The Slovakia national team of football (Slovak Slovenska futbalova representcia) is the representative of Slovakia in the international men's football competition. It is managed by the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) which is the governing body of the sport of football within Slovakia. The Slovakian home stadium for 2019 will be the newly constructed Tehelne pole located in Bratislava. Slovakia is among the newest national teams of football around the globe, having been separated away from Czechoslovakia national team following the breakup of the unification state in 1993. Slovakia has its own national team, which participates in every major competition since.
Slovakia is a candidate for three international major competitions including for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, and UEFA Euro 2020. Slovakia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 after winning their qualifying group despite two losses against Slovenia. In the World Cup, Slovakia progressed past the group stage following winning 3-2 against Italy and then was eliminated of the tournament with an 2-1 loss in the knockout round against final runners-up Netherlands. This it was the first occasion that the Slovakia national team played in a major soccer tournament following their participation in all FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign since 1998 , and each UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign from 1996 onwards, following the absence of over 50 years from international football because of playing in the Czechoslovakia team. The Czechoslovakian team did get close to getting a spot to the tournament in 2006 Germany having finished 2nd in the group, just ahead of Russia and a little behind Portugal after playing Spain in their qualifying play-off where the Slovaks were defeated by a large margin of the aggregate (1-5 1-1).
The national team has achieved notable results, such as the win against previous title holders Italy during the 2009 World Cup, and a victory of 1-0 against Russia in September of 2010. Even with this victory the team subsequently fell down the rankings . A significant drop in performance went along with it, as the team was not able to be able to qualify for Euro 2012 finishing their group in fourth position. The team also scored only seven goals in their group, just a little more than the minnows of Andorra. Slovakia was unable to be able to qualify for in 2014's World Cup, but secured the right to play in France at Euro 2016 under head coach Jan Kozak, which helped the team achieve their highest ever ranking of 14th on the FIFA World Rankings.
The traditional rival of Slovakia is the Czech Republic which they played twice in their qualifying matches of the 1998 World Cup in 1997 and 1998. They won 2-1 in Bratislava and then losing to 3-0 in Prague and both teams eliminated. The teams then faced against each other during 2008 as well as 2009 during the qualifying round of this year's 2010 World Cup. Both times they drew 2-3 in Bratislava and the Slovaks winning the game 2-1 in Prague. Prior to that both teams played during Euro 2008 qualifying, and they were defeated three-one in Prague and the final score was 3-0 in Bratislava.
