List of Slovenia international footballers

The Slovenia national football team (Slovene: Slovenska nogometna reprezentanca) represents the nation of Slovenia in international association football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia (NZS), the nation's governing body for football, and is a member of both the European football federation, UEFA, and the world football association, FIFA.

This article is about Slovenia national football team players with at least 10 appearances. For a list of all notable national team players, see Slovenia international footballers category. For the current national team squad, see Current squad.

A dark-haired white man wearing a training bib, holding a ball and smiling.
Robert Koren, captain of Slovenia at their most recent World Cup appearance in 2010.

Prior to Slovenian independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in June 1991, the unofficial Slovenian national team played a total of five friendly matches.[1] Shortly after independence, Slovenia was officially recognized by FIFA[2] and played its first match on 3 June 1992, a friendly versus Estonia in Tallinn.[3] In the game, ending in a 1–1 draw, Igor Benedejčič became the first goalscorer for Slovenia after equalizing in the second half.[4] Their first competitive match was a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier against Italy in September 1994.[3] The team has qualified for the UEFA European Championship once (in 2000) and the FIFA World Cup twice (in 2002 and 2010),[5] and is one of the smallest countries by population to ever qualify for the World Cup.[6][7] Slovenia was eliminated on all three occasions in the group stage of these competitions.[8] As of 17 October 2023, Slovenia has played a total of 284 official matches, winning 104, drawing 72 and losing 108.[3]

Since 1992, 223 players have represented the national team in official matches.[9] The most capped player is Boštjan Cesar, who has made 101 appearances between 2003 and 2018.[10] The most capped goalkeeper is Samir Handanović with 81 appearances between 2004 and 2015.[11] Zlatko Zahovič is the all-time top goalscorer with 35 goals in his international career, which spanned 13 years between 1992 and 2004.[12] The player with the most appearances as the team captain is Boštjan Cesar, who captained Slovenia in 39 matches.[13] Benjamin Šeško is the youngest player to appear for the national team; he was 18 years and 1 day old at the time of his debut in June 2021.[14]

Key
  • The list is initially ordered by alphabetical order of surname.
  • Only players with at least ten appearances in official matches are listed.
  • Statistics are correct as of the match played on 17 October 2023.
Positions key[lower-alpha 1]
GK Goalkeeper
DF Defender
MF Midfielder
FW Forward
Position
Playing positions are listed according to the player profiles on the Football Association of Slovenia official website.
Total appearances and goals
Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, and UEFA Nations League matches and each competition's associated qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches.
Key
Symbol Meaning
* National team record

