Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup opener has Wisconsin flair

TORONTO – Jesse Marsch and Esmir Bajraktarević have never met.

But if the Canadian men’s national team coach and midfielder from Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively, were to link up following the June 12 Group B kickoff as Canada hosts its first World Cup match? Break out the Euchre and cheese curds.

“Maybe we’ll get together and talk about the Packers and Cheeseheads and all that kind of stuff,” Marsch said at a June 12 news conference. “I hope he still remembers that.”

Bajraktarević was born in the United States – Appleton, Wisconsin, specifically – after his parents left war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001. He maintained close ties to his parents’ home country and, despite coming up through the U.S. national team’s system, switched allegiances to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a move that was approved by FIFA in 2024.

“It’s just very proud for me every time I play for Bosnia,” Bajraktarević told ESPN Netherlands. “It’s a different feeling. It’s where my parents come from and it’s what I always thought of myself as – as a Bosnian. It’s the best feeling.

“In (my) heart, I always knew since I was little that it was going to be Bosnia at the end of the day. There’s videos of me wearing (Bosnian legend) Edin Džeko’s jerseys growing up. He was my favorite player growing up, and it’s just something you dream of.”

Dubbed “The Milwaukee Messi” after he netted the game-winning penalty kick against Italy to send Bosnia and Herzegovina to its second-ever World Cup (and first since 2014), Bajraktarević told FOX Sports the moment was “one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life.”  

“It was like a dream come true,” he told FOX Sports. “It sounds (cheesy), but that’s the only way I can explain it.”

The soccer universe is expansive. It’s the world’s game, after all. Except in Wisconsin, the circles are close-knit.

A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Marsch said there is plenty of crossover between people they know from the Badger State. More importantly, for Marsch’s scouting purposes, he knows those who have coached the precocious 21-year-old at his professional spots, the New England Revolution and PSV in the Netherlands.

Bajraktarević left Wisconsin at 16 to start at the Revolution’s youth academy and made 48 appearances with New England from 2022-24. Since joining PSV, he’s logged 38 caps and scored 7 goals with 5 assists across all competitions

“Certainly, as a Wisconsinite, I’m proud of what a great player he is. He’s one of, if not the best, player to ever come out of that state,” Marsch said. “I maybe held that for, like, a three-week period.

“He’s a very talented young man. I still think he has a big future. And he is one of the players that we’re keying in on to make sure he doesn’t have an easy day, because we know when he has time and space, that he can be a creator, he can be a contributor. He’s an important guy for them for sure.”