Kerim Alajbegovic #19

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Before most supporters in Bosnia and Herzegovina had even seen him play a full senior match, clips of Alajbegovic’s performances had already spread across social media. The hype only grew after Bayer Leverkusen, having honed him since 2021, sold him to Red Bull Salzburg last summer and he started playing regular, senior first-team football for the first time. To say he shone is an understatement: Alajbegovic was named the Austrian Bundesliga’s newcomer of the season, his performances good enough for Bayer to trigger their buy-back clause before the end of March. Simon Rolfes, their managing director for sport, said the player had “not only fulfilled the high expectations placed in him in Salzburg, he has even exceeded them in a very short space of time”. What has surprised people even more than his talent is his complete absence of fear. Despite being only 17, Sergej Barbarez trusted him to take penalties in both World Cup playoff shootouts, while Alajbegovic himself changed the rhythm of both matches after entering from the bench. Inside Bosnia and Herzegovina he is already viewed not only as the country’s biggest prospect, but as one of the future faces of the national team.

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