Slovenia vs Denmark

Stadion Stožice is the venue as Slovenia and Denmark go head-to-head in a top-table Euro 2024 qualification Group H six-pointer.

Slovenia’s effort to secure their first European Championship appearance since 2000 took a bad beat last time out. They slipped to a disheartening 2-0 defeat at Finland, ending a perfect two-game start to their qualifying Group H journey (W2). Those two victories had formed part of an outstanding eight-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, friendlies included (W5, D3), suggesting their mental fortitude will be on the line this week. Slovenia last shared a qualification group with Denmark for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with the ex-Yugoslavia country losing both meetings by an aggregate score of 6-0. It feels like ancient history, especially now that Matjaz Kek’s men won three consecutive home outings, including a 2-1 victory over Denmark’s fellow Scandinavian rivals Norway in September 2022.

On the other hand, Denmark squeezed past Northern Ireland 1-0 at home at the weekend thanks to VAR’s decision to disallow the latter’s last-gasp equalizer, keeping their bid to qualify for back-to-back Euro finals firmly on the right track. Having bounced back from a shock 3-2 defeat at Kazakhstan on their most recent travel, the Danes head to Ljubljana keen to end a two-game losing run on the road. Excluding their recent appearances at major international tournaments, none of Denmark’s last eight away internationals have ended as a draw (W4, L4), suggesting this fixture could go either way. But Kaser Hjulmand’s men may not necessarily come out on top, considering they’ve only managed one win in their last eight Euro qualifiers away from home (D4, L3), beating minnows Gibraltar 6-0 in September 2019.