Slovenia national football team

Before Slovenian independence in 1991, the Slovenian national team existed only as a regional team not officially recognized by FIFA. It had a similar status as the Catalonia national football team. The team had mostly played exhibition matches against teams from other republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and was represented by Slovenian players under the traditional colours of white, blue and red.

The first football clubs were formed at the beginning of the 20th century during the period when most of the territory of present-day Slovenia was still within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the end of the World War I, Slovenia, along with Croatia, joined the Kingdom of Serbia forming the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which would be renamed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. On 24 April 1920, the Ljubljana Football Subassociation was formed as the Slovenian branch of the Yugoslav Football Association and organised the first football leagues. The winner of the Ljubljana Subassociation League had access to the Yugoslav Championship. On 23 June 1921, the Slovenian capital Ljubljana hosted a match between the French national team and selection of players from Slovenian clubs. The Chef de Mission of the guests was the acting FIFA President, Jules Rimet, who later initiated the first World Cup tournament. France won 5–0 and, although the match was not official by international standards, it was, at least in Slovenia, widely accepted as the first appearance of a Slovenian national team.[4][5]

In 1991, Slovenia was the first of the republics, alongside Croatia, to gain independence from Yugoslavia. With the recognition of the new country by the international community, the team was also recognized by FIFA and UEFA. The new Slovenian national football team played its first FIFA-recognized game on 3 June 1992 in Tallinn against Estonia.[6] The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Igor Benedejčič scoring the first goal for the new team.[7] The first coach of the team was Bojan Prašnikar.

It was not until its third game on 7 April 1993 that the team achieved its first international victory by defeating Estonia 2–0 at the ŽŠD Stadium in Ljubljana, with goals scored by Samir Zulič and Sašo Udovič.[6]

From 1994–1997, the team was managed by Zdenko Verdenik, who was the first to lead the team through qualifications for a major tournament. In a group with Italy, Croatia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia, the team won three games and took eleven points in ten matches of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifications.[8]

Verdenik also coached the team through qualifications for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In a group with Croatia, Denmark, Greece, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team finished in last place with only one point in eight matches and a goal differential of −15.

Afterwards, Verdenik was sacked and Bojan Prašnikar was named as the Slovenian coach for the second time. At the time, he was also the head coach of the Slovenian top division club Maribor and was given an ultimatum from the Football Association of Slovenia that he could only manage one team. He decided in favor of Maribor, and the Football Association of Slovenia appointed Srečko Katanec as the head coach.[9]

The first qualifications for the new coach were for the UEFA Euro 2000. Slovenia was drawn into a group with Norway, Greece, Latvia, Albania, and Georgia. Slovenia finished in second place, with Zlatko Zahovič scoring eight out of twelve team goals.

Second place in the group meant that the team was to play additional qualifications against Ukraine. The first leg was played in Ljubljana, which Slovenia won 2–1. Zlatko Zahovič scored the first goal, bringing his total in the qualifying campaign to nine,[10] while Milenko Ačimovič scored from the halfway line late in the game for the final score of 2–1.[11] The second leg was played in snowy conditions in Kiev. Sergei Rebrov scored in the 68th minute, while Slovenia equalised eight minutes later with a goal scored by Miran Pavlin.[12] The 1–1 draw meant that Slovenia has won 3–2 on aggregate and qualified on its first major tournament.

Dabanovič

Galič

Milinovič

Milanič

Novak

Karić

Čeh

Pavlin

Zahovič

Rudonja

Udovič

Slovenia's lineup for their opening match against Yugoslavia at the UEFA Euro 2000.[13]

For its first major tournament, Slovenia was drawn into group C, together with Spain, Yugoslavia, and Norway.

