Football in Slovenia

Olimpija of Ljubljana have won the national football championship five rounds before the end of the season after defeating arch-rival Maribor 2:0 on 17 April.

"Proud is probably the word for this group of players. I could not have asked for more before the season," coach Albert Riera said.

Benjamin Šeško, who plays for the Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg and is considered one of the European strikers to watch out for, has won Slovenia’s player of the year award. The 19-year-old also took home the award for best young player.

Helsinki – Slovenian football champions Maribor have failed to qualify for the Europa League, having lost to HJK Helsinki 1:0 in the return leg of the third round of qualifying on Thursday. The score was 3:0 on aggregate.

While Maribor dominated the field, they failed to create scoring opportunities save for a few shots wide from a distance.

Ljubljana – The government dismissed at Friday’s correspondence session the supervisors at three state-owned electricity companies, ELES, Borzen and SODO, as well as at DRI, a consulting and engineering company specialised in infrastructure projects. It also appointed their successors, who are taking over on Saturday.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian men’s football team will open their third campaign in the UEFA Nations League against Sweden in Stožice Stadium in Ljubljana on Thursday in what is Slovenia’s first appearance in the second-tier League B after two years in League C.

Brdo pri Kranju – Ukraine’s national football team will be getting ready for the last match of the European part of qualifications for this year’s World Cup in Qatar in Slovenia, the sport channel Sportklub reported on Saturday.

Ljubljana – Slovenia beat Cyprus 2:1 in Ljubljana on Sunday to wrap up the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup in the fourth spot in Group H. After a scoreless first half, Miha Zajc and Adam Gnezda Čerin scored for Slovenia to close the disappointing qualifiers on a winning note.

Ljubljana – Olimpija Ljubljana, one of Slovenia’s biggest football clubs, has a new owner and president. Adam Delius, a relatively unknown German real estate businessman, has taken over from Milan Mandarić, the Serbian-American businessman who previously owned clubs like Porstmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, among others.

Maribor – The Slovenian men’s football team conceded defeat to Russia (1:2) in Maribor on Monday evening. Thus, Slovenia failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

The eighth match of the qualification was fatal for the Slovenian side, which will miss out on the World Cup in Qatar. The team still has two more matches to play, one away match in Slovakia and a home game against Cyprus.

Valletta – The Slovenian national football team beat Malta 4:0 in the qualifying for the World Cup on Friday night to remain in theoretical contention for a World Cup berth ahead of Monday’s game against Russia.