2-0 semi-final victory over Northern Ireland in Bergamo, state broadcaster Rai captured a group of Italian players, including Inter defender Federico Dimarco and Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, intently watching the game on a mobile phone.
The footage, which quickly went viral, showed the players clenching their fists and celebrating as Kerim Alajbegović converted the winning penalty for Bosnia in their shootout victory over Wales.
Critics immediately interpreted the joy as a sign of arrogance, suggesting the Azzurri viewed Bosnia, ranked 66th in the world, as a far more manageable opponent than the 35th-ranked Welsh.
Responding to the fallout during a pre-match press conference on Monday, Bosnian captain Edin Džeko adopted a composed but pointed stance.
The 40-year-old striker, who maintains deep ties to Italian football following a decade in Serie A – with spells at AS Roma, Inter and Fiorentina – refused to characterise the incident as a personal insult.
“We all saw what happened. I’ll be honest with you – it’s perfectly normal,” Džeko said. “As I said before, we all have our preferences. Maybe mine was not to play against Italy in this final. I can’t celebrate because I’m playing against them.
“But obviously, we have to be careful these days; with social media, everything gets blown out of proportion, like this. We’ve seen it.”
Look at this disrespect and arrogance by Italy. They were already celebrating after we won penalties. We will take this to account in Zenica!pic.twitter.com/P8DCNvpb39
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— Bosnian Football (@BosniaNTBall) March 27, 2026
Bosnia vs Italy: The battle for a World Cup spotWhile Džeko downplayed the personal animosity, he was quick to challenge the narrative regarding Italy’s perceived preference for a trip to Zenica over a final in Cardiff.
The former Inter forward questioned why a nation with four World Cup titles would show any hesitation about their opposition, suggesting that the pressure of Italy’s 12-year World Cup exile might be manifesting as fear.
“Italy didn’t want to play in Wales; I don’t know why,” Džeko remarked. “We went there without fear and won. I don’t know why Italy should be afraid of Wales or Bosnia.
“It’s an incredible national team that has won four World Cups; if they’re afraid to play in Wales, something isn’t right. Maybe we should also see it this way: they might struggle in this match. They’re playing so much after losing two World Cups. That means they’re afraid.”
Dimarco, the Inter wing-back at the centre of the controversy, has reportedly attempted to bridge the divide privately.
Džeko confirmed that his former teammate reached out to clarify that the celebration was instinctive and not intended as a slight against the Bosnian people.
“Dimarco wrote to me saying he didn’t mean to offend anyone; I replied, ‘What are we talking about?’ There are no problems,” Džeko stated, effectively closing the chapter on the personal dispute.
