(Reuters) – Benjamin Verbic’s late goal secured Slovenia’s spot in the Euro 2024 finals in Germany, while Kazakhstan will have to fight for their place in March’s playoffs after a 2-1 loss in Ljubljana on Monday.
Slovenia finished as runners-up in qualification Group H behind Denmark on head-to-head record. Their only previous appearance at the continental finals came in 2000, while their last visit to a major tournament was the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Kazakhstan, on the other hand, needed a victory for their first ever qualification but they knew they had secured a playoff spot at least before kick-off following their promotion to League B of the 2024-25 Nations League.
The first half saw Slovenia being awarded a penalty after a Video Assistant Referee review when Yan Vorogovskiy fouled Petar Stojanovic in the box. Benjamin Sesko comfortably converted the spot-kick.
Kazakhstan made the perfect start to the second half when Ramazan Orazov scored his first international goal on 48 minutes, turning in Maksim Samorodov’s low cross.
Slovenia’s Jaka Bijol had his shot blocked on the line, but the home side secured their win with four minutes remaining when Verbic curled a shot into the corner of the net.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
