Slovakia national football team

History

The first official match of the first Slovak Republic (1939–1945) was played in Bratislava against Germany on 27 August 1939, and ended in a 2–0 victory for Slovakia. After the Second World War, the national football team was subsumed into the team of Czechoslovakia, and for over 50 years Slovakia played no matches as an independent country. During this period, they contributed several key players to the Czechoslovak team, including the majority of the team that won the UEFA Euro 1976 (8 of the 11 players who defeated West Germany in the final were Slovak).

Slovakia's first official international after regaining independence was a 1–0 victory in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates on 2 February 1994. Their match back on Slovak soil was the 4–1 win over Croatia in Bratislava on 20 April 1994. Slovakia suffered their biggest defeat since independence (6–0) on 22 June 1995, in Mendoza, against Argentina. Their biggest wins (7–0) have come against Liechtenstein in 2004 and San Marino (twice) in 2007.

Slovakia played in a major championship as an independent team for the first time in Euro 1996 qualifying, but finished in third place in their qualifying group, behind Romania and France, having recorded wins against Poland, Israel and Azerbaijan, twice. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Slovakia finished fourth in their six-team group with five wins, one draw and four defeats. Their first four games in this were all wins, with one of these against their Czech neighbors, helping the team reach their highest FIFA World Ranking to date of number 17.

Slovakia participated in the FIFA World Cup for the first time as an independent nation after finishing in first in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 3 ahead of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Poland. On 14 October 2009, they clinched qualification with a 1–0 away win against Poland. On 24 June 2010, at the tournament proper, Slovakia finished second in the group stage after defeating reigning champions Italy in a game which ESPN dubbed "epic": the game saw three goals being scored after the 80th minute, two by Italy and one by Slovakia, as well as a disallowed goal by Italy flagged offside by "the tightest of decisions". The result led Slovakia to the knockout stage and eliminated Italy, which finished last in the group. The result of this match meant that for the first time in World Cup history, both finalists from the previous tournament had been eliminated from the first round, champion Italy and runner-up France.

In the round of 16, Slovakia played the Netherlands in the round of 16, falling behind 2–0 only to score a late goal from the penalty spot by striker Róbert Vittek, the last kick of the game in a 2–1 defeat. Despite elimination, the goal returned Vittek to the top of the goalscoring charts joint top with David Villa until Villa himself later scored against Portugal in Spain's 1–0 win in the same stage of the tournament.

For Euro 2012 qualification, Slovakia was drawn against Russia, the Republic of Ireland, Armenia, Macedonia and Andorra. The good campaign in South Africa boosted team performance ahead of the qualifiers, which started in September with two 1–0 wins against Macedonia in Stadion Pasienky and Russia away, this one in particular giving Slovakia the perfect start. In October, however, the nation's form slipped steadily, as Repre was easily beaten in Armenia (3–1) and could not do better than a 1–1 home draw against the Republic of Ireland. At that point, Russia topped the group charts with nine points, with Slovakia, Armenia and Ireland all within a two-point gap of the leaders.

2011 was terribly worse: in February, the team was stunned in a 2–1 friendly defeat against Luxembourg before needing to fight hard for two 1–0 wins against group minnows Andorra, who had conceded 11 goals in the previous four matches. Playing in Ireland in a six-point match, despite creating better chances, Slovakia earned a goalless draw which kept both teams two points behind Russia, and leading Armenia by three. Four days later, however, Slovakia had its most disastrous performance in years: after creating chances in a goalless first half, Slovakia conceded four goals to Armenia in what effectively destroyed the team's confidence in securing a tournament spot. In the final two group matches, Slovakia was beaten at home by Russia (1–0) and drew 1–1 in Macedonia, finishing in a mediocre fourth-place position and scoring only seven goals in the entire process. Also, for the first time since Euro 1996 qualifying, Slovakia finished a qualifying campaign with a negative goal differential. As a result of this outcome, Vladimír Weiss left his job after four full years, being replaced by his assistants Michal Hipp and Stanislav Griga, although both themselves were later replaced due to poor results. By late June, former Czechoslovakia national team footballer Ján Kozák became the head coach and followed-up the unsuccessful qualification campaign with a victory in Bosnia and Herzegovina following by two defeats against Bosnia and one against Greece.

