Esmir Bajraktarević, 21, is playing for Bosnia & Herzegovina at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ while under contract with PSV.
Esmir Bajraktarević on World Cup
Bajraktarević arrived at soccer’s biggest tournament after a youth run that began in Appleton, Wisconsin, and stretched into the Milwaukee area. Liam Wasco remembers the first inkling his circle had that Bajraktarević was different: "There’s this really good Bosnian kid."
Liam Wasco on Youth Years
Wasco recounted a youth match that framed the gap in level: "And we played against him — he killed our whole team. He dribbled past everyone. We still won that game — I’ll still brag about that — but he was by far better than everyone." Wasco also described their off-field closeness: "Genuinely, we hung out every day. My house, his house. Like, I guess we were at the time each other’s only friends, like that close, it felt like we were family."
Those Appleton days included a heavy travel routine: Kevin drove the boys 90 minutes south on a good day so they could practice three times a week with SC Waukesha, the club now known as SC Wave.
Shan Amini on Development
Shan Amini, who coached the boys at SC Waukesha, framed Bajraktarević’s rise as self-propelled: "[Esmir's] also one of those kids where as much as I'd like to say, the club created him. We didn't." Amini added a direct note on daily habits: "His work ethic, he always had a ball at his feet. He wanted to win."
After those Milwaukee-area practices and youth matches, Bajraktarević drew attention from the New England Revolution as his trajectory moved overseas and into the PSV first-team environment; that pathway tracks with the Revolution having recently developed a player pathways program.
Wasco said his team still won the game even though Bajraktarević was by far the better player.
What path led Esmir Bajraktarević from Wisconsin youth soccer to representing Bosnia & Herzegovina at the FIFA World Cup 2026™?
