Edin Dzeko Announces International Retirement After 151 Caps for Bosnia

Edin Dzeko will bring his international career to a close next month, confirming his retirement from the Bosnia national team after nearly two decades of service. The 40-year-old striker made the announcement on Thursday, naming his final appearance as the Nations League fixture against Sweden on October 2nd.

Dzeko built his club career across some of Europe’s most prominent sides, including Manchester City, AS Roma, Inter Milan, and his current club Schalke 04. The international stage, though, was where he cemented a legacy no Bosnian player has matched.

“Nothing in my career has ever compared to the pride I have felt every single time I wore that shirt. It was my childhood dream, a dream I carried with me on each of the 151 occasions I had the honour of representing my country on a football pitch… Almost 20 years have passed since that match against Turkey. So many things have changed, and I have changed too, but my love for this shirt never has. Now I feel the time has come to step aside. 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.”

Since his international debut in 2007, Dzeko scored 73 goals across 151 appearances, records that make him Bosnia’s most-capped player and all-time leading scorer. He was central to the country’s qualification for their first-ever World Cup in 2014 and again played a key role in the 2026 tournament cycle, where Bosnia advanced to the last 32.

The Sweden match on October 2nd marks the end of a career that defined a generation of Bosnian football. Follow TipsGG for full coverage of the Nations League and every match that matters.