Sweden travelled to Zenica with a majorly depleted squad after a wave of illness swept through their camp following Monday’s win over Poland. Despite that disruption, Blagult started brightly in the opening 20 minutes, as talismanic striker Viktor Gyokeres saw a well-taken finish in the box harshly disallowed for an accidental handball.
Aggrieved by that decision, the visitors continued to probe for a breakthrough, with Carl Starfelt’s close-range header requiring a smart save from Salko Hamzic, before Victor Lindelof directed another promising chance over the bar.
Having lost just one of their last seven home games within 90 minutes (W3, D3), Bosnia improved before half-time, and Edin Dzeko thought he’d marked his final international appearance with a goal, only for VAR to disallow the striker’s effort for an infringement in the build-up.
Following a cagey start to the second period, Sweden broke the deadlock shortly after the hour mark, as Gyokeres raced onto Alexander Bernhardsson’s pass and rifled an emphatic finish beyond Hamzic into the roof of the net - his third goal in as many matches over this international window.
That was the signal for Dzeko to depart to the applause of the crowd and players alike, but armed with the momentum, the visitors were keen to spoil the party further and went in pursuit of a quickfire second, with Besfort Zeneli seeing a low strike thwarted by Hamzic.
11 of Sweden’s last 12 games had seen both teams score, and that became 12 of 13 when Bosnia drew level in the 80th minute, as Kerim Alajbegovic’s inswinging delivery evaded everyone in the box and squeezed past Viktor Johansson.
That set up a fascinating finale in Zenica, but neither side were ultimately able to create a clear-cut chance to win the contest, as Sweden the draw extended their unbeaten run in the competition to 10 matches (W7, D3), while Zmajevi are now just a point clear of second-placed Poland following their thumping win over Romania.