For Euro 2016 qualification, Slovakia was drawn against Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg. Slovakia began the qualifying campaign with a 1–0 victory against Ukraine in Kiev. On 9 October 2014, Slovakia beat Spain 2–1 in a shock victory and claimed the first place. Slovakia's 3–1 victory over Belarus confirmed their status as group leaders. Later on, they won 2–0 against Macedonia in the Philip II Arena, Luxembourg with a score of 3–0 in Žilina, and Macedonia again with a score of 2–1 on 14 June 2015, also in Žilina. Till that day, Slovakia had six-straight wins in qualification. They were followed by expected defeat in Spain 0–2, goalless match against Ukraine and shocking home defeat 0–1 against Belarus. Repre finished qualification by defeating Luxembourg 4–2 and kept second place in qualification group and qualified to their first European Championship.

Slovakia was drawn in Group B of Euro 2016 alongside England, Russia and Wales. Slovakia began their tournament against Wales where Ondrej Duda scored Slovakia's first goal in the history of the European Championship in an eventual 2–1 defeat. Slovakia then defeated Russia 2–1 with goals from Vladimír Weiss and Marek Hamšík, then drew 0–0 against England to qualify for the round of 16 as one of the tournament's best third-placed teams.

Stadiums

The Slovakia national football team only uses one stadium at present: Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava. Štadión pod Dubňom in Žilina was used in 2003–2015, but will not be used in the future because of the artificial grass (built in 2016). The national team recently played, last in 2009, at the biggest Slovak stadium, Tehelné pole in Bratislava, but the stadium is currently undergoing major renovation. In the past, home games have occasionally been played at other venues as Všešportový areál and Lokomotíva Stadium in Košice, Štadión pod Zoborom in Nitra, Mestský štadión in Dubnica or Tatran Stadion in Prešov.

Stadiums which have hosted Slovakia international football matches:

Nickname

Traditionally in Slovakia the team is typically referred to as the Repre (short for Reprezentácia – translates into national team). However, in 2016, during the build up to Slovakia's first appearance at the European Championship, SFZ introduced a new nickname for the team. National team was given the nickname Slovenskí sokoli (Slovak falcons). U15 through to U21 national teams were given the nickname Slovenskí sokolíci (Slovak little falcons). Despite lack of immediate identification with the nickname by the fans, it went into usage during the tournament and the subsequent qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and is now often used, especially in the media, along with Repre, which still remains to be preferred in an informal conversation.

Kit

Slovakia's home kit since the 1993 was blue, but currently Slovakia changed their home kit from blue to white. The team wears either a set of white jerseys, shorts and socks or a set of blue jerseys, shorts and socks. A combination of a blue jersey and white shorts has also been used in some matches. Until recently, the official shirt supplier was Puma, which had signed a long-term agreement with the Slovak Association until 2026, but in 2016 the Association announced the contract had been terminated and that the national team would be supplied by Nike, which had previously supplied the team from 1995–2005.

Results and schedule

The box below, show the results of all A-level matches played within the last 12 months, and the scheduled matches for the nearest future.

* Slovakia score always listed first

All-time team record

The following table shows Slovakia's all-time international record, correct as of 12 January 2017 after a match against  Sweden.
Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro are no longer active. At the time of the match against Gibraltar, it was a member of UEFA, but not FIFA.

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Malta on 26 March 2017.

Caps and goals as of 11 January 2017, after the match against Sweden.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Slovakia squad within the last 12 months.

Player statistics

Players in bold are still active.