As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.Nad nama nebo ima da gori – Above us the sky will burnBosnia and Herzegovina have qualified for their second World Cup. For a nation of little more than three million people which gained independence just three decades ago, it is an impressive achievement. They are, however, just as notable for their presence off the pitch as on it.“Most people in the U.S. don’t know Bosnia,” explains national team fan Amila Sirco, who works in a travel agency which previously helped with logistics for the Bosnia and Herzegovina team, including planning for this World Cup.“We are so emotional because of our history, our identity, trying to define ourselves. You don’t support Bosnia because it is easy or successful. You support it because it is yours.”Bosnia is about passion, intensity, commitment, and belonging. This manifests itself through fandom for the national team. ‘Above us the sky will burn’: if you are in Bosnia, you know the national team are playing because of the noise and colour from above the stadium.Bosnia and Herzegovina fans celebrate their team beating Italy to reach the World Cup (AFP via Getty Images)The Bosnian War — an ethnically-rooted conflict between Bosniaks, ethnic Serbs and ethnic Croats, lasted from 1992 to 1995, with an estimated 100,000 deaths — led to a global Bosnian diaspora, numbering in the millions. “The diaspora is a huge part of our identity,” Sirco explains. “You will find Bosnia fans everywhere — sometimes in bigger numbers abroad than at home.”Around 350,000 of them are in the U.S.. This includes Esmir Bajraktarevic: born in Wisconsin, he made one senior appearance for the USMNT, before declaring for Bosnia in 2024. Bajraktarevic’s family were originally from the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and the PSV winger is now one of the nation’s star players. Bosnia’s squad, and fanbase, reflects this diversity.“You can’t cut our ties to our homeland,” says Ika Ferrer Gotic, a broadcast news journalist in Bosnia. “We have survived war, division and hardship. Our national team became our proof that Bosnia still breathes, dreams, and fights. Football is like therapy here, it gives us hope and it is our national glue.”Semir Mustafic, who works for Bosnia’s TV N1, said World Cup qualification “helps erase everyday problems” for people across the nation. “Bosnia celebrated together. Supporting the team is about defiance, pride, and the fight to exist and be recognised.”