“All-in”: Former poker player leads team in search of World Cup qualification

Now, Bosnia needs to beat Qatar in the final round and still depend on the combination of results to advance, whether as second place or among the best third-placed teams in the group stage. The teams face each other next Wednesday (26) at 4 pm, at Lumen Field, in Seattle.

Second World Cup in Bosnian history

This is only Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second participation in a World Cup since the separation of the former Yugoslavia in 1992. The country competed in the World Cup for the first time in 2014, in Brazil, but ended up eliminated in the group stage, after falling into a group that included Argetina, Nigeria and Iran.

Classification for 2026 came after a recovery campaign in the Qualifiers. Deputy leader of Group H, behind Austria, Bosnia had to go through the European play-offs. In the knockout stage, they eliminated Wales and four-time champions Italy, both on penalties, after draws in normal time and extra time.

Barbarez is Bosnia’s fifth coach since 2022 and took up the role in 2024 with no previous experience coaching a professional team. Even so, he received the mission of rebuilding the team and putting the country back in a World Cup. In his history, the coach has 22 games, six wins, nine draws and seven defeats.

From the lawns, poker tables to the technical area

Before arriving in the technical area, Barbarez had a solid career as a player. Born in Mostar, Yugoslavia, he moved to Germany at a young age, where he played for Hannover 96.

Afterwards, he played for traditional German football clubs, such as Union Berlin, Hansa Rostock, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen. In total, he played more than 500 matches as a professional and scored 177 goals. His highest scoring season was 1995/96 with Union Berlin, when he scored 26 goals in 40 games.

For the Bosnian national team, Barbarez was also an important figure. He played between 1998 and 2006, was captain of the national team and became one of the most respected names in Bosnian football, with 17 goals in 48 games, being the fifth highest scorer in the history of the team.

After retiring from the field in 2008, he took a coaching license, but did not immediately start his career on the sidelines. Instead, he chose another competitive environment which was the poker tables.

Barbarez played professionally for about a decade in Europe. During the period, he accumulated more than 143 thousand dollars in registered prizes and reached two final tables of the World Series of Poker, one of the biggest tournament series in the world. Now, Barbarez is preparing his all-in in the last game of the World Cup group stage.