After a successful summer, when they made it to the round of 16 at the European Championship in Germany, Matjaž Kek's team faced the next test in front of the home fans, the start of a new edition of the League of Nations. Once again, they are part of the second-tier league B, after they won the third place in the group in the previous edition (2022/23). For the introduction, the Slovenian footballers (52nd in the ranking of the International Football Association) competed against the highest ranked team of this group, Austria (22nd), which was also eliminated in the round of 16 at the European Championship.

The Slovenians last met their northern neighbors in the qualifiers for the European Championship in 2019, when the Austrians won both matches. The opening act of this group went to the Kazakhs and Norwegians in Almaty, the match ended goalless despite the pressure from the visitors. After a draw against the favored Austria, the Slovenians got the first point, and all the teams in this group are tied on one point.

The Austrians started decisively from the middle of the field and in a few seconds Marko Arnautović shot past the goal. Despite this, the Slovenians, today led by Keko's assistant Boštjan Cesar, as the Slovenian coach is serving a red card penalty from the European round of 16 match against Portugal, started the match encouragingly.

Sandi Lovrić and Petr Stojanović had the first serious chance after a combination, but the ball flew past the right post. But the Romanian referee Radu Petrescu then went to watch the video after the Slovenian protest and pointed to a penalty as the ball hit Philippe Mwene in the hand. Benjamin Šeško cashed in on this for the Slovenian leadership.

A few minutes after the goal, Slovenia's game continued to flow well, the visitors only seriously threatened in the 27th minute, Marcel Sabitzer's shot, which went too far in the middle, was stopped by Vidovšek. He defended today instead of captain Jan Oblak, who is not yet ready after the virus.

However, the Slovenian goalkeeper was already helpless in the next action, after a pass from Mwene, Konrad Laimer beat him with a sophisticated shot to equalize. After that, the Austrians were more enterprising, they pressed a bit more, while the Slovenians looked for counterattacks. After one of the corners, Erik Janža headed wide from a distance, and just before the break, Arnautović aimed his header too high.

After the break, the Austrians were more determined, but the Slovenians soon established a balance of power. In the following, the visitors only stepped on the ball more, but there were no real opportunities in this part. Sabitzer shot again into the arms of Vidovšek, but Arnautović missed with his head. In the 77th minute, reserve player Jan Mlakar completed Slovenia's first good action in the second half, but he was not accurate enough from the right side.

On the other side, Sabitzer missed another opportunity after a corner kick. Before the end, Stojanović employed another substitute, Žan Celar, but he too was not accurate from the right side and the rest was to share the points.

The second round match awaits the Slovenian footballers on Monday, when they will host Kazakhstan in Ljubljana.