In the first game of the group, Slovenia played against Yugoslavia and took a 3–0 lead after one hour of play, with Zlatko Zahovič scoring twice and Miran Pavlin once. Yugoslavia made a comeback as they scored three goals in only six minutes for the final score of 3–3.[13]

The second game was played in Amsterdam against Spain. Spain took the 1–0 lead quickly with a goal by Raúl. Slovenia equalised after one hour of play as Zlatko Zahovič scored his third goal of the tournament. Spain then took the lead again after only sixty seconds with a goal by Joseba Etxeberria. About 10,000 Slovenian fans gathered to see the match at Amsterdam Arena, which is still a record for the most Slovenian spectators on a football game outside Slovenia.[14]

In the last round of the group stage, Slovenia played against Norway and still had chances to progress to the quarterfinals. The match finished 0–0 and the team won its second point of the tournament.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	2	0	1	6	5	+1	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	FR Yugoslavia	3	1	1	1	7	7	0	4[lower-alpha 1]
3	Norway	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4[lower-alpha 1]
4	Slovenia	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

For the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Slovenia was drawn into a group together with Russia, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, and Luxembourg. Zlatko Zahovič scored four goals during the campaign, in which Slovenia finished in second place and thus qualifying to the playoffs. In the playoffs, Slovenia was drawn against Romania.

The first leg of the playoffs was played in Slovenia. Slovenia won the game 2–1 with the goals from Milenko Ačimovič in the first half and Milan Osterc in the second half. In the second leg in Bucharest, Slovenia took the lead with a goal scored by Mladen Rudonja, which was his first and only goal for the national team in 65 appearances.[15] Romania equalised with a goal scored by Cosmin Contra with 25 minutes remaining. The final result was 1–1 with Slovenia qualifying to its second consecutive major tournament and the first-ever World Cup.[16]

Through the whole qualifying campaign, Slovenia played a total of twelve games and was undefeated with a total of six wins and six draws.

Slovenia played in the group B with Spain, Paraguay, and South Africa. All matches in the group were played in South Korea.

In the first game, Slovenia played against Spain for the second time in a row at a major tournament. Under heavy rain, Spain took the lead late in the first half with the goal from Raúl. Valerón added a second 15 minutes before full-time for a 2–0 lead. Seven minutes later, Sebastjan Cimirotič managed to score the first World Cup goal for Slovenia to reduce the score to 2–1. Fernando Hierro scored a penalty goal in 87th minute for the final score of 3–1. This match is infamous in Slovenia due to the conflict between coach Srečko Katanec and player Zlatko Zahovič in the dressing room after the game, which resulted in Zlatko Zahovič being sent home and Srečko Katanec's resignation after the tournament.[17] Slovenia lost the two remaining matches against South Africa (1–0) and Paraguay (3–1). Milenko Ačimovič scored the second goal for Slovenia at the tournament.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	3	0	0	9	4	+5	9
Paraguay	3	1	1	1	6	6	0	4
South Africa	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
Slovenia	3	0	0	3	2	7	−5	0

After the resignation of Srečko Katanec, Bojan Prašnikar was named as head coach for the third time.

In the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, Slovenia played against France, Israel, Cyprus, and Malta. The team finished in second place and managed to qualify for its third consecutive playoffs.

This time, Slovenia had to play against its neighboring country as the draw set a duel against Croatia. The first leg was played in Zagreb and Croatia managed to get in the lead as Dado Pršo scored a goal in the fifth minute, while Slovenia equalized 15 minutes later with a goal scored by Ermin Šiljak, for the final score of 1–1.[18] In the second leg, Dado Pršo scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes into the second half. That meant that Croatia has qualified for the UEFA Euro 2004 with the aggregate score of 2–1. Bojan Prašnikar was later criticised by the media and the fans for his defensive tactics as Slovenia only managed to take one shot on target during the two playoff games.[18] Prašnikar was later replaced by Branko Oblak.[19]

Ermin Šiljak scored a total of nine goals in the whole campaign, thus becoming the best goalscorer of the whole UEFA zone qualifications.[20]

When Branko Oblak took charge of the Slovenian national team, there were almost no players from the era of Srečko Katanec remaining as most of them retired from football. During his two-year period as a manager, Branko Oblak selected over 40 different players for the national team.[21]

He led the team through the qualifications for 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. In a group with Italy, Norway, Scotland, Belarus, and Moldova, the team achieved a victory over Moldova and Italy and a draw against Scotland, thus winning seven points in the first three games. Later, however, the team has won only five points in the remaining matches and finished in fourth place.

