Bosnian fans bombard field with flares during final World Cup qualifier (Video)

Henry Bushnell
·Senior soccer reporter
(Twitter)
(Twitter)

Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the best stories of the 2014 World Cup, a formerly war-torn country making its first appearance at a major tournament, and one of the smallest nations to ever qualify. The Bosnians were legitimately good, too, and should have made the knockout round.

The 2018 qualification cycle, however, hasn’t been as successful. Bosnia effectively bowed out of contention with a wild 4-3 loss to Belgium at home on Saturday. They’ll finish third in Group H. And their fans, apparently, aren’t happy about that.

Those fans, or at least some of them, traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, to let their feelings be known. With Bosnia already eliminated, Tuesday’s final qualifier was meaningless. Fans interrupted the game by showering the field with what look like flares:

The match was obviously and understandably delayed as stadium personnel rushed to deal with the mess. But it was resumed in surprisingly short order. The two teams were tied 0-0 at halftime.

Bosnia’s federation will surely face fines, and perhaps heavier sanctions, for the fans’ actions.

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Henry Bushnell covers soccer – the U.S. national teams, the Premier League, and much, much more – for FC Yahoo and Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell.