Edin Dzeko will make his 152nd and final appearance for Bosnia and Herzegovina next month, bringing an end to a 19-year international career in which he became the country’s most prolific scorer and one of its defining sporting figures.
The 40-year-old striker announced his retirement from international football in an emotional Instagram post on Thursday, saying he will represent Bosnia for the final time against Sweden on Oct. 2 in Zenica.
“Now I feel the time has come to step aside,” Dzeko wrote. “If I have made it to the age of 40 with the national team, it is because I truly gave everything I had. Every time. Everything.”
Dzeko has scored 73 goals in 151 appearances for Bosnia, records that make him the country’s all-time leader in both categories. He has also served as captain and become the face of a national team that has relied heavily on his goals, experience and leadership for nearly two decades.
His final international appearance will come at Bilino Polje Stadium, where Dzeko hopes to share one last memorable night with the supporters who have followed his career since his emergence as a young striker.
“I just hope you will be there that night against Sweden, so we can share one more emotion,” Dzeko wrote. “Because every one of these incredible moments has been something we have lived together.
“And that is how I want to experience my final night representing my country: with all of you by my side, wearing the shirt I have loved since I was a boy and the shirt I will love for the rest of my life.”
Dzeko made his Bosnia debut in 2007 against Türkiye and scored in the match, immediately beginning a national-team career that would stretch across nearly two decades.
Born in Sarajevo in 1986, Dzeko grew up during the Bosnian War and the siege of his hometown. His rise as a footballer coincided with the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent football nation following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
He became a national hero by helping Bosnia qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, its first appearance at the tournament as an independent nation.
Dzeko scored during the qualifying campaign and also found the net in Bosnia’s 3-1 victory over Iran in the group stage. Although the team failed to advance to the knockout rounds, its appearance marked a landmark moment for Bosnian football.
More than a decade later, Dzeko was still playing a central role in the national team’s biggest moments.
At the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, he reached his 150th international appearance and featured for Bosnia at the tournament at age 40.
His longevity has become one of the most remarkable aspects of his career. Dzeko has continued to play at the highest level well beyond the age when most strikers have retired from international football.
Known as the “Bosnian Diamond,” Dzeko has scored in World Cup qualifying, European Championship qualifying, the Nations League and international friendlies. His 73 goals are comfortably the most in Bosnia’s history and have cemented his status as one of the most important players the country has produced.
His club career has been equally distinguished.
After beginning at zeljezničar in Sarajevo and developing in the Czech Republic, Dzeko established himself as a major European striker at VfL Wolfsburg. He helped the German club win the Bundesliga and finished as the league’s leading scorer.
He later moved to Manchester City, where he won two Premier League titles, before continuing his career in Serie A with Roma and Inter Milan. He also played in Türkiye for Fenerbahçe before joining Fiorentina.
Dzeko returned to Germany with Schalke in January 2026 and helped the club secure promotion to the Bundesliga. He subsequently signed a one-year contract extension, allowing him to continue his club career after stepping away from international football.
That decision reflects a career in which Dzeko has repeatedly defied expectations about how long a top-level striker can remain productive.
But while he will continue playing for his club, his time with Bosnia is now coming to an end.
The farewell in Zenica is expected to be an emotional occasion for supporters who have watched Dzeko become synonymous with the national team. For almost 20 years, he has been the player Bosnia turned to when it needed a goal, a leader or a moment of inspiration.
His international career began with Bosnia still establishing its identity on the world stage. It will end with Dzeko having represented the country at multiple World Cups, broken virtually every major scoring record available to him and become one of the most recognizable figures in its sporting history.
