The capital of Croatia was still sleeping tight, while the cold November darkness was fading, turning into the new day. But for one man it was just another long and sleepless night.

Fuad Muzurovic was pacing up and down the long, thin lobby in Zagreb’s Hotel Astoria. The man was chosen to lead his Bosnia-Herzegovina side out at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana, 540 miles down the Adriatic coast, for their first official match. But, hours before the trip, he still had little idea of what form his team would take.

The Dayton Peace Agreement had been signed, ending the cruel war that took more than 100,000 lives, but Sarajevo was still under siege; domestic-based footballers were hard pressed to travel far, while others were scattered around Europe. When the Bosnian delegation boarded the flight from Zagreb to Tirana, Muzurovic, once a famous player and manager with FK Sarajevo, counted nine players. The rest were supposed to come directly to Tirana, but most of them had to call it off. “The bad news was coming one after another,” explains Muhamed Konjic. “At some point, we were wondering if we are going to make it. Are we going to play?”

Konjic, a solid defender, had started to play professionally for his local club Sloboda Tuzla before the war, but – along with everyone else’s – his career was interrupted. “I spent the first eight months of the war back home and joined the Bosnian Army,” he says. “Then I somehow received an offer to come on trial to Belisce, a small club in Croatia.”

The 120-mile trip from Tuzla to Belisce usually takes less than three hours but the situation was completely different during the war.

Konjic and his team-mate Samir Tabakovic had to take a detour, driving northwards along the Adriatic coast. However, his old Zastava 128 – a Yugoslav version of the Fiat 128 – did not endure the long trip.

“I guess I was sleeping, I just remember my friend holding my knee and saying: ‘don’t panic’. I looked around and I realised that we were literally flying!”

Near the city of Rijeka the driver lost control. Tabakovic came away with mild injuries, the driver’s throat was badly cut and Konjic broke both his arms.

“Luckily we all survived – only just, in the driver’s case. The day after I had to leave hospital because I did not have regular documents. We continued our trip to Belise and arrived at the club heavily injured.I was aware that the only way I could stay was to play, so nine days after the accident I made my debut. I will never forget it. I sounded like Monica Seles; every time I would touch someone I would scream and cry. The pain was unbearable. But I had to continue. Imagine, a 6ft 3in defender screaming on the pitch; it looked weird. However, when the people from the club explained what was happening, I suddenly became a fan favourite”.

Fuad Muzurovic was never in doubt who will captain his team in Tirana. Konjic was on that plane, the only well-known name in that squad.

“We looked like a pub team. I know people can hardly believe it, but we did buy most of the equipment in the shop in Zagreb and the kit man sewed the crest on it. The assistant coaches practised with us, even when we arrived in Tirana, there were not enough of us.”

Muzurovi accidentally met Husref Musemi, former FK Sarajevo, Red Star and Hearts forward, in Zagreb and called him up. Musemi had been retired for more than a year at the time.

On the day of the match, four more players joined the team and Bosnia-Herzegovina had enough players to meet the requirements. It was 30 November when they played their first official match. Albania won 2-0, but not many cared.

“I remember, I could not believe that we are going to play even when the warm-up started,” says Konji. “Then, when we lined up for the national anthems, I realised that that’s it – we have a football team. Later, I played in front of 15,000 Bosnian fans away from home and we always had huge support, but I will never forget that moment in Tirana. When the national anthem started, some 200 Bosnian supporters, who lived in Albania, started to sing along. I still get goosebumps when I think about that and I always will.”

Nineteen years later, Bosnia-Herzegovina will, for the first time in their history, play at the World Cup. Big Mo, as Konjic was nicknamed when he played for Coventry City, will watch the opening match against Argentina from the Maracanã’s press box as a TV pundit. “I can’t describe how happy I am to see this team playing on this level. Nineteen years ago we couldn’t round up a normal team and look at us now. We are competing with the ones of Argentina, Nigeria and Iran for a last 16 on the world’s biggest stage. And if you ask me, I honestly believe that we can do a lot on this tournament.

“Of course, we all expect this team to do as well as possible, but at the end of the day, we are already winners. To come this far after what we went through, it is not only a miracle, but a victory for football.”