Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sat 28 March 2026 21:30, UK

Jaka Bijol represented Slovenia in an international friendly against Hungary on Saturday, but the Leeds United defender wasn’t at his best.

The 27-year-old started and played the full 90 minutes for Slovenia against Hungary on Saturday night, as his team were beaten 1-0 in Budapest.

It was a late defeat too, as substitute Szabolcs Schon won the