Heading into the final round of fixtures, Bosnia and Hezegovina retained a fairly slim chance of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Basically, they needed to beat Estonia themselves and then hope that, by some miracle, teenie-weenie Gibraltar could muster a victory over Greece despite having failed to amass a single point in Group H by that juncture.
Sure enough, Bosnia registered a 2-1 win in Tallinn while Greece squashed Gibraltar to the tune of 4-0 in Piraeus, thus sending the former packing – which seemed to be as good an excuse as any to set the pitch ablaze with a volley of flares and pyrotechnics flung from the terraces of the A. Le Coq Arena.
At Estonia v Bosnia, incredible scenes here, Hajmo Bosno! 🇧🇦 🇧🇦 pic.twitter.com/fDu6w907rN
— Will Cullinane (@SwindonCull97) October 10, 2017
Thankfully, the firefighters on duty were quick to respond, hurtling onto the pitch to extinguish the smouldering fireworks before things really got out of hand.
So, it’s Belgium and Greece who have emerged unscathed as the top two from Group H, with Bosnia and Herzegovina falling short by a single point.