James had opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a thunderous effort at Nikola Vasilj's near post, only for Edin Dzeko to equalise with four minutes of normal time left.

The two teams could not be separated in extra-time, and Wales made a strong start to the shootout when Karl Darlow thwarted Ermedin Demirovic's effort from 12 yards out.

However, Brennan Johnson fired over before Neco Williams's penalty was saved by Vasilj, with Bosnia going on to face Italy, which beat Northern Ireland, in next week's play-off final.

Wales is now winless in all five of its matches against Bosnia, drawing three and losing two. It has only faced Serbia (including games as Yugoslavia, 13), Netherlands (10) and Sweden (seven) more often without a win.

"It's tough to take, I thought we played really well," James said. "For them to get a late goal was gutting.

"I thought we were brilliant in extra time, we worked so hard, and what we should today was how far we have come.

"We'll be back, and thank you to all the fans who have been incredible. It wasn't meant to be tonight, but the boys will be stronger for it."

Wales's near-miss saw it fail to qualify for back-to-back FIFA World Cups for the first time in its history, having reached its first in 64 years at the 2022 edition in Qatar.

But Bellamy echoed the sentiments said by James, adding that preparations have already begun for the 2028 European championships, where it is a co-host along with the rest of United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

"I am very proud but definitely disappointed. There was a lot of good tonight, but it wasn't to be," Bellamy said.

"I got what I wanted from my team, definitely. But with 20 minutes left, we stopped playing, and we just can't do that, even though it was understandable.

"It was a big lesson for us. We needed to see the game out with the ball.

"We regained momentum in extra time. Considering the chances we created and the moments we had, maybe we'd have liked to have been out of sight by then.

"We've got a home nation's Euros coming up. What an incredible time.

"We wanted to be in a World Cup this summer, but the future is very bright. There are some good years ahead for Wales.

"I'm disappointed for the players we couldn't get back-to-back World Cups, because we are a good team."