Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro square off in an international friendly in Sarajevo on Wednesday, with both sides having failed to qualify for next month's European Championships.

Despite their failure to qualify for Euro 2020, the two teams kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaigns in March and will look to build confidence going into the next round of fixtures later in the year.

Match preview

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As we approach the beginning of Euro 2020, Bosnia-Herzegovina have been left thinking of what could have been, after they lost in a penalty shootout to Northern Ireland in the playoff round last year.

The game finished 1-1 after Niall McGinn cancelled out Rade Krunic's opener, and Ivaylo Petev's side fell short in the shootout as Haris Hajradinovic and Edin Visca failed to convert their spot kicks.

As a result, the Dragons' wait for a major tournament will continue, having failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup or the last three European Championships.

Their qualification bid for the 2022 World Cup did not start well either, having kicked off their campaign with two points from their opening three games in the last round of international fixtures.

That did include a narrow 1-0 loss to World Cup champions France though, as Antoine Griezmann netted the only goal of the game on the hour mark.

They will now look to bounce back from that disappointing round of fixtures with a win on Wednesday, before they return to competitive action in September.

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Montenegro had a much more pleasing start to their World Cup qualifying campaign in the last international break, and come in with much more optimism as a result.

Miodrag Radulovic's side picked up six points from their opening three games, having started with consecutive victories, firstly defeating Latvia 2-1 away from home.

Janis Ikaunieks put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half time, but Stefan Jovetic immediately equalised before he netted his second of the game in the 82nd minute to seal all three points for his nation.

They then followed that up with a convincing 4-1 victory at home to Gibraltar, as Fatos Beciraj, Marko Simic, Zarko Tomasevic and Jovetic all got on the scoresheet.

While they suffered a narrow defeat to Norway in their most recent outing, Montenegro will be hopeful of quickly bouncing back, and this week's international friendlies provide a good opportunity for Radulovic's men to quickly get back to winning ways before they continue their qualifying push in September.

Team News

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Bosnia-Herzegovina manager Ivaylo Petev opted to leave several key players out of his squad for the upcoming friendlies, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic not travelling with the squad.

Meanwhile, record scorer Edin Dzeko has also not been called up as well as Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic.

In the absence of Begovic, Ibrahim Sehic should feature between the sticks, while AC Milan attacker Rade Krunic will be the key man going forward.

They will also be without Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac, who is not in the squad after a season on loan at Schalke 04.

Montenegro have also opted to leave several players out of the squad, with record scorer Stefan Jovetic missing out.

In his absence, Fatos Beciraj should come into the side for his 79th international appearance.

Stefan Savic will lead the defence, having recently lifted the La Liga title with Atletico Madrid.

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Hadzikadunic, Sanicanin, Ahmedhodzic; Todorovic, Hadziahmetovic, Danilovic, Civic; Krunic, Demirovic, Prevljak

Montenegro possible starting lineup:
Mijatovic; Vesovic, Savic, Vijacic, Tomasevic; Kosovic, Scekic, Savicevic, Haksabanovic; Beciraj, Milosevic

We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-1 Montenegro

With key attacking players left out for both sides, this could be a low-scoring affair, especially with the majority of standout players operating in defence.

On this occasion, we see the sides drawing in Sarajevo, with both attacks struggling to create chances.

Written by
Sam Varley

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