Slovenia reached the World Cup by upsetting Russia in the play-offs.They may find it difficult to cause a shock in South Africa.

Surprise: Slovenia beat Russia in the play-offs to qualify for the World Cup

Slovenia's World Cup record: 2002 1st rd.

How Slovenia qualified for World Cup 2010: European play-off winners.

The Coach: Matjaž Kek (Slovenian, 48). Appointed: January 2007. WC experience: Player: None. Coach: None.

Kek has worked his way up the Slovenian ladder, coaching the country’s Under-15 and Under-16 teams before progressing to the senior side.

The Country: The only shock of the play-offs came in Slovenia with Kek admitting that his country had "realised a dream" by beating Russia to a place at the World Cup finals after Milivoje Novakovic's five goals secured them second place in their group.

Zlatko Dedic scored the game's only goal to put Slovenia through on away goals at the expense of Guus Hiddink's side, who had two men sent off in a dramatic and bad-tempered match. But Kek was in no doubt that his side performed better on the night and deserved to go through.

He said: "It was a historic match for us. I want to thank every one of my players. The whole country was behind us and we could feel their support. Our victory was deserved. It is a huge honour to be among the best teams in the world. Slovenia has realised a dream.”

A dream, indeed, when one considers that they played their first match only in 1992 after the split of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991. Before that, Slovenian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team.

Slovenia were surprise qualifiers for Euro 2000, when they beat Ukraine in a playoff. They turned some heads during the tournament, drawing with Yugoslavia and Norway, and only losing to Spain 2–1. Slovenia achieved another major success two years later, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, this time defeating Romania in a playoff.

They did not lose a match in their whole qualifying campaign, recording six wins and six draws. However, they did not do as well in the finals, as they went home pointless. Despite failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, they were the only team to beat Italy on their way to winning the tournament with a shock 1–0 victory on home turf.

Telegraph verdict: Did well against England in September friendly and caused a surprise in defeating Russia in the play-offs. They are steady and well organised rather than spectacular but often struggle in the big games against more physical opponents.