Players
A dark-haired white man, wearing an all white football kit with number 5 imprinted on it.
Boštjan Cesar is the all-time most capped player for Slovenia with 101 appearances between 2003 and 2018.
A white man, wearing the red and white football kit, kicking the ball.
Milivoje Novaković (80 appearances, 32 goals) is the most capped forward for Slovenia and the second best goalscorer behind Zlatko Zahovič.
A dark-haired white man, wearing an all red football kit and black goalkeeping gloves.
Samir Handanović is the most capped goalkeeper for Slovenia.
A white man in a black suit, watching a football match and giving orders to the players.
Prior to debuting for Slovenia in 1992, Darko Milanič earned five appearances for the Yugoslavia national team.[15]
A young white man, wearing a red football kit.
Benjamin Šeško, the youngest player to appear for the national team.
Table of Slovenia players, with appearance details and statistics
Player Position First match Last match Appearances Goals Notes
Milenko Ačimovič MF199820077413
Armin Bačinović MF20092013130
Jure Balkovec DF20182023310
Vid Belec GK20142023190
Robert Berić FW20122019252
Roman Bezjak FW20132019335
Jaka Bijol DF20182023431
Peter Binkovski MF19941996161
Valter Birsa MF20062018907
Miha Blažič DF20182023280
Damjan Bohar MF20142021161
Boško Boškovič GK19931998270
Mišo Brečko DF20042015770
David Brekalo DF20222023111
Spasoje Bulajič DF19982004261
Aleš Čeh MF19922002741[lower-alpha 2]
Nastja Čeh MF20012007466
Boštjan Cesar DF20032018101*10[lower-alpha 2]
Sebastjan Cimirotič FW19982005336
Fabijan Cipot DF19992007260
Domen Črnigoj MF20182022263
Mladen Dabanovič GK19982003250
Zlatko Dedić FW20042013498
Robert Englaro DF19921999360
Suad Fileković DF20022009140
Matjaž Florijančič FW19921999201
Damjan Gajser MF19951997110
Saša Gajser MF19992003271
Marinko Galič DF19942002660
Primož Gliha FW199219982810
Adam Gnezda Čerin MF20202023253
Jon Gorenc Stanković MF20202023181
Samir Handanović GK20042015810
Branko Ilić DF20042015631
Josip Iličić FW201020217916
Rudi Istenič MF19972000170
Alfred Jermaniš MF19921998291
Bojan Jokić DF200620191001[lower-alpha 2]
Kevin Kampl MF20122018282
Amir Karić MF19962004641
Žan Karničnik DF20212023221
Andraž Kirm MF20072016716
Aleksander Knavs DF19982006653[lower-alpha 2]
Vladimir Kokol MF19941997121
Aleš Kokot DF20042008100
Andrej Komac MF20042010430
Robert Koren MF20032011615[lower-alpha 2]
Rene Krhin MF20092019482
Aleš Križan DF19921998250
Jasmin Kurtić MF20122023872
Klemen Lavrič FW20042008256
Dejan Lazarević MF20112015201
Zlatan Ljubijankić FW20062015486
Sandi Lovrić MF20202023314
Tim Matavž FW201020203911
Darijan Matić MF20062012100
Borut Mavrič GK20042006180
Matej Mavrič DF20022011371
Aleš Mertelj MF20122015160
Miha Mevlja DF20162022502
Darko Milanič DF19922000420[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
Željko Milinovič DF19972002383
Jan Mlakar FW20212023122
Mitja Mörec DF20072009140
Džoni Novak MF19922002713[lower-alpha 3]
Milivoje Novaković FW200620178032
Jan Oblak GK20122023600[lower-alpha 2]
Milan Osterc FW19972002448
Miran Pavlin MF19942004635[lower-alpha 2]
Zoran Pavlović MF19982002210
Nejc Pečnik MF20092015326
Jalen Pokorn MF20042005120
Andrej Poljšak DF19931998151
Aleksandar Radosavljević MF20022013391
Ermin Rakovič FW20012007151
Rajko Rotman MF20142018150
Mladen Rudonja MF19942003651
Miral Samardžić DF20132017150
Benjamin Šeško FW20212023249
Simon Sešlar MF19972005190
Gregor Sikošek DF20162022110
Ermin Šiljak FW199420054814
Marko Simeunovič GK19922004570
Mirnes Šišić MF20082012152
Nejc Skubic DF20162021231
Andraž Šporar FW201620234810
Dalibor Stevanović MF20062015221
Petar Stojanović DF20142023492
Aljaž Struna DF20162019211
Andraž Struna DF20122018271
Goran Šukalo MF20022011342
Marko Šuler DF20082013393
Sašo Udovič FW199320004216
Benjamin Verbič MF20152023545
Amedej Vetrih MF20172021130
Dare Vršič MF20072012133
Haris Vučkić MF20122021125
Muamer Vugdalić DF19992004270
Luka Zahović FW20182023150
Zlatko Zahovič MF199220048035*
Miha Zajc MF20162023388
Gregor Židan MF19921996190[lower-alpha 4]
Anton Žlogar MF19982009371

Notes
  1. For more information, see formation.
  2. Captained Slovenia in at least ten games.[13]
  3. Represented Yugoslavia prior to Slovenian independence.[16]
  4. Played one match for Croatia in 1990.[17]

References
General
  • "Slovenia – Record International Players". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
Specific
  1. "Vsi izidi (1992–2022)" [All results (1992–2022)] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. Dunmore, Tom (May 2014). Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup. p. 316.
  3. "Slovenia Football Results". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  4. Plestenjak, Rok; Viškovič, Rok (11 October 2010). "Estonija zgodovinska za Slovenijo in tudi Keka" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. "FIFA President Infantino inaugurates national football centre in Slovenia". FIFA. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  6. "World Cup's smallest nations: Iceland eclipse Trinidad & Tobago for record". ESPN. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  7. "Iceland are smallest nation to qualify for World Cup – taking over from ..." The Irish Times. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  8. "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  9. "Slovenia Footballers". eu-football.info. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  10. "Most Slovenia Caps". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  11. "Samir Handanović, international footballer". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  12. "Top Slovenia Goal Scorers". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  13. "Kapetani" [Captains]. RTV Slovenija (in Slovenian). Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  14. "Slovenia footballers by debut age". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  15. "Players Appearing for Two or More Countries". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  16. Plestenjak, Rok (7 June 2016). "Milanič in Novak brez Eura, Danci šokirali svet" [Milanic and Novak without Euro, Denmark shocked the world] (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  17. "Gregor Židan". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 November 2017.

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