Dzeko is Bosnia's top scorer with 73 goals in 148 appearances in all competitions, with three of those outings coming at the 2014 edition in Brazil, where he netted against Iran. 

The 40 year-old was Bosnia's top scorer in qualifying for the World Cup with six goals in nine matches, and arrives at FIFA's flagship tournament with a lot of confidence. 

At club level, Dzeko helped Schalke achieve promotion back to the Bundesliga, where he netted six goals in 10 appearances in Germany's second tier.

He is the third-oldest outfield player involved in the World Cup this year, with only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Croatia stalwart Luka Modric older than the Bosnia captain. 

"I didn't think I would be playing at 40," Dzeko said. "If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said 'no'.

"But I'm listening to my body and doing a lot of work before and after training to help my body because I'm not the youngest any more and I need to take care of my legs, my body.

"I'm still feeling good, and I still feel that I can help the team when I'm playing, which I did in the last four months at Schalke and the national team.

"I am the oldest player, obviously. You always have a big responsibility. 

"I am happy to be captain of this great generation. It will change their lives for sure. Maybe they don't know it yet, but it will."

Bosnia qualified via the UEFA play-offs, eliminating Wales and Italy on penalties. Overall, they lost only one of their 10 qualifying matches, a home defeat against Austria (1-2).

They also found the net in all 10 of their matches, and will be hoping to continue that form in their opening Group B game against co-hosts Canada. 

Switzerland and Qatar are Bosnia's other opponents in the first stage of the competition, and Dzeko revealed he found a new lease of life after moving to Schalke in January. 

He scored just twice in 18 appearances across all competitions for Fiorentina, though only eight of those were starts in the first half of the 2025-2026 campaign. 

But Dzeko rediscovered his best form under compatriot Miron Muslic, and he believed his mid-season switch was crucial in being selected to feature at the World Cup. 

"It was about playing more, which I needed," Dzeko said. "I could not have made a better choice. Everything that happened was even better than expected." 

Dzeko is one of only two players, along with Sead Kolasinac, named in the squad who featured in Bosnia's previous World Cup outing 12 years ago. 

Tarik Muharemovic, Kerim Alajbegovic and Esmir Bajraktarevic are some of Bosnia's brightest talents, but Dzeko believes he can still keep up with the youngsters. 

"Sometimes there is an end for all of us," Dzeko conceded when asked how much longer he will play at international level. "Maybe mine is coming soon. But not quite yet."