NICOSIA, Cyprus — Slovenia’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are fading fast after a surprise 1-0 loss to Cyprus on Tuesday.
Cyprus scored against the run of play in the 42nd minute when Ioannis Pittas collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area after a throw-in and beat a defender before shooting low past goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Cyprus defended deep and held on for only its second win in 14 games.
Slovenia started its campaign with an upset 1-0 win over 2018 World Cup runner-up Croatia last week but then lost 2-1 to Russia. It had been trying to regain momentum against Cyprus.
That’s a blow to Slovenia’s hopes of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 2010. The coach from that campaign, Matjaz Kek, returned to the Slovenian national team in 2018 and had overseen a resurgence including promotion to the second tier of the Nations League last year.
Later Tuesday, Group H leader Russia visits Slovakia and Croatia hosts Malta.
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