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.

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][4] In the game, ending in a 1–1 draw, Igor Benedejčič became the first goalscorer for Slovenia after equalizing in the second half.[5] Their first competitive match was a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier against Italy in September 1994.[4] The team has qualified for the UEFA European Championship once (in 2000) and the FIFA World Cup twice (in 2002 and 2010),[6] and is one of the smallest countries by population to ever qualify for the World Cup.[7][8] Slovenia was eliminated on all three occasions in the group stage of these competitions.[9] As of March 2019, Slovenia has played a total of 238 official matches, winning 81, drawing 60 and losing 97.[10][11]

Since 1992, 197 players have represented the national team in official matches.[12] 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.[13] Zlatko Zahovič is the all-time top goalscorer with 35 goals in his international career, which spanned 13 years between 1992 and 2004.[10][14] The player with the most appearances as the team captain is Boštjan Cesar, who captained Slovenia in 39 matches.[15] Petar Stojanović is the youngest player to appear for the national team; he was 19 years, 1 month, and 11 days old at the time of his debut in November 2014.[16]

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 24 March 2019.

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

Boštjan Cesar is the all-time most capped player for Slovenia with 101 appearances between 2003 and 2018.

Milivoje Novaković (80 appearances, 32 goals) is the most capped forward for Slovenia and the second best goalscorer behind Zlatko Zahovič.

Samir Handanović is the most capped goalkeeper for Slovenia.

Prior to debuting for Slovenia in 1992, Darko Milanič earned five appearances for the Yugoslavia national team.[17]

Petar Stojanović (in blue kit), 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[lower-alpha 2]	Goals	Notes
Milenko Ačimovič	MF	1998	2007	74	13
Armin Bačinović	MF	2009	2013	13	0
Vid Belec	GK	2014	2018	13	0
Robert Berić	FW	2012	2019	20	2
Roman Bezjak	FW	2013	2018	28	4
Peter Binkovski	MF	1994	1996	16	1
Valter Birsa	MF	2006	2018	90	7
Boško Boškovič	GK	1993	1998	27	0
Mišo Brečko	DF	2004	2015	77	0
Spasoje Bulajič	DF	1998	2004	26	1
Aleš Čeh	MF	1992	2002	74	1	[lower-alpha 3]
Nastja Čeh	MF	2001	2007	46	6
Boštjan Cesar	DF	2003	2018	101*	10	[lower-alpha 3]
Sebastjan Cimirotič	FW	1998	2005	33	6
Fabijan Cipot	DF	1999	2007	26	0
Mladen Dabanovič	GK	1998	2003	25	0
Zlatko Dedić	FW	2004	2013	49	8
Robert Englaro	DF	1992	1999	36	0
Suad Fileković	DF	2002	2010	14	0
Matjaž Florijančič	FW	1992	1999	20	1
Damjan Gajser	MF	1995	1997	11	0
Saša Gajser	MF	1999	2003	27	1
Marinko Galič	DF	1994	2002	66	0
Primož Gliha	FW	1992	1998	28	10
Samir Handanović	GK	2004	2015	81	0
Branko Ilić	DF	2004	2015	63	1
Josip Iličić	MF	2010	2019	57	5
Rudi Istenič	MF	1997	2000	17	0
Alfred Jermaniš	MF	1992	1998	29	1
Bojan Jokić	DF	2006	2019	96	1	[lower-alpha 3]
Kevin Kampl	MF	2012	2018	28	2
Amir Karić	MF	1996	2004	64	1
Andraž Kirm	MF	2007	2016	71	6
Aleksander Knavs	DF	1998	2006	65	3	[lower-alpha 3]
Vladimir Kokol	MF	1994	1997	12	1
Aleš Kokot	DF	2004	2008	10	0
Andrej Komac	MF	2004	2010	43	0
Robert Koren	MF	2003	2011	61	5	[lower-alpha 3]
Rene Krhin	MF	2009	2019	42	2
Aleš Križan	DF	1992	1998	25	0
Jasmin Kurtić	MF	2012	2019	50	1
Klemen Lavrič	FW	2004	2008	25	6
Dejan Lazarević	MF	2011	2015	20	1
Zlatan Ljubijankić	FW	2006	2015	48	6
Tim Matavž	FW	2010	2018	37	10
Darijan Matić	MF	2006	2012	10	0
Borut Mavrič	GK	2004	2006	18	0
Matej Mavrič	DF	2002	2011	37	1
Aleš Mertelj	MF	2012	2015	16	0
Miha Mevlja	DF	2016	2019	19	1
Darko Milanič	DF	1992	2000	42	0	[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
Željko Milinovič	DF	1997	2002	38	3
Mitja Mörec	DF	2007	2009	14	0
Džoni Novak	MF	1992	2002	71	3	[lower-alpha 4]
Milivoje Novaković	FW	2006	2017	80	32
Jan Oblak	GK	2012	2019	20	0
Milan Osterc	FW	1997	2002	44	8
Miran Pavlin	MF	1994	2004	63	5	[lower-alpha 3]
Zoran Pavlović	MF	1998	2002	21	0
Nejc Pečnik	MF	2009	2015	32	6
Jalen Pokorn	MF	2004	2005	12	0
Andrej Poljšak	DF	1993	1998	15	1
Aleksandar Radosavljević	MF	2002	2013	39	1
Ermin Rakovič	FW	2001	2007	15	1
Rajko Rotman	MF	2014	2018	15	0
Mladen Rudonja	MF	1994	2003	65	1
Miral Samardžić	DF	2013	2017	15	0
Simon Sešlar	MF	1997	2005	19	0
Ermin Šiljak	FW	1994	2005	48	14
Marko Simeunovič	GK	1992	2004	57	0
Mirnes Šišić	MF	2008	2012	15	2
Nejc Skubic	DF	2016	2018	15	1
Andraž Šporar	FW	2016	2019	13	1
Dalibor Stevanović	MF	2006	2015	22	1
Aljaž Struna	DF	2016	2019	14	0
Andraž Struna	DF	2012	2018	27	1
Goran Šukalo	MF	2002	2011	34	2
Marko Šuler	DF	2008	2013	39	3
Sašo Udovič	FW	1993	2000	42	16
Benjamin Verbič	MF	2015	2019	23	3
Dare Vršič	MF	2007	2012	13	3
Muamer Vugdalić	DF	1999	2004	27	0
Zlatko Zahovič	MF	1992	2004	80	35*
Miha Zajc	MF	2016	2019	13	4
Gregor Židan	MF	1992	1996	19	0	[lower-alpha 5]
Anton Žlogar	MF	1998	2009	37	1

