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Ten years after the bloody war, Serbia-Montenegro face Bosnia-Herzegovina in a decisive qualifier.

The war may have ended 10 years ago but the hatred lingers. Serbia-Montenegro play Bosnia-Herzegovina in a decisive Group Seven World Cup qualifier in Belgrade tonight with fears of violence between the two sets of fans at the 53,000 capacity Marakana stadium.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina players have been forced to train under police guard at an isolated camp ahead of the game and their fans - the brave 1,000 who are expected to travel - will be escorted from the Bosnian border and back. During the game, they will be protected by riot police. Banners and firecrackers will be forbidden, as will selling or possessing alcohol within two miles of the stadium.

Both countries can still qualify for the World Cup, but the stakes are much higher than a place in next summer's showpiece. As Senad Rindal, a 43-year-old mechanical engineer from Sarajevo, said: "A Bosnian win would be greater than any other win of our team because of all the Muslims killed during the war. Payback, kind of, for all the misery we suffered."

When the two countries met in Sarajevo last October the Bosnian fans held up a banner saying "We have 250,000 reasons to hate you", a reference to the estimated number of people killed by the Serbian forces during the war. The away supporters responded by chanting the name of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who is accused of leading the slaughter of the Muslims.

But the banners have been banished for this game and the Serbian police are confident they can control the supporters due to the low number of travelling fans. The authorities have received a list of all the names of the Bosnian fans who will attend the game and Fifa has given its permission for 50 white doves to be released ahead of kick-off in an attempt to reduce the tension in the stadium.

The situation is a bit more complex than that, however, with up to 5,000 Bosnian Serbs from Serbian enclaves in Bosnia expected to attend the game and support the home team. "Our reality is unique in the world," said the president of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Football Federation Munib Usanovic. "More fans from Bosnia will support Serbia-Montenegro than their own country."

Serbia are top of their qualifying group but need to win tonight to be certain of going through as pool winners. A draw may still be enough as long as Spain do not defeat San Marino by more than four goals. The Bosnians, on 16 points, will leapfrog the Serbs if they win in Belgrade.