Born in Višegrad, FPR Yugoslavia, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Baždarević's professional playing career started in Željezničar in 1978.

The venue of the final was Red Star Stadium in Belgrade played in front of 40,000 football fans.

He made his official debut for them in a September 1996 FIFA World Cup qualification match away against Greece and has earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals.

Baždarević was fired by Etoile on 12 April 2006, after a 1–0 home defeat to USM Monastir in their final league game which cost them the Tunisian championship.

He rejected offers from top league clubs Le Mans and Nice to take over Grenoble.

[17] On 13 December 2014, Baždarević was named head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, beating Milovan Rajevac for the position.

[24] He replaced Safet Sušić, who was sacked by N/FSBiH due to a run of poor results in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying having only taken two points in four matches.

[25] Bosnia and Herzegovina improved considerably under Baždarević and reached the play-off stage for Euro 2016, where they were unfortunately eliminated by the Republic of Ireland with a 3–1 aggregate score.

In the aftermath, Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević, former national team head coach and successful manager, blamed Baždarević for Bosnia's elimination against the Republic of Ireland.

[26] On 9 November 2015, the Bosnian FA extended the contract with Baždarević till after the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier campaign.

[28] After not qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Baždarević's contract expired and shortly after was left of his duties as the head coach after three years in charge.

[29] On 15 June 2018, Baždarević was named manager of Ligue 2 club Paris FC on a two-year contract.