Notes

1. For more information, see formation.
2. Statistics are sourced from the general references listed below.
3. Captained Slovenia in at least ten games[15]
4. Represented Yugoslavia prior to Slovenian independence[18]
5. Played one match for Croatia in 1990[19]

References

General

• "All-time appearances for the national team". Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
• "Slovenia – Record International Players". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 1 July 2017.

Specific

1. "Vsi izidi (1992–2018)" [All results] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
2. Dunmore, Tom (May 2014). Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup. p. 316.
3. "UEFA Euro 2004 – History – Slovenia". FIFA.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
4. "Vse tekme" [All Games]. Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
5. Rok Plestenjak; Rok Viškovič (11 October 2010). "Estonija zgodovinska za Slovenijo in tudi Keka" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
6. "FIFA President Infantino inaugurates national football centre in Slovenia". FIFA.com. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
7. "World Cup's smallest nations: Iceland eclipse Trinidad & Tobago for record". ESPN. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
8. "Iceland are smallest nation to qualify for World Cup – taking over from ..." The Irish Times. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
9. "Zgodovina" [History] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
10. "Statistika" [Statistics] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
11. "Slovenia national football team results". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
12. "Največ nastopov" [Most appearances] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
13. "Samir Handanović" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
14. "Zlatko Zahović" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
15. "Kapetani" [Captains]. RTV Slovenija (in Slovenian). Retrieved 24 March 2019.
16. Klemen Kos (19 November 2014). "Stojanović najmlajši debitant" [Stojanovic, the youngest debutant] (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
17. "Players Appearing for Two or More Countries". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
18. Rok Plestenjak (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.
19. "Gregor Židan". www.national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 November 2017.