Best known in this country through West Brom midfielder Robert Koren, a country born out of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia was not expected to make it out of their European qualifying group.

But as favourites Czech Republic and Poland fell by the wayside, the campaign came down to a straight fight with Slovakia.

With a reputation for stout defending Slovenia only lost out to Slovakia on the final day but then caused a major upset by ending Russia's hopes in the play-offs, earning a date with Fabio Capello's men amongst others when the teams square up in South Africa.

England fans will be looking out for the June 23 encounter when Capello's men take on Matjaz Kek's side in Port Elizabeth as almost a guaranteed three points.

But the Italian would be wise not to take Slovenia lightly despite the country only being a nation of two million people.

Making their second visit to FIFA's showpiece - they lost all three group games during the tournament in Japan and South Korea in 2002 - Slovenia will no doubt look to their defensive qualities to earn them an upset in a group England are expected to dominate against the USA and Algeria.

Koren has made the right impression with West Brom this season and has played a leading role for Roberto Di Matteo's men.

He is regarded as an important part of the backbone of the Slovenia team which relies heavily on the spirit of the players and their defensive prowess.

Kek believes his side's togetherness could lead them to become one of the surprise packages of the tournament.

"This side's team spirit is the strongest it possibly could be," Kek said. "This is one of the big qualities of the team and this is the motivation of our players."

Kek's squad has few star names, but Ljubljana-born striker Milivoje Novakovic stands out after scoring five times during the qualifying campaign.

The 30-year-old Cologne striker is probably at the peak of his career as he heads into the tournament and has described Koren, goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and himself as the national side's key men.

Handanovic, like Novakovic, was born in Ljubljana and plays in Serie A for Udinese.

After Slovenia beat Russia in their two-legged play-off Novakovic said: "For a small country like ours, it's an incredible achievement to qualify for a World Cup.

"Before this qualification series started, nobody was giving this young team a hope. But now, the players and the whole country are proud of our success.

"We want to show that, small as we are, we can compete with the best."

Although players like Novakovic grab the limelight in Slovenian football, the same could not be said for coach Kek and the majority of his squad.

Having won just one cap for his country, Kek got his first management job at Maribor, the team he won three national titles with late in his playing career.

In 2006 he moved to work for the national federation and looked after Slovenia's under-15 and under-16 teams before becoming senior team coach in January 2007.

Kek, who described the play-off win over Russia as the realisation of a dream, has grown into the role along with his players and they will bring a reputation for being hard to beat with them to South Africa.

That reputation was forged during the qualifying campaign where Slovenia and Slovakia emerged ahead of group favourites the Czech Republic and Poland to dispute the one automatic qualifying place for South Africa.

Slovenia had beaten Slovakia both home and away and conceded just four goals in 10 qualifying matches, only to lose out as Slovakia won 1-0 in Poland on the final day of the group phase.

Slovenia were again regarded as underdogs for their two-leg play-off against Guus Hiddink's side and the tie looked to be going with form when Russia took a two-goal lead in Moscow.

However, with just two minutes of the first leg remaining Nejc Pecnik claimed what would prove to be an invaluable away goal.

Zlatko Dedic proved to be the hero of the second leg as he got the only goal in Maribor to confirm a major upset and secure Slovenia a place in the World Cup finals.

The win over Russia has put Kek in a bullish mood ahead of this summer's tournament.

"We can hold our old against any team in the world," he said.

"We won against Russia and that has given us experience and I'm sure that we can play very well.

"I think Slovenia can get into the second round, that's our goal."