England have played Slovakia six times and won five of those games — the one exception being their only meeting at a major tournament to date: a 0-0 draw in the group stage at Euro 2016.
Expectations may not be high among England fans for a more exciting display when the teams face off in the last 16 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.
But here is what we should all be looking out for from the men standing in the way of England’s progression to the quarter-finals...
Slovakia booked their place in the knockout stages after a 1-1 draw with Romania on Wednesday
Ondrej Duda (left) gave his side an early lead with a header before they held on to claim second spot
How they’ve played
Slovakia appear to be a team with little fear and that is testament to the job Francesco Calzona has done.
Even in the final group game where both Slovakia and Romania knew a draw would send both through, it was Slovakia who flew out the traps with their eyes fixed on winning, and winning the group.
They have stuck with a 4-3-3 system in all their games with Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka playing the role of conductor at the base of their midfield.
Even when they spend large spells without the ball — as they did in the 1-0 win over Belgium — they do look to be expressive when they have it and 37 shots across the three games show there is zero desire to ‘park the bus’ in a bid to progress.
They have made just one change to the starting XI across the three games and unlike the experiments and ad-hoc tweaks England look to be making, Slovakia very much head into the knockout stages as a settled group that know their strengths as well as their weaknesses and there is no fluke about their progression.
Slovakia has stuck with a 4-3-3 system in all their games with Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka playing the role of conductor
Key man
Ivan Schranz
Slovakia scored three goals in the group stage to reach this point and two of them came courtesy of the Slavia Prague winger. The 30-year-old is not shy of experience and looks comfortable in his role on the right of the front three.
While Kieran Trippier has not disgraced himself at left back so far this tournament it is clearly an area that any remaining opponents for England at this tournament will look to exploit and in Schranz — a surprise Golden Boot contender in Germany — they’ve got one player who will be licking his lips.
Two of Slovakia's three group stage goals came courtesy of Slavia Prague winger Ivan Schranz
Watch out for
Lukas Haraslin
Sticking with the theme of attackers, keep an eye on Schranz’s Slavia team-mate Lukas Haraslin. He plays off the left of the front three and if the stats boffins are anything to go by, he has been graded as Slovakia’s best player through the group stage.
Haraslin arrived in Germany after one of the best seasons of his career and the 28-year-old is eager to put himself in the shop window for one of Europe’s elite teams. There’s a real energy about Haraslin and Slovakia will need to harness that to hurt England. Given he’s a man with a point to prove to those watching clubs, keep an eye out.
Slavia Prague forward Lukas Haraslin has been graded as Slovakia’s best player through the group stage
Manager
Francesco Calzona
Few held out much hope for Calzona’s side — and in truth, few had much faith in Calzona after a dismal, and brief, spell at Napoli. A win and a clean sheet against Belgium in the opening game soon won any remaining doubters over — he was applauded out of his press conference by Slovakian media — and a 1-1 draw with Romania in the final game was enough to guide them through.
Notably, his role with Slovakia is his first managerial position having previously been cast as assistant at a host of clubs. In fact, if Calzona allows himself time to reflect before facing England he will look back on a journey that has seen him go from a coffee dealer in the 1990s to coach of a team in the last-16 of the European Championships in 2024.
Francesco Calzona's role with Slovakia is his first managerial position having previously been cast as assistant at a host of clubs
Why we can beat them
Slovakia have proven themselves hard to break down, conceding just twice in this tournament so far, but England would go in as heavy favourites even with their indifferent form. Slovakia managed just 39 per cent possession in their win over Belgium and England would be expected, as they did against Slovenia, to dominate the ball.
Where Ukraine managed to get joy — and goals — in their 2-1 win was by staying wide and trying to isolate the full-backs once in behind the wingers.
England could get joy by playing a direct winger such as Newcastle's Anthony Gordon
Slovakia’s 4-3-3 system means their wingers will stay high and not offer the defensive protection of other teams seen so far and so Gareth Southgate would be wise to play his most direct and natural wingers, such as Anthony Gordon.
Stay high, stay wide and really put the pressure on to allow spaces to open up in the middle as they look to over-compensate at full-back.