Josip Iličić

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.

Slovenia were dominant from the very beginning but needed a whole half to break the pesky Maltese, with Josip Iličić scoring in the stoppage time of the first period with a beautiful one-on-one action.