2026 World Cup Qualifiers Review Slovenia vs Sweden, 01:45 September 6: 'Big Cannon' Compete

Sweden has two of the best strikers in the world today.

Pre-match comments Slovenia vs Sweden

The draw has placed Slovenia and Sweden in a very difficult group with Switzerland and Kosovo. Therefore, the opening match is important for both teams, especially the host Slovenia. They need to win to gain an advantage, or at least not lose to Sweden if they want to have a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

In terms of reputation and achievements, Slovenia is far behind Sweden. Historically, Slovenia has only qualified for the World Cup twice, in 2002 and 2010. Both times, they were eliminated in the group stage. They have also only qualified for the EURO twice, in 2000 and 2024.

In fact, this is quite understandable because the Slovenian national team was only officially established and competed internationally in 1992. In recent years, Slovenia has begun to produce more famous stars. However, they are still often absent from major tournaments because of uneven forces.

Falling into the "death group" in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Slovenia's chances of getting a ticket are not high. However, they can still hope for goalkeeper Oblak and especially striker Sesko to wait for a surprise. Welcoming Sweden, Slovenia will face a team that is like an upgrade of themselves.

Sweden has a more evenly matched squad and, in particular, has two expensive strikers, Isak and Gyokeres. Isak has just moved to Liverpool for a Premier League record fee, while Gyokeres is Arsenal's most anticipated new signing this season. In addition, they also have excellent attacking stars such as Elanga, Benjamin Nygren... Thanks to this extremely strong attack, Sweden has scored at least two goals in 9 of the last 10 matches.

On the other hand, Slovenia’s attack relies heavily on Sesko and is easily predictable. With such a significant difference, Slovenia needs to make the most of their home field strength to gain points against Sweden. Above all, coach Matjaz Kek’s team must accept playing a tight defense to wait for counter-attack opportunities. They must treat each match as a knockout match, where they cannot afford to make any mistakes if they want to go far.

If they are consistent and disciplined enough, Slovenia can completely block Sweden's expensive attack and aim for a draw. It is worth noting that Slovenia has kept a clean sheet in 3 of their last 4 matches.

Form, head-to-head history Slovenia vs Sweden