Afan Cizmic, a 14-year-old ball boy in the Bosnia vs Italy World Cup qualifying final, took away the goalkeeper\u2019s notes.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 9 Apr 2026<\/span>9 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A week after Bosnia and Herzegovina booked a place in the FIFA World Cup with a dramatic penalty shootout win over Italy, a 14-year-old ball boy has stolen the limelight in the Balkan nation.<\/p>\n Afan Cizmic was among the dozens of ball boys deployed at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica for the UEFA playoff final on March 31, when Bosnia hosted the four-time champions for a place in the World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n But he now stands out as an unlikely hero after hiding Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma\u2019s penalty shootout notes just before the spot kicks were taken.<\/p>\n Cizmic, positioned on the sidelines before the shootout, noticed Donnarumma reading from a piece of paper tucked behind a towel. Realising it contained information on Bosnian penalty takers, he took the note and ran away from the goal.<\/p>\n When the shootout got under way, Donnarumma failed to save any of the four penalties he faced, and his teammates missed three of theirs, handing Bosnia a place in the global showpiece.<\/p>\n Whether Cizmic\u2019s little trick played a role in the final scoreline remains unknown, but the teenage boy is being hailed as a hero in Bosnia, with fans urging the national team to take him along to the World Cup.<\/p>\n Cizmic has been called on to football shows, interviewed by international media, and photographed at the venue where Bosnia created history by ensuring Italy became the only former champions to miss their third World Cup in a row.<\/p>\n Recalling the moment he saw the paper, Cizmic says that he hesitated at first but ultimately decided to act on his instinct.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw where he left the paper and that he was reading from it. I thought about whether I should take it or not. Then I said, \u2018Whatever happens, happens,\u2019 and I took it,\u201d he told Turkish news agency Anadolu on Wednesday.<\/p>\n While Donnarumma did not see Cizmic walk away, the Italian goalkeeper was left fuming when he could not find the paper and attempted to snatch his opposite number\u2019s penalty shootout notes in a tit-for-tat move.<\/p>\n Cizmic believes Donnarumma\u2019s frustration confirmed his ploy had an impact on the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI was happy because I saw he got angry and lost concentration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the hours and days after Bosnia\u2019s win, Cizmic\u2019s act led to social media debates as well as national news.<\/p>\n Despite mixed reactions on social media, he dismissed criticism, saying any fan would have done the same.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we were playing in Italy, someone would have done it to our goalkeeper, Nikola Vasilj, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The now-famous ball boy proudly carries the note, enclosed in a plastic cover, as a memorabilia item and takes it along for media appearances. He also announced that the paper will be auctioned, with all proceeds going to charity.<\/p>\n Cizmic, who is a youth footballer with local club Celik Zenica, dreams of wearing the Bosnian national team jersey one day.<\/p>\n His father, Emir Cizmic, said he was proud of his son, emphasising that ball boys are not just spectators but can affect the rhythm and outcome of matches.<\/p>\n Afan Cizmic, a 14-year-old ball boy in the Bosnia vs Italy World Cup qualifying final, took away the goalkeeper\u2019s notes. Published On 9 Apr 20269 Apr 2026 A week after Bosnia and Herzegovina booked a place in the FIFA World Cup with a dramatic penalty shootout win over Italy, a 14-year-old ball boy has stolen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG-20250912-WA0000-1757829229.jpg?resize=96%2C96&quality=80)
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Italy's](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260331__A6DG38N__v1__HighRes__FblWc2026UefaBihItaQualifier-1775728367.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
![\"Bosnian](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26090777977866-1775728362.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
![\"ZENICA,](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AA-20260408-41046821-41046813-YOUNG_BALL_BOY_AFAN_CIZMIC_DRAWS_ATTENTION-1775731209.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
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