Slovenia vs Serbia preview, team news, tickets & prediction

Two Balkan nations face off tensely while searching for points in a crucial 2024 UEFA European Championship group stage match. Here is a preview.

Slovenia will take on Serbia in a spicy encounter on the continental stage as two of the 24 teams in Euro 2024 in Germany. The Slovenians are attending just their fourth major tournament and the second-ever European Championship in their history, meaning they will be highly motivated to get a result in this fixture.

This Matchday 2 meeting in Group C pits the 54th in the FIFA world rankings against the 34th-best national team, with both sides playing in the Euros for the first time since 2000.

In head-to-head meetings, Slovenia and Serbia each boast one win with two draws from their four previous encounters. They drew 2-2 in their most recent match-up in the UEFA Nations League Group H, with Benjamin Sesko completing Slovenia’s come-back from two goals down. Meanwhile, Serbia were winners in the first leg of that tie with a 4-1 win at home.

Slovenia have been desperate to return to competing in a major tournament, as this is the first time they have qualified for the Euro finals in 24 years. The team finished their qualifying series in second place behind Denmark with a record tally of 22 points from 10 games, making it the first time they directly qualified for a major tournament without going through a play-off.

Matjaz Kek’s side began their qualification campaign with a pair of wins against Kazakhstan and San Marino in March 2023. Still, a 2-0 defeat to Finland and 1-1 draw at home to Denmark showed the amount of work they had to put into stay within an automatic qualification spot. 

After that, Slovenia hit a four-game winning run that helped propel them to a commanding position in the group. A defeat at Denmark meant they had to wait until the final matchday to confirm their advancement in a crunch home game against Kazakhstan.

Benjamin Verbic grabbed the decisive late goal in a 2-1 win witnessed by 16,432 spectators, a record home attendance for the Slovenia national team. 

Although they begin their Euro 2024 campaign against familiar opponent Denmark, the match against Serbia will be seen as a must-win encounter in hopes of qualifying from their group before they face group favorite England on Matchday 3. 

Serbia are enjoying a renaissance, making their game with Slovenia all the more tense as both sides will look to get one over the other for a chance to reach the knockout rounds. 

The Eagles are attending just their first European Championship campaign since becoming an independent nation, as Dragan Stojković has led them to consecutive tournament finals since being appointed in 2021. The Yugoslavia legend is harnessing the undisputed talent in the team and getting performances out of them as they aim to make an impression in Germany. 

Serbia started their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with 2–0 wins against Lithuania and Montenegro to give them the perfect start to proceedings. After drawing 1–1 against Bulgaria in June, Serbia was forced to play the next game against Hungary behind closed doors due to a UEFA sanction relating to chants against Montenegrins.

They tasted a 2-1 defeat in Belgrade but beat Lithuania 3-1 in the next match thanks to a first-half Aleksandar Mitrovic hat-trick. Although Hungary dealt the Serbians another 2-1 defeat in October, they bounced back only three days later with a win against Montenegro.

Indeed, a 2-2 draw against Bulgaria on the final day was enough for Serbia to qualify in second place in Group G with 14 points.

At Euro 2024, the Eagles will face England in their opening game in Gelsenkirchen before playing Slovenia; hence, this match will be crucial in a potential qualification place either as group runners-up or one of the best four third-placed teams.

Serbia will be desperate to write their history in the European Championship as an independent nation, and their experiences at the 2022 FIFA World Cup would have prepared them for challenges at the continental showpiece.

Match tickets

This match takes place on Thursday, 20 June 2024, with kick-off scheduled for 2 PM UK time. Tickets for the game have already been on sale on the UEFA website with two phases for allocation of tickets to supporters. 

Given the occasion for both teams considering how long they have been away from this tournament, it is set to be a fiercely contested match. Many supporters are also expected to attend the Allianz Arena in Munich game set.

The stadium will be packed to the rafters for this game, so getting a match ticket should be tough. Hence, fans who still want to watch Slovenia vs Serbia live may be lucky enough to do so by finding tickets on a ticket resale site.

Team news

Jaka Bijol, Mija Zajc, David Brekalo, and Vanja Drkusic are all sidelined with various injuries at the time of writing. However, it will take season-ending setbacks to rule them out of this summer’s tournament for Slovenia. 

On the other hand, Serbia does not have any injuries or suspensions to worry about, although there may be some updates on this later as matchday draws closer. 

Line-ups

RB Leipzig’s Sesko has been one of the key players for Slovenia, with five goals and two assists in nine appearances during the qualifiers. The 20-year-old is his nation’s bright hope, and they will do well to build the attacking play around him. 

Slovenia: Oblak; Karnicnik, Blazic, Bijol, Janza; Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar; Sporar,

Sesko

Serbia is also stacked with a ‘Golden Generation’ worth of talent in Dusan Vlahovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and Luka Jovic, who fill them with hopes of causing a stir at the tournament.

Elsewhere, Dusan Tadic holds the record for most appearances for Serbia, and the highest goalscorer, Aleksandar Mitrovic, can also supply the firepower needed to turn a few heads. 

Serbia: Milinkovic-Savic; Milenkovic, Veljkovic, Babic; Zivkovic, Gudelj, Lukic, Kostic; Tadic, Djuricic, Mitrovic

Prediction

Both sides can win this game, which they hope can prove crucial in deciding a qualifying place for the Round of 16. After all the opening-day nerves following their first Euros match in decades, each set of players will be fired up for this particular game.

Serbia has more international pedigree across its ranks. Their group stage exit at the last World Cup provides vital experience for the upcoming challenge. 

Slovenia 1-2 Serbia