In the newly renovated Maracana, Bosnia and Herzegovina made its debut against Lionel Messi's Argentina. Around 50,000 Argentine fans were in attendance to see their team defeat Bosnia 2-1.
The match was well balanced and far from easy for Argentina. However, they got off to a great start when Messi's freekick went into the goal courtesy of Sead Kolasinac. Bosnia's World Cup debut was off to a horrific start, conceding an own goal less than 3 minutes into the match.
Bosnia rebounded well with Izet Hajrovic nearly beating the goalkeeper and shortly after, Senad Lulic forced a save from Sergio Romero with a powerful header from a corner. The first half continued with neither team getting any concrete chance, Argentina's attack offered little while Bosnia cautiously looked to attack.
Thus the first half came to a close and the second half was upon us with Bosnia on the front foot from the start. Bosnia looked to find an equalizer with several deliveries from Izet Hajrovic troubling Argentina's defense, but they couldn't find the break through.
Suddenly, Argentina broke on the counter with Lionel Messi running at goal. Several defenders tried to stop him, but it was to no avail as his shot deflected off Mujdža and then in off the post. Another unfortunate goal conceded for Bosnia as Argentina looked comfortably 2-0 up.
Safet Susic made three subs looking to spark a comeback, but it didn't come as Bosnia's attacks were broken up and launched on the counter for Argentina to finish them off. However, Asmir Begovic and Bosnia's back line weren't going to be beaten easily.
Late on, the sub Vedad Ibisevic was played through and the Stuttgart striker made no mistake, putting it
through Romero's legs and into the goal. Bosnia made it 2-1 with less than 5 minutes to play and pushed for an equalizer, but it wasn't meant to be. Argentina held on for the win, a good start to their World Cup campaign while the Bosnian camp remained upbeat after a solid performance harshly done by misfortune.
Argentina's next match is against Iran and Bosnia will play Nigeria
