{"id":495,"date":"2026-06-04T11:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadnews.net\/?p=495"},"modified":"2026-06-05T05:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:31:23","slug":"i-am-from-bosnia-bosnias-first-world-cup-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadnews.net\/?p=495","title":{"rendered":"“I am from Bosnia” — Bosnia’s first World Cup success"},"content":{"rendered":"

leadnews.SARAJEVO, June 4, 2026 (AFP) – “I am from Bosnia, Take me to America” — with brass instruments, guitars and a video clip featuring grilled meat, Bosnia already achieved a success with a hit song for the forthcoming World Cup, the Balkan nation’s second ever appearance in it.<\/em><\/p>\n

With several million views across multiple platforms on Tuesday, the song, a reworked version of one of the local rock band Dubioza Kolektiv earlier hits, is emerging as one of the standout anthems of the tournament, which kicks off on June 11.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the video released in late May, the musicians, dressed in yellow jerseys, are dribbling footballs, playing instruments and singing, while cevapi — the traditional Balkan grilled meat dish — sizzles on the barbecue.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Our video, which must have cost six marks (three euros, $3.6) was filmed in the neighbourhood, in a way similar to a favela in Colombia or Brazil,” Brano Jakubovic, the band’s keyboardist and lyricist, said.<\/em><\/p>\n

“People recognized that aesthetic that it is what football is actually about, a torn ball and a goal drawn on a wall, and poor (people) playing it,” the 47-year-old told AFP.<\/em><\/p>\n

The result was amazing — more than one million views on YouTube, at least as many on Instagram, and the clip circulating around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We are present on social networks. But today, it’s much harder to get a million clicks, likes, views … than it was five or ten years ago,” stressed the band’s bassist Vedran Mujagic.<\/em><\/p>\n

“So when a million people watch a video in seven days and people from all over the world are commenting, you feel happy”.<\/em><\/p>\n

The original song U.S.A., released in 2011, talked about how “Bosnians and other people from Eastern Europe migrate to America in search of a better life and the American dream”, Jakubovic explained.<\/em><\/p>\n

“At the end of the song, Bosnians return home because they realise the American dream no longer exists.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– ‘Total madness’ –<\/em><\/p>\n

The chorus, “I am from Bosnia, Take me to America” took on new momentum in late March when Bosnia’s squad qualified for the World Cup by eliminating Italy in a penalty shootout.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It was total madness,” Jakubovic recalled.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The song was playing on repeat in front of I don’t know how many tens of thousands of people” who gathered in Sarajevo to welcome the players after their victory in Zenica, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) northwest of the capital.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few days later, the group decided to add a few verses in Bosnian to recall the “national collective trauma” from 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

Edin Dzeko’s goal in their group game with Nigeria was ruled out due to offside, a decision the referee later admitted was wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nigeria won the match 1-0 and despite Bosnia beating Iran in the final group match it was the Nigerians not Bosnia who progressed to the knockout stages, having finished with one more point.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Psychologists made a lot of money after that offside, and the pharmaceutical industry also profited, because all Bosnians switched to hard drugs,” Jakubovic joked.<\/em><\/p>\n

“And we had to somehow offer a way out for that trauma through the song.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Bosnia will play joint hosts Canada in their first Group B match on June 12 in Toronto and then face Switzerland and Qatar.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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