Slovenia were seconds away from securing a first European Championship victory and a likely place in the round of 16 before Jan Oblak was finally beaten.
All around the Allianz Arena, white and green shirts were raised to eyeballs and hands to the top of heads. Seconds away from glory, seconds away from history. A draw that felt like two defeats.
Serbia have a surplus of strikers and one of them saved them in the nick of time. Luka Jovic, the one-time wonderkid of Serbian football, replaced another former golden boy Dusan Vlahovic and struck in the fifth and final minute of added time to leave Slovenia’s knockout hopes hanging by a thread.
Matjaz Kek’s squad surpassed expectations by even qualifying, becoming Slovenia’s first representatives on Europe’s big stage since the class of 2000 led by the mercurial Zlatko Zahovic. They have been impressive underdogs in Germany but will need a grand finale against England to reach the knockouts.
Here’s what the Three Lions can expect from their final Group C opponents:
When is England vs Slovenia?
England’s next match at Euro 2024 is against Slovenia at 8pm [BST] on Tuesday 25 June.
The game in Cologne will be shown live on ITV and ITVX.
How did Slovenia perform against Serbia?
Slovenia started excellently and finished poorly in a role reversal of their opening match against Denmark last weekend.
Adam Cerin and Jan Mlakar both drew saves from Predrag Rajkovic in the first eight minutes.
Timi Max Elsnik, who was playing for Northampton Town in League Two five years ago, went even closer, rattling the post from a driving run.
The goal eventually arrived after 69 minutes when Elsnik’s pinpoint cross found right-back Zan Karnicik who volleyed in at the back post.
In keeping with the tournament, this game was uninhibited, end-to-end entertainment in which both sides looked equally likely to score or concede at any given moment. Serbia, therefore, could have no complaints about going behind.
From that point on, Slovenia’s mindset shifted from attempting to score to trying not to concede. They retreated and held firm for the best part of half an hour before eventually being undone, unsatisfyingly, by a corner.
It was a heroic effort but in the end not quite enough.
What are Slovenia’s strengths and weaknesses?
They posses an excellent goalkeeper – although Oblak’s positioning behind the goal-line for Jovic’s equaliser will invite scrutiny – and a potentially brilliant centre-forward in Benjamin Sesko.
Oblak showed his class to deny Aleksandar Mitrovic, while Sesko forced a fine fingertip stop from Rajkovic with a curling strike. Box-to-box midfielder Adam Cerin also caught the eye.
How about this block from Zan Karnicnik to deny Aleksandar Mitrovic?!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 20, 2024#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #SLOSLER pic.twitter.com/jqUEokUYIs
Collective effort is what underpins this team, though. They work relentlessly for each other, are well-organised and play with complete commitment. Big names but no egos.
However, they lack quality, particularly in the final third, often sloppy with a final pass or shot.
Sesko’s best efforts have been from distance and he has been tightly shackled. Strike partner Andraz Sporar is a handful but not prolific.
And who is the manager?
Despite the late equaliser, Kek will be satisfied that he is getting the most out of this group.
In his 10th year as Slovenia manager – across two separate spells – he has led them into half of their four major tournaments (also presiding over their 2010 World Cup campaign, when they lost to England).
The 62-year-old has spent most of his career in his homeland, Saudi Arabia and Croatia, but has proven to be an excellent motivator and canny tactician at Euro 2024.
Slovenia were infused with belief at half-time against the Danes after initially appearing daunted and were similarly proactive against Serbia. Tactically, he has used a throwback 4-4-2 system that is tough to break down and been difficult to defend against.
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