Branko Oblak also coached the team at the beginning of the qualifications for the UEFA Euro 2008. In a group with the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Albania, and Luxembourg, the team quickly lost its qualification chances with two defeats to Bulgaria (3–0) and Belarus (4–2). In November 2006, Oblak was sacked by the Football Association of Slovenia.[22] In January 2007, Matjaž Kek was appointed as the new manager of the national team.[23]

After the campaign for the Euro 2008 was finished, with Slovenia finishing in sixth place, it was speculated that Kek will be replaced by an Italian coach of Slovene origin, Edoardo Reja.[24] However, that did not happen and Kek was given a chance to prove himself in a qualifications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Slovenia was drawn into a group with the Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, and San Marino.[25] Slovenia held Poland to a 1–1 draw in Wrocław[26] and then won its first two home games against Slovakia (2–1) and Northern Ireland (2–0).[27] Slovenia then won only one point[28] in the two games with the Czech Republic and lost away against Northern Ireland,[29] when they got back on track with the home 5–0 victory over San Marino.[30] After that, the team defeated Poland at home (3–0)[31] and defeated Slovakia in Bratislava (2–0) who were at the time the main contenders for the first place.[32] In the last round, Slovenia needed a win over San Marino (3–0) and a draw/loss of Slovakia in Poland to clinch the first position. Slovakia, however, won an away game in Poland 1–0 and therefore Slovenia finished in second place and was headed to the playoffs for the fourth time in history.[33]

Slovenia was drawn against Russia in the playoffs.[34] Other possible opponents were France, Portugal, and Greece. The first leg was played in Moscow. The match ended 2–1 for the home side, with Nejc Pečnik scoring an away goal for Slovenia late in the game.[35] In the second leg, played in Maribor, Slovenia defeated Russia 1–0 with a goal by Zlatko Dedić. Slovenia has qualified for the main tournament with an aggregate score of 2–2 due to the away goals rule.[36][37] Slovenia was the only unseeded team that managed to qualify from the playoffs.

The top scorer for the national team during the qualifying campaign was Milivoje Novaković with five goals.[38] Slovenia was undefeated at home during the campaign as the team managed to achieve five victories and a draw with a total goal difference 13–1.

Slovenia vs. United States at the 2010 World Cup

Slovenia was drawn into Group C alongside England, Algeria, and the United States. Slovenia won their first ever match at the major tournaments in the opening game against Algeria at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, with Robert Koren scoring the only goal of the game.[39] In their second game against the United States, Slovenia was leading 2–0 at half time with Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankić scoring for Slovenia, however, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley scored for the United States for the final score of 2–2. In their last match in the preliminary round, Slovenia lost to England 1–0 with a goal from Jermain Defoe. Because the United States defeated Algeria with the goal scored in the last moments of the match, the Slovenian team was eliminated.[40]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	England	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Slovenia	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Algeria	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1

Bežigrad Stadium is located in the capital city of Ljubljana and was the main stadium until 2004, when UEFA banned it due to insufficient infrastructure. The stadium was built in 1935 and has hosted a total of 27 matches of the national team, which is more than any other stadium in the country. It has a total capacity of 8,211 and was the main venue of the national team in the qualifications for the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, in which Slovenia qualified, and the qualifications for the UEFA Euro 2004, when the team secured second position in the group and then lost in playoffs. The stadium has been closed since 2008.

