Preview:San Marino vs Bosnia-Herzegovina - prediction, team news, lineups

Group H leaders Bosnia-Herzegovina will meet rock-bottom San Marino on Saturday night, as both sides resume qualification for World Cup 2026.

With a flawless record after three games, Bosnia lead the way from Austria and Romania, while their humble hosts have yet to pick up a point.

Match preview

After starting with back-to-back wins in March, Bosnia-Herzegovina preserved their early advantage in Group H by beating outsiders San Marino at the start of June.

With only one team to go through automatically, the Dragons could not afford to slip up against the group minnows, but they failed to break through until Edin Dzeko's lone goal separated the sides in Zenica.

Seeking their second World Cup qualification as an independent state - and a first since 2014 - Bosnia may lead Romania and Austria in the table, but the latter are just three points behind with one game in hand.

Head coach Sergej Barbarez began his reign with six defeats from eight - and his team also lost 2-1 to Slovenia in a summer friendly - yet results on the road to North America have raised hopes.

Aside from their recent meeting, Bosnia's only previous encounters with San Marino came in qualifying for Germany 2006, when they won both games by an aggregate score of 6-1.

On Saturday, having heeded the lessons of a near miss on home turf, they will expect to make it four wins from four.

As FIFA’s lowest-ranked side, San Marino always had their work cut out to compete against four bigger nations in Group H, even if they came into the campaign following some rare success in the UEFA Nations League.

Gaining global acclaim, La Serenissima surprisingly won two and drew one of their four fixtures, earning promotion to League C - albeit up against much more modest opponents.

That may eventually lead to a backdoor place in the World Cup playoffs, as Roberto Cevoli's side have since lost their opening four qualifiers - to Cyprus, Romania, Bosnia and then Austria - while conceding 12 times.

They did manage to keep the Bosnians at bay for 66 minutes before Dzeko struck, but a few days later, at home to Austria, they shipped four goals before the half-hour mark.

Following a 4-1 friendly defeat to Serie B side Modena last month, San Marino now return to Serravalle, hoping to claim their first World Cup qualifying point since 2001.

San Marino World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

L L L L

San Marino form (all competitions):

W L L L L L

Bosnia-Herzegovina World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

W W W

Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):

L D W W W L

Team News

Sergej Barbarez has omitted both Ermin Bicakcic and Dario Saric this month, as the pair were without a club when Bosnia's 25-man squad was announced - the latter subsequently joined Antalyaspor.

Feyenoord new boy Anel Ahmedhodzic remains in exile after his public spat with the federation; fellow defenders Arjan Malic and Sead Kolasinac are sidelined by injury, so either Dzenis Burnic or Amar Dedic may fill in at left-back.

Having decided the reverse fixture with his second-half goal, captain and all-time top scorer Edin Dzeko will vie with Stuttgart striker Ermedin Demirovic for selection up front.

Meanwhile, San Marino's main threat comes from Nicola Nanni, who scored twice during their successful Nations League campaign last year.

Nanni is one of eight Sammarinese players one booking away from a suspension, including twins Giacomo and Tommaso Benvenuti - both could feature in the hosts' back four.

San Marino possible starting lineup: Colombo; G. Benvenuti, Cevoli, T. Benvenuti, Riccardi; Contadini, Golinucci, Capicchioni, Zannoni, Lazzari; Nanni

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup: Vasilj; Dedic, Muharemovic, Barisic, Burnic; Tahirovic, Sunjic; Hajradinovic, Gigovic, Memic; Dzeko