Preview: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs North Macedonia - prediction, team news, lineups

Bosnia-Herzegovina's friendly clash with visitors North Macedonia on Friday at Olimpijski stadion Kosevo is their final game before the start of 2026 World Cup.

With the hosts set to begin their summer campaign on June 12, players will be keen to impress against North Macedonia in order to cement their place in manager Sergej Barbarez's first-team plans.

Match preview

Bosnia-Herzegovina successfully qualified for the World Cup after getting the better of Italy in a penalty shootout on March 31 in a qualifier, and they should be credited for holding their nerve given they scored all four of their spot-kicks.

Friday's contest will in fact be the only match they will play following their successful qualifying campaign, with their last friendly a 4-1 victory over Malta all the way back in October 2025.

Zmajevi's unbeaten streak of six games encompasses four wins, though two of those victories occurred due to penalty shootouts, and their last three fixtures have ended level after 90 minutes.

Barbarez's side only conceded once in each of those three matches, and failure to score more than once on Friday would be the fourth consecutive game in which they netted just once.

The hosts have emerged as winners in four of their five most recent outings at home, with their only defeat in that time a narrow 2-1 loss against Austria in September 2025.

North Macedonia were eliminated form their World Cup qualifying bracket by Denmark, who won 4-0 in a second-half rout in March.

The visitors are ranked by FIFA as the 67th best national team in the world, down one place from their April placement, but they are only one two places behind 65th-ranked Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Head coach Goce Sedloski will aim to guide his side to their first triumph in seven games, though a defeat would be his team's third in four matches.

Risovi have only faced Bosnia-Herzegovina three times, with their most recent meeting taking place in 2008, when the two shook hands on a 2-2 draw.

North Macedonia's record on their travels has been poor in recent times considering they are without victory away from home in five games, a period in which they suffered three defeats.

Bosnia-Herzegovina International Friendlies form:

Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):

North Macedonia International Friendlies form:

North Macedonia form (all competitions):

Team News

Bosnia-Herzegovina will almost certainly look to start goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj behind a centre-back duo of Nikola Katic and Dzenis Burnic.

If the hosts deploy a midfield two, expect to see Ivan Sunjic partnered by Ivan Basic, with the pair both likely to be rewarded after playing a key role against Italy.

Veteran striker Edin Dzeko may be 40, but he is set to earn his 149th cap, and he will likely be fielded alongside Borussia Monchengladbach's Haris Tabakovic.

North Macedonia shot-stopper Stole Dimitrievski will hope that he is given adequate protection from centre-backs Gjoko Zajkov, Darko Velkovski and Imran Fetai.

Midfielders Tihomir Kostadinov and Isnik Alimi could be asked to support a frontline consisting of Enis Bardhi, Eljif Elmas and Elmin Rastoder.

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:

Vasilj; Dedic, Katic, Burnic, Barisic; Bajraktarevic, Basic, Sunjic, Memic; Dzeko, Tabakovic

North Macedonia possible starting lineup:

Dimitrievski; Zajkov, Velkovski, Fetai; Churlinov, Kostadinov, Alimi, Musliu; Bardhi, Elmas; Rastoder

We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 North Macedonia

Though there is not much incentive for either team to overly exert themselves, Bosnia-Herzegovina could be boosted ahead of the World Cup by entering the tournament on the back of a victory.

The hosts' form at Olimpijski stadion Kosevo has been strong, while the visitors have struggled in the final third, so perhaps the home crowd will see their nation triumph once again.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.