Kerim Alajbegovic, FIFA World Cup 2026: In a big match of Group B of FIFA World Cup 2026, Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Qatar 3-1 and eliminated them from the tournament. After a spectacular victory in this do-or-die match played at the Seattle Stadium, Bosnia’s team has secured third place in the group stage and has kept its hopes of reaching the knockout (Round of 32) strongly alive. The hero of this match was 18-year-old Karim Alajbegovic, who caught everyone’s attention by breaking a world record of Kylian Mbappe.
Kerim Alajbegovic broke Mbappe’s world record
Kerim Alajbegovic gave the lead to Bosnia-Herzegovina team in the beginning of this match. In the 29th minute of the match, he dodged two defenders and fired a stormy shot from outside the penalty box (20 yards distance), for which Qatar’s goalkeeper had no answer. With this magical goal, Alajbegovic created history. He has become the youngest player in the world to score a goal from outside the penalty area in the FIFA World Cup. He broke the record of French star player Kylian Mbappe, who had achieved this feat in the 2018 World Cup at the age of 19 years and 207 days. With this, he has also become the 8th youngest goalscorer in World Cup history.
Bosnia took a strong lead in the first half itself
Just five minutes after the opening goal, i.e. in the 34th minute, Bosnia doubled its lead. On an excellent cross from Sead Kolasinac, veteran Edin Dzeko tried to hit a volley shot, which deflected off Qatar defender Sultan Al-Brek and went straight into the goal post and was declared an own goal. After falling behind by two goals, Qatar struggled to make a comeback and just before the end of the first half, in the 42nd minute, their captain Hassan Al-Haydos scored a brilliant goal from a close range to make the score 2-1 and raised the hopes of his team.
Mahamich scored the last goal in the second half
In the second half, Qatar made several dangerous attacks to equalize and at one time Pedro Miguel’s shot hit the post directly. Amidst increasing pressure from Qatar, Bosnia adopted the strategy of counter-attack. Ermin Mehmich, who came as a substitute player in the 80th minute of the match, showed alertness inside the penalty area and sent the ball beyond the goal post, sealing Bosnia’s victory. With this crushing defeat, Asian champion Qatar’s journey in this World Cup has ended without winning any match and they remained at the bottom of the group. At the same time, Bosnia’s team has come to third place with 4 points in 3 matches.
This time in the World Cup format, the 8 best third placed teams out of 12 groups will make it to the Round of 32. Bosnia’s team is currently in a good position in the points table, but they will have to wait for the results of the other groups to get an official ticket to the knockout. If they go ahead, it will be a first in their history. Earlier in 2014, he was eliminated in the group stage itself. At the same time, this is also only their second victory in the history of FIFA World Cup. Earlier they had defeated Iran in 2014.
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