SLOVENIA

The Euro 2024 group match is being played in Cologne. From an early stage, Slovenia was only a regional representative team until 1991, when it split from Yugoslavia to become a "country". At the beginning of the 20th Century Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the First World War, Slovenia joined the Kingdom of Serbia and then Yugoslavia in 1929.

The first official match as a Slovenian XI was held against France, with Jules Rimet, whose name was on the first World Cup trophy, present as Chef de Mission. The Slovenians lost comfortably, but in 1991 at their independence, they drew with Estonia 1-1 in the first official international. 

England have only previously played Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup, winning 1-0 with a goal from Jermain Defoe and they won the first match in this qualifying league, 3-1, at Wembley.

Origins and pre-independence years (1921–1991): Before Slovenia's independence in 1991, the national football team of Slovenia existed only as a regional team, not officially recognised by FIFA. On 23 June 1921, the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana hosted a match between France and a selection of players from Slovenian clubs. One of the guests at the match was acting FIFA president Jules Rimet, who later initiated the first FIFA World Cup tournament, the trophy named after him. The French team won the match 5–0 and, although the match was not official by international standards, it was, at least in Slovenia, generally accepted as the first appearance of the Slovenia national team. In the following decades, Slovenia played several unofficial friendly matches, including in 1956 against China, in 1968 against Austria, in 1990 against Bosnia and Herzegovina and in 1991 against Croatia. 

In 1992, one year after Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia, the FA of Slovenia was admitted to UEFA and FIFA. In the same year, on 3 June, Slovenia played its first FIFA-recognised game, a friendly match against Estonia in Tallinn. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with the first official goal for the team being scored by Igor Benedejcic. The first coach was Bojan Pranikar. On 7 April 1993, the two teams played another friendly, and this time Slovenia achieved its first international victory by winning the match 2–0.

In 1994, Slovenia debuted in official competitions as the team competed in the UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifiers. Slovenia played in Group 4 and finished in fifth place out of six teams, with eleven points. In the opening match of the qualifiers, Slovenia drew 1–1 at home against 1994 World Cup finalists Italy. In 1998 World Cup qualifications, Slovenia was drawn with Denmark, Croatia, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, finishing in last place after registering just one point in eight matches.

The Golden generation (1998–2002) The UEFA Euro 2000 campaign. In July 1998, Slovenia finished the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier in second place, only behind Norway. In the play-offs, Slovenia faced Ukraine. The first leg was played in Ljubljana, which Slovenia won 2–1 after trailing 1–0. The second match was played in snowy conditions in Kyiv. A 1–1 draw meant that Slovenia won 3–2 on aggregate and qualified for its first major tournament.

At Euro 2000, Slovenia were drawn into Group C, together with Spain, FR Yugoslaviaand Norway. In the first game, Slovenia played against Yugoslavia and took a 3–0 lead after one hour of play, with Zahovič scoring twice and Pavlin once. However, Yugoslavia made a comeback as they scored three goals in just six minutes for a 3–3 draw, despite playing with only ten players after Siniša Mihajlović was sent off. The second game against Spain was played in Amsterdam. Spain took a 1–0 lead with a goal by Raúl, but Slovenia equalised after one hour of play as Zahovič scored his third goal of the tournament. Just a minute later, Spain were leading again as Joseba Etxeberria scored the winning goal. In the last match of the group stage, Slovenia played against Norway and still had a chance to progress to the quarterfinals. The match finished in a goalless draw and Slovenia won its second point of the tournament, but were eliminated. Slovenian football (summary below) has grown in Europe since then.

Current	57th (20 June 2024)
Highest	15th (October–November 2010)
Lowest	134th (December 1993)
First international
Unofficial  Slovenia 0–5 France  (Ljublijana; 23 June 1921)