Slovakia’s coach speaks about the match against Kosovo

Slovakia coach, Italian Francesco Calzona, has spoken once again about the match against Kosovo on March 26.

Calzona attended the ceremony announcing Slovakia’s top sports performers. The Slovak national football team ranked third among the top teams. Stanislav Lobotka ranked second among the athletes, while David Hancko ranked third.

Calzona was pleased with these awards, and also spoke, among other things, about the playoff matches for qualification for the FIFA World Cup.

Slovakia and Kosovo face each other in Bratislava on March 26. The winner of this match will host the winner of the Turkey–Romania match on March 31 in the playoff final. The national team that wins the final qualifies for the World Cup.

Calzona emphasized that qualifying for the World Cup is the dream of all Slovaks.

“We need all the players to be ready. Some of the players are currently having problems. I believe they will be fine in March, as we need a full-strength team. We know what difficulties we faced in the qualifiers. I believe everyone will be healthy and ready to fight for our goal,” Calzona said, the official website of the Slovak Football Association wrote on Tuesday.

Slovakia captain Milan Shkriniar also praised the third-place finish. He believes the Slovak national football team will achieve even more success in 2026.

For the first time in Slovakia, two footballers have made it into the top three athletes of the year. This has been highly praised in the Slovak media.

Lobotka is a teammate of Amir Rrahmani at Napoli. Meanwhile, David Hancko is an important part of Atletico Madrid.