Slovakia

General Information

As of April 2024, Slovakia held the 48th position in FIFA's official ranking. The national team played its first match in history on August 27, 1939 against Germany (2:0), and achieved its biggest victory on September 8, 2004 over Liechtenstein (9:0). Its worst defeats came on June 22, 1995 against Argentina (0:6) and January 12, 2017 against Sweden (0:6). The team is known by the nicknames "Representation" and "Slovak Falcons."

The Slovakia national team reached the round of 16 in the World Cup (2010) and in the European Championship (2016).

Squad

For the Euro-2024 match against Ukraine, head coach Francesco Calzonetti will have 26 players at his disposal.

Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka ("Newcastle", England), Marek Rodák ("Fulham", England), Juraj Kucka ("New England Revolution", USA).

Defenders: Peter Pekhař («Hertha», Germany), Norbert Juháňa («Salernitana», Italy), Denis Vavro («Copenhagen», Denmark), Milan Škriniar («PSG», France), Adam Obert («Cagliari», Italy), David Hancko («Feyenoord», Netherlands), Veron D'Marco («Gatta Club», UAE), Sebastian Kóša («Spartak Trnava»).

Midfielders: Matej Beremeta («Bochum», Germany), Tomáš Rýsala («Baník Ostrava», Czech Republic), Patrik Grosicki («Genk», Belgium), Stanislav Lobotka («Napoli», Italy), Ondřej Duda («Verona», Italy), Lukáš Beneš («Hamburg», Germany), Juraj Kucka («Slovakia»).

Forwards: David Dúriska («Ascoli», Italy), Tomáš Sůsko («Verona», Italy), Ivan Šrančík («Slavia Prague», Czech Republic), Robert Boženík («Boavista», Portugal), Leo Savaré («Feyenoord», Netherlands), Lukáš Hrášil («Sparta Prague», Czech Republic), David Straka («Slovakia»), Libor Tupta («Liberec»).

Head Coach

55-year-old Italian specialist Francesco Calzonetti has been coaching the national team of Slovakia since August 30, 2022. He replaced Stefan Tarkovich in this position. Since February 2024, he also works as an assistant coach for the Italian "Napoli."

Previously, Calzonetti worked only as an assistant to the head coach at «Perugia», «Alessandria», «Sorrento», «Empoli», «Napoli» and «Cagliari».

Leader

In the absence of Slovakia's top scorer Robert Mak, the current leader of the national team is experienced midfielder Juraj Kucka from Bratislava's «Slovakia».

The 37-year-old Kucka has played 108 matches for Slovakia, scoring 14 goals. In his career, he has played for Slovak teams "Podbrezová" and "Ružomberok", Czech team "Sparta Prague", Italian teams "Genoa", "Milan" and "Parma", Turkish "Trabzonspor" and English "Watford".

With «Sparta Prague», he won the Czech league (2009/2010) and the Czech Super Cup (2010). With «Milan», he became the winner of the Italian Supercup (2016).

Recall that the match between Slovakia and Ukraine will take place on June 21 in Düsseldorf at the "Düsseldorf-Arena" stadium (kick-off - 4 PM).