Slovakia vs Kosovo Preview & Prediction | 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (UEFA)

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Slovakia play some good football and will believe they have an excellent chance of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup, facing Kosovo in Bratislava this midweek.

Kick-off date/time:

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – FOX Sports

How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Disney+

Key stats

• This is the first encounter between Slovakia and Kosovo.
• Slovakia are aiming to return to the FIFA World Cup™ stage for the first time in 16 years, having last featured at the 2010 tournament.
• Slovakia’s only previous play‑off appearance came in the 2006 campaign, when they were defeated 6-2 on aggregate by Spain.
• Slovakia have won nine of their last 12 home World Cup qualifying matches (D2 L1), winning the three most recent – all in the current campaign - without conceding a goal.
• Slovakia have won nine of their last 12 home World Cup qualifying matches (D2 L1), including all three in the current campaign — each achieved without conceding a goal.
• Slovakia have kept eight clean sheets in their last 12 home World Cup qualifying matches.
• Kosovo are aiming to reach the FIFA World Cup™ for the first time, in what is only their third attempt since debuting in the preliminary competition for the 2018 tournament.
• Their closest push for a major finals came during UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying, where they were halted by North Macedonia in the play‑off semi‑finals.
• Kosovo are unbeaten in their last five World Cup qualifying matches (W3 D2), conceding only once in that run.

Slovakia vs Kosovo prediction

Under the management of the entertaining Francesco Calzona, Slovakia kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Germany but eventually slipped below Die Mannschaft. They should still fancy themselves in the playoffs after steady and prolonged improvement, including strong showings at UEFA EURO 2024.

Kosovo, with one of the most in-form strikers in Europe in Real Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi, finished their qualifying campaign very well with a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in November, extending their unbeaten run of form to five matches with just one loss in their last 15 matches.

Kosovo play a fun and entertaining style and they will take the game to a similarly open Slovakia side, albeit the hosts remain favourites on Thursday night. 

Slovakia vs Kosovo tip: Slovakia to win & under 3.5 goals