Since Ireland have only ever faced Bosnia & Herzegovina once in a senior international match - and that was in a 2012 friendly to be precise - there are no hoodoos or real head-to-heads to speak of before our nations face off in a winner takes all Euro 2016 playoff.
For most of us - apart from anyone who watched Bosnia play Wales in the qualifiers - the most recent reference point for Bosnia on the global stage was their appearance at last year's World Cup where Edin Dzeko, Miralem Pjanic and co. were knocked out at the group stage, with a defeat against Nigeria proving crucial, a match in which they were pierced down the left side all too regularly.
But it's more than a year on and many things have changed from their debut major tournament appearance, with Mehmed Baždarević replacing Safet Susic as manager at the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
But what do we really know about the team as Martin O'Neill plots a way past this latest challenge?
FORM
When it comes to the form of Bosnia's team in competitive games, things have changed from the start of their group qualifying phase when they started in disappointing fashion, losing two and drawing two of their first four matches, which resulted in the sacking of Susic in the wake of a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Israel in Haifa.
But since the turn of 2015, they have won five and lost just one of their final six qualifiers, which was enough to put them in a playoff spot behind Belgium and Wales.
The only defeat was to the team currently ranked the best in the world (assuming you take the FIFA rankings even semi-seriously) with Belgium beating them 3-1 in Brussels two months ago.
Since that loss, they have enjoyed three wins a row, over Andorra, Wales and Cyprus.
Bosnian team posing for photo, standing from left Asmir Begovic, Vedad Ibisevic, Senad Lulic, Tino Susic, Toni Sunjic, Edin Dzeko first row Haris Medunjanin , Anel Hadzic, Miralem Pjanic ,Mensur Mujdza and Muhamed Besic during Euro 2016 qualifying match between Bosnia and Belgium at Stadium Bilino Polje in Zenica, Bosnia, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)
Club and individual form
Dzeko and Pjanic are the two stars of the team, and they have the added benefit of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in between the sticks, even if he's not having the best time at the moment at Chelsea.
Dzeko did not score in the final two qualifiers, but did register seven goals in the other qualifier games which pretty much sums him up as the man that the Irish defence will have sleepless nights about, in the same way that Robert Lewandowski carries the goalscoring burden for Poland.
On loan at Roma from Manchester City, the striker has made a relatively slow start to life in Italy with three goals in 13 games. However, he did score in his club's Rome derby win at the weekend and also netted in the Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen a few days earlier, which suggests he is getting into his groove at the wrong time from an Irish perspective.
His Roma team-mate, Pjanic, also scored in that Champions League win, but it's from free-kicks that he has been terrifying opposition teams, scoring three by mid-October.
A classy playmaker, he already has five assists and five goals in Serie A this season.
Begovic might have expected to play second fiddle at Chelsea for most of the season, but due to the injury to regular starterThibaut Courtois, the former Stoke player has been deputising and has not been deemed as a main liability in a Blues team enduring a major slump.
As a team, Bosnia have kept two clean sheets from their last five qualifiers, although Cyprus put two goals past them in their last outing in Nicosia.
Defensive midfielder Muhamed Besic, who is suspended for Friday's first leg against Ireland, has not had regular football at Everton this season, partly due to injury. His campaign so far consists of only one league appearance and a Capital One Cup showing.
Meanwhile, Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic, who has had to apologise to Roma's Mohamed Salah for a late challenge at the weekend, has two assists and a goal in Serie A this campaign. He has been a creative spark on the left hand side for Bosnia with six assists during the qualifying campaign, and will need to be quickly closed down by Ireland.
Hertha Berlin forward Vedad Ibisevic has four goals in six Bundesliga matches, as well as a goal in last month's victory over Wales.
FORMATIONS
So, how do they look tactically in their recent competitive games?
In four of their last six fixtures, they have played the common 4-2-3-1 formation or at least some version of it. Andorra was the only team where they moved to playing two men up front, as Ibisevic partnered Dzeko on both occasions.
However, the general personnel in the 4-2-3-1 shape (which they are likely to use against Ireland) has looked like this:
STATS
Bosnia scored 17 goals in their 10 qualifying group games, with 11 of those coming in the first half.
They've scored five times between the 30th and 45th minute of games, with four netted in the first quarter hour of matches.
Defensively, they conceded 12 times in 10 games and interestingly five of those concessions came within the last five minutes of their first halves, which could help Ireland when it comes to applying pressure at specific times.
They have averaged 55% possession in their 10 qualifying games, and given this Irish team's not-so-magnetic attraction to keeping the ball, we can expect Bosnia to dominate the ball especially in Zenica on Friday. As an example, Ireland have averaged 49%.
They have also attempted 599 more passes than Ireland with an 88% accuracy rate, which is two percentage points up on Martin O'Neill's men.
In short, Pjanic is the creative fulcrum in the middle, while Lulic will be a danger man and provider. Not that it needed to be said, but Dzeko will need to be marked diligently, and you can expect Ireland to look to prioritise solidity during the first-half, in particular since the first leg is away from home.
Getting out of Zenica with Ireland's hopes still intact will more than likely be the main concern as Martin O'Neill shapes his tactics.
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