Slovak Republic and Czechoslovakia The first official match of the first
Slovak Republic was played in
Bratislava against
Germany on 27 August 1939, and ended in a 2–0 victory for Slovakia. The Slovaks played numerous friendly matches during the Second World War, all against
Axis-aligned nations. 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 (eight of the eleven players who defeated West Germany in the final were Slovak).
1994–present: Slovakia 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 first home match was a 4–1 victory against
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 victories (7–0) have come against
Liechtenstein in 2004 as well as
San Marino (twice) in 2007 and 2009. Slovakia attempted qualifying for 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, recording 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, one of them against their Czech neighbors, helping the team reach their highest FIFA World Ranking to date, 17th. Slovakia came close to securing a berth at the
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany after finishing second in their group ahead of
Russia and behind
Portugal, before being eliminated by
Spain in their qualification play-off, 6–2 on aggregate.
2010 FIFA World Cup at the
2010 FIFA World Cup|250px Slovakia participated in the
FIFA World Cup for the first time as an independent nation after finishing in first in
Group 3 of 2010 World Cup qualification ahead of
Slovenia,
Czech Republic,
Northern Ireland, and Poland. On 14 October 2009, they clinched qualification with a 1–0 away victory 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, who 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 in 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, Vittek's goal returned him to the top of the goalscoring charts, joint top with
David Villa, until Villa himself later scored against
Portugal in
Spain's 1–0 victory in the same stage of the tournament.
UEFA Euro 2012 In the
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Slovakia was drawn against Russia, the
Republic of Ireland,
Armenia,
Macedonia and
Andorra. The campaign in South Africa boosted team performance ahead of the qualifiers, which started in September with two 1–0 wins against Macedonia at
Štadión Pasienky and Russia away. However, in October, they were easily beaten in Armenia (3–1) and drew 1–1 against the Republic of Ireland at home. In February 2011, the team was stunned in a 2–1 friendly defeat against
Luxembourg and could only beat group minnows Andorra by one goal. Despite creating better chances, Slovakia earned a goalless draw with Ireland away. Four days later, after creating chances in a goalless first half, Slovakia conceded four goals to Armenia in a match that eliminated the team. 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. For the first time since the
Euro 1996 qualifying process, Slovakia finished a qualifying campaign with a negative goal differential. As a result of this outcome, coach
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 after the unsuccessful qualifying campaign with a victory in
Bosnia and Herzegovina followed by two defeats to Bosnia and
Greece.
UEFA Euro 2016 In the
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Slovakia was drawn against Spain,
Ukraine,
Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg. Slovakia began the qualifying campaign with a 1–0 victory against Ukraine in
Kyiv. 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, beat Luxembourg with a score of 3–0 in
Žilina, and beat Macedonia 2–1 on 14 June 2015, also in
Žilina. The next matches were a 2–0 defeat against Spain, a goalless draw against Ukraine, and a shocking 0–1 home defeat against Belarus. Slovakia finished qualification by defeating Luxembourg 4–2 and got the second place, qualifying to their fourth
European Championship, first as an independent nation. 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 defeated Russia 2–1 with goals from
Vladimír Weiss III and
Marek Hamšík, then a goalless draw against
England to advance to the round of 16 as one of the tournament's best third-placed teams. They were eliminated at this stage by 2014 FIFA World Cup champion
Germany with a 3–0 defeat.
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification During the qualification campaign for the
2018 World Cup, Slovakia was drawn in
UEFA Group F. They were third in the group after the penultimate match ended in a 1–0 defeat to
Scotland, who moved up to second place. Slovakia won their final group match 3–0 against
Malta, and overtook Scotland after they failed to beat Slovenia, but they missed out on a play-off place as the other second teams' results went against them, meaning Slovakia finished as the worst group runners-up.
UEFA Euro 2020 Slovakia qualified for the
UEFA Euro 2020 after a difficult away victory against
Northern Ireland. Being drawn with Spain,
Sweden. and
Poland in group E, Slovakia beat Poland 2–1. However, Slovakia subsequently lost to Sweden 0–1 before getting thrashed by Spain 5–0, thus finishing third with the worst goal difference due to scoring own goals as a result of their performance. Slovakia was eliminated in the group stage for the first time ever.
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The country finished third in
2022 World Cup qualifying behind Croatia and Russia, the latter of which would be banned from the final tournament due to the country's
invasion of Ukraine. Despite the third-place finish in the group, the team dropped points to footballing minnows
Cyprus and Malta.
UEFA Euro 2024 After numerous poor results in the
UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying, former
Napoli coach
Francesco Calzona was appointed as the manager on 30 August 2022. This meant Slovakia was placed as low as the fifth pot for the
qualifying phase of the tournament, the worst position the country has ever been in and realistically must qualify directly for
UEFA Euro 2024. Slovakia was drawn into a group with Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Iceland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. After a poor goalless draw in the first match against Luxembourg, the team won seven and lost two matches in total, both being narrow losses against Portugal (0–1 at home and 3–2 away). As a result, Slovakia qualified automatically for
Euro 2024 by finishing second in their
qualifying group. The team was drawn in
Group E of Euro 2024, together with
Belgium, Ukraine, and Romania. In
Frankfurt on 17 June, Slovakia produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament by beating Belgium 1–0. Slovakia eventually progressed to the
knockout stage of the tournament. In the round of 16, they faced eventual
runner-up England and lost 2-1 in extra time.
Ivan Schranz became the joint-
UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer of
Euro 2024. ==Stadium==