Ljudski vrt is situated in Maribor, Slovenia's second largest city and is known of being the home ground of the most successful club in the country NK Maribor. After the renovation of the stadium in 2008, the ground became the main venue of the national team, and in the same year, Ljudski vrt hosted the first national team match since 1999. The stadium current capacity is 12,702 covered seats.[41][42] Ljudski vrt was the main home venue in the qualifications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where Slovenia did particularly well as the team was undefeated in all six home games, winning five and drawing one match with a goal difference 13–1.

Stadion Z'dežele is a stadium located in Celje, the third largest city of Slovenia. It was built in 2003 onwards in separate phases and was the main venue for the national team in the qualifications for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. The capacity of the stadium is 13,059 seats from which only around 50% are covered.[43] Slovenia played 17 matches on this stadium, with the last one played in 2013.

Stožice Stadium is located in the capital city of Ljubljana. The stadium has a capacity of 16,038 seats[44][45] and is the main venue for the national team. The opening match was played in August 2010 against Australia, which Slovenia won 2–0.[46]

Since 1 January 2007, the kit provider of the national team is Nike.[47] Previously, the kit providers were Puma, Adidas, Uhlsport, and Kappa.

Kit provider	Period
Adidas	1992–1993
Puma	1993–1997
Adidas	1997–2000
Uhlsport	2001–2003
Kappa	2003–2006
Nike	2007–present

Up until 1992, when Slovenia was not affiliated to either FIFA or UEFA, the team played its matches in white, blue and red, which are the traditional colours of Slovenia.[48][49] After independence and recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the team continued to play in the same colours up until 1994, when the board of the Football Association of Slovenia decided to change the colours to white and green,[48] which are the traditional colours of the capital city of Ljubljana and also the colours of the most successful club at the time, NK Olimpija, which was based in the same city.

In 2009, a new board of the Football Association of Slovenia immediately opted for a change of the colours. In December 2009, the board voted for the change of the jersey colours and from 2012 onwards the main colours of the team were white for home and blue for away matches.[50]

In February 2011 it was again confirmed, by the Football Association of Slovenia, that the jersey colours will change in 2012 and that the kit provider, Nike, has already started to design the national team jerseys in white, blue and red.[51]

In April 2012, Nike revealed the redesigned Slovenia kits. The strip was all-white with a blue and green trim.[52] The new away kit was all-baby blue with a green and white trim.

In March 2016, the new kits were revealed with all-green kit returning as an away kit.[53]

First home kit after the independence in 1991

Green home kit variation in the mid-1990s

All-white home kit variation in the 2000s

Light blue home kit, used between 2016 and 2017

Slovenia does not have a nickname and was according to media the only team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup without one.[54] During the 2010 World Cup qualification there were attempts from the home journalists to pick the nickname for the team, but that was not well-taken among the fans as most of them feel that a process to obtain a nickname should occur naturally.[55]

Recently, there were some articles abroad that suggested that the team is called The Dragons,[56][57] however that is not the case in Slovenia as that is the sign only of the capital city of Ljubljana and a nickname of NK Olimpija Ljubljana from the same city and has nothing to do with the country itself. The idea of The Dragons is not well-taken among the fans and is not used either by home media or the fans nor is it used by the fans of Olimpija themselves. However, due to the long tradition of Olimpija playing in Yugoslav football league, some football fans from former Yugoslav republics (Serbia)[58] use this nickname to describe the Slovenian national team. However, things change just across the border as The Dragons is one of the nicknames that is used by Bosnian media and fans to describe their own national football team.[59] The 1998–2002 generation behind coach Srečko Katanec is still referred to as the golden generation.[60][61]

