Edin Dzeko

Edin Dzeko is among the oldest players at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, featuring in what analysts have confirmed is the oldest World Cup field on record — alongside Scotland's Craig Gordon (43), Cristiano Ronaldo (41), and Germany's Manuel Neuer (40). Dzeko, past his 40th birthday, represents a final chapter for one of the Balkans' greatest footballers on the biggest stage.

Born 17 March 1986 in Sarajevo, Dzeko emerged from the wreckage of the Yugoslav Wars to become Bosnia and Herzegovina's greatest ever footballer. He joined Wolfsburg in 2007, winning the Bundesliga in 2009, before moving to Manchester City in 2011 where he won two Premier League titles. A spell at Roma from 2015 to 2022 produced 119 goals in Serie A, followed by moves to Inter Milan and Fenerbahçe. He is Bosnia's all-time leading scorer by a considerable margin.

Dzeko's career has been intertwined with Bosnia's emergence as a football nation: he was part of the side that reached their first-ever World Cup at Brazil 2014 and has been the constant through qualifying campaigns across three decades. His presence at the 2026 tournament, past 40, is both a tribute to his physical conditioning and a reminder of the absence of a generation of Bosnian talent who never had the structures Dzeko helped build.