Bosnia and Herzegovina defeat Wales on penalties to set up Italy play-off final

[p]Following a spine-tingling rendition of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/luis-henrique/dU3VTnID/"]Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wales/YcUP0Nqp/"]Wales[/a] talisman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wilson-harry/KWbu7UwK/"]Harry Wilson[/a] nearly gave the home supporters a special goal to celebrate when he unleashed a curling strike that crashed against the far post to the relief of the Bosnian supporters in a noisy corner of the Cardiff City Stadium.[/p][p]The visitors were certainly up for the battle and were willing to make it a physical contest, which led to a stop-start half but presented Wales with set-piece opportunities. [/p][p]Wilson threatened from one of the many free-kicks that came the home side’s way, forcing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vasilj-nikola/zJ3yuRdk/"]Nikola Vasilj[/a] to beat the ball away from danger at the near post, ensuring a tense contest remained goalless at the break.[/p][p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellamy-craig/6HLBNw1o/"]Craig Bellamy's[/a] half-time team talk ringing in his ears, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/james-daniel/UctCitdL/"]Daniel James[/a] required just seven second-half minutes to make the all-important breakthrough with a fierce strike from distance that raised the roof in the Welsh capital.[/p][p][b]The Leeds United attacker raced onto the loose ball and his decision to shoot early caught out Vasilj, who appeared to slip at the crucial moment.[/b][/p][embed guid="a0e754bf-c796-4574-8d3d-76386fe3ea27" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2037298709218664536" social-type="twitter" /][p]Buoyed by scoring his 11th international goal, James then went agonisingly close to doubling the hosts’ advantage with a left-footed shot that deflected up onto the crossbar. [/p][p]Feeling their World Cup dream slipping away, Bosnia were forced to come out of their shell and show more attacking intent, which soon materialised into an [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/demirovic-ermedin/dIsZ5Eyb/"]Ermedin Demirovic[/a] header that required [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/darlow-karl/tCXYzajG/"]Karl Darlow[/a] to make a desperate save at full stretch.[/p][p][b]Unfortunately for the Welsh goalkeeper, those heroics were soon forgotten when he made the ill-advised decision to come for an 86th-minute corner that was glanced home by veteran forward [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dzeko-edin/zilGmgZq/"]Edin Dzeko[/a], who sent the tie to extra time with the sixth goal from his last six international appearances. [/b][/p][p]The two sets of players had a short rest before they recommenced battle in the first period of extra time, which saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muharemovic-tarik/O0Ss5jSf/"]Tarik Muharemovic[/a] produce a last-ditch header to keep out Wilson’s goalbound effort. The determined Dragons were the stronger side in the final 15 minutes, but Bosnia stood firm to ensure the lottery of a penalty shootout was required to decide which team could continue to dream of a summer in North America. [/p][image alt="Result" id="b8cbffc9-0d1d-4740-8df9-cbce70da559e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="a0dde47c-5a1f-4faa-b4c7-e813d640ad8e" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]Darlow made the first stop of the nervy shootout, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/johnson-brennan/6XhWIWPP/"]Brennan Johnson[/a] blazed his effort over before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-neco/YVxu86Hs/"]Neco Williams[/a]' penalty was superbly saved by Vasilj, laying the platform for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alajbegovic-kerim/4WqOzLUF/"]Kerim Alajbegović[/a] to drill home the winning spot-kick to send the Bosnia faithful wild and quash Wales’ hopes of a second successive WC appearance.[/b][/p][p] In doing so, the teenager also maintained Bosnia’s hopes of reaching their second-ever finals as an independent nation.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dzeko-edin/zilGmgZq/"]Edin Dzeko[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bosnia-herzegovina/fqe7WYTr/"]Bosnia and Herzegovina[/a])[/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/bosnia-herzegovina-fqe7WYTr/wales-YcUP0Nqp/summary/stats/?mid=4lBawIAb"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/h2]