After World War II Slovakia joined with the Czech Republic to play their football as Czechoslovakia. In 1992 Czechoslovakia split and Slovakia was formed again. Slovakia had a good stab at qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finishing 2nd to Portugal in their group only to lose out to Spain in a play-off.

Slovakia came very close to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. They finished second in their group above teams like Russia. They were strong at home, not losing a single match. They then came up against Spain in a playoff match and lost the first game 5 - 1 eliminating any chance of progressing.