Squad for the matches against Latvia on 16 November 2019 and Poland on 19 November 2019.
Caps and goals updated as of 10 November 2019, after the match against Poland.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Jan Oblak (vice-captain)	(1993-01-07) 7 January 1993	28	0	Atlético Madrid
12	1GK	Vid Belec	(1990-06-06) 6 June 1990	13	0	APOEL
16	1GK	Nejc Vidmar	(1989-03-31) 31 March 1989	0	0	Olimpija Ljubljana
13	2DF	Bojan Jokić (captain)	(1986-05-17) 17 May 1986	100	1	Ufa
17	2DF	Miha Mevlja	(1990-06-12) 12 June 1990	27	1	Sochi
20	2DF	Petar Stojanović	(1995-10-07) 7 October 1995	16	0	Dinamo Zagreb
22	2DF	Martin Milec	(1991-09-20) 20 September 1991	7	0	Maribor
3	2DF	Jure Balkovec	(1994-09-09) 9 September 1994	6	0	Empoli
4	2DF	Miha Blažič	(1993-05-08) 8 May 1993	5	0	Ferencváros
	2DF	Nemanja Mitrović	(1992-10-15) 15 October 1992	3	0	Maribor
2	2DF	Uroš Korun	(1987-05-25) 25 May 1987	0	0	Piast Gliwice
7	3MF	Josip Iličić	(1988-01-29) 29 January 1988	65	9	Atalanta
8	3MF	Jasmin Kurtić	(1989-01-10) 10 January 1989	58	1	Parma
6	3MF	Rene Krhin	(1990-05-21) 21 May 1990	48	2	Nantes
21	3MF	Benjamin Verbič	(1993-11-27) 27 November 1993	29	5	Dynamo Kyiv
10	3MF	Miha Zajc	(1994-07-01) 1 July 1994	19	5	Fenerbahçe
15	3MF	Jaka Bijol	(1999-02-05) 5 February 1999	8	0	CSKA Moscow
11	3MF	Haris Vučkić	(1992-08-21) 21 August 1992	3	0	Twente
18	3MF	Rajko Rep	(1990-06-20) 20 June 1990	1	0	TSV Hartberg
	3MF	Adam Gnezda Čerin	(1999-07-16) 16 July 1999	0	0	1. FC Nürnberg
23	4FW	Tim Matavž	(1989-01-13) 13 January 1989	38	11	Free agent
14	4FW	Roman Bezjak	(1989-02-21) 21 February 1989	33	5	Olimpija Ljubljana
9	4FW	Andraž Šporar	(1994-02-27) 27 February 1994	19	2	Sporting CP

The following players have also been called up to the Slovenia squad in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Aljaž Struna	(1990-08-04) 4 August 1990	21	1	Houston Dynamo	v.  Latvia, 16 November 2019 SUS
DF	Erik Janža	(1993-06-21) 21 June 1993	1	0	Górnik Zabrze	v.  Austria, 13 October 2019
MF	Amedej Vetrih	(1990-09-16) 16 September 1990	3	0	Çaykur Rizespor	v.  Latvia, 16 November 2019 INJ
MF	Žan Majer	(1992-07-25) 25 July 1992	2	0	Lecce	v.  Latvia, 16 November 2019 INJ
MF	Denis Popović	(1989-10-15) 15 October 1989	6	0	Krylia Sovetov Samara	v.  Austria, 13 October 2019
MF	Domen Črnigoj	(1995-11-18) 18 November 1995	12	2	Lugano	v.  North Macedonia, 10 October 2019 INJ
FW	Robert Berić	(1991-06-17) 17 June 1991	25	2	Chicago Fire	v.  Latvia, 16 November 2019 INJ
FW	Luka Zahović	(1995-11-15) 15 November 1995	3	0	Maribor	v.  North Macedonia, 10 October 2019 INJ

Notes:

• ^INJ Injured
• ^SUS Suspended

• Carlsberg Cup[66]
  • Third place (1): 2002
• Cyprus International Tournament[67]
  • Runners-up (2): 1998, 2006
• Oman International Tournament[68][69]
  • Runners-up (2): 1999, 2000
• Rothmans International Tournament[70][71]
  • Winners (1): 1994
  • Runners-up (1): 1996

• Best Mover of the Year
  • 1999