Slovenia end season with back-to-back wins
Slovenia beat Bosnia and Herzegovina at home and Luxembourg away in their last friendly fixtures before going into qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in autumn.
Having won their fifth encounter against Luxembourg so far 1:0 on 6 June through a goal by midfielder Tamar Svetlin, Slovenia went on to break the spell by defeating Bosnia 2:1 in Celje on 10 June, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Slovenia, who currently rank 51st in the FIFA world ranking, had never before beaten Bosnia, who are currently 70th. The last time the two teams played against each other before was in a friendly twelve years ago when Slovenia lost 0:3.
The home team won thanks to Benjamin Verbič capitalising on a great scoring opportunity he himself created after outdribbling the opponent in the 63rd minute, and Andres Vombergar scoring a penalty shot in the 89th.
The game in front of the 12,000 spectators was nevertheless tense until the very last moment as Bosnia's Tarik Muhamerović scored in extra time to make it 2:1. Both teams also had some great opportunities in the first half.
Slovenia's captain, star goalkeeper Jan Oblak, was back after sitting out the friendly against Luxembourg, but head coach Matjaž Kek still could not call on Benjamin Šeško, who is nursing a lingering injury, and some other players.
"I think we deserved to win what was anything but a friendly match," Kek commented after the fixture in Celje.
"Not everything was ideal, but the approach was good and we broke another tradition. Congratulations to the lads not only for the two wins at the end of the season, but for every second of training. They worked well. I am talking about everyone, even those who were missing," he added.
In the 2026 World Cup qualification Slovenia will play Sweden, Switzerland and Kosovo.
