From 1920 to 1992, the players lined up for Yugoslavia, but following the outbreak of the Bosnian War and subsequent independence, a new football nation arose from the ashes.

The early period saw Bosnia and Herzegovina have to wait until the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to compete for a place in a major competition.

[10][11] This early period was followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina coming very close to qualifying directly for their first major competition, UEFA Euro 2004, narrowly missing out by a single goal against Denmark.

[20] Nigeria pipped them for second place in the group with a 1–0 win marred with controversy following an incorrectly-disallowed goal by Edin Džeko in the first half.

After a bad start to the qualifiers with a surprise 2–1 defeat at home against Cyprus and managing just two points in four games, Safet Sušić was dismissed and replaced by Mehmed Baždarević.

[22][23][24] After the slow start, Bosnian performance improved dramatically, with five wins in their remaining six matches, including victories over Wales and Israel along with three clean sheets.

[31] They suffered disappointment in their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group that saw three managers: Faruk Hadžibegić,[32][33] Meho Kodro[34][35] and Savo Milošević pick up only one win each for a total of 9 points and entered the playoffs.

The stadium, built and opened in 1972, underwent many reconstruction works since 2012 in order to comply with standards needed to host international games.

[52] Most of these fans are members of BHFanaticos, Belaj Boys, BHLegion, Armija Zmajeva (Dragons Army) and Ljuti Krajišnici groups.

[53][54][55] In the game against Norway, at the Ullevål Stadium in Oslo on 24 March 2007, Bosnian fans caused an hour-long delay due to an unprecedented amount of flares that had been thrown onto the pitch in protest against corruption in the (now former) Football Federation of Bosnia.

[57] The game was organised to commence at the same time as Bosnia and Herzegovina national side faced Azerbaijan in a friendly in Zenica.

Note: Some of the other players to have captained the team include: Mehmed Baždarević (2 caps) 1996, Meho Kodro (5) 1997 to 1998, Vlatko Glavaš (1) 1997, Suvad Katana (2) 1998, Elvir Bolić (6) 1999 to 2000, Bruno Akrapović (4) 1999 to 2003, Hasan Salihamidžić (1) 2004, Zlatan Bajramović (1) 2006, Džemal Berberović (1) 2007, Asmir Begović (6) 2011 to 2020, Haris Medunjanin (4) 2016 to 2018, Vedad Ibišević (1) 2017, Miralem Pjanić (6) 2019 to 2021, Ermin Bičakčić (2) 2019 to 2024, Sead Kolašinac (2) 2021 to 2022, Ibrahim Šehić (3) 2021 to 2023, Siniša Saničanin (1) 2021, Eldar Ćivić (1) 2021, Adnan Kovačević (1) 2021, Ajdin Nukić (1) 2021, Smail Prevljak (1) 2022, Rade Krunić (1) 2023, Gojko Cimirot (1) 2023, Ermedin Demirović (2) 2024.