Belarus v Slovakia background

Belarus will look for a dramatic improvement on their only previous meeting with Slovakia as the sides come together in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C.

Match background
• In the only previous match between the two nations, Slovakia beat Belarus 4-0 in a friendly game in Nitra on 27 March 1996. Július Šimon (24), Jaroslav Timko (32), Marek Ujlaky (60) and Jozef Juriga (83) the scorers.

• Slovakia have won all three of the nations' meetings in UEFA age-group competitions. The most recent of those was a 5-0 triumph for the Under-19s in Senec in 2011.

• In ten meetings between the nations' clubs in UEFA competition, the Slovakian sides have recorded six wins and three draws, with their lone defeat coming this season as FC BATE Borisov eliminated ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

• Slovakia defender Erik Čikoš and Belarus's Sergei Chernik, Egor Filipenko, Denis Polyakov, Edgar Olekhnovich, Ilya Aleksievich, Mikhail Gordeychuk, Maksim Volodko and Vitali Rodionov all featured in the course of this tie.

• Slovakia midfielder Filip Kiss turns 24 the day after the Belarus game.

• Having won 1-0 in Ukraine in their opening Group C match, Slovakia are unbeaten in four competitive away games (W2 D2).

• On 9 October Slovakia were 2-1 winners against Spain in Zilina, inflicting the European champions' first qualifying defeat in UEFA European Championship/FIFA World Cup in eight years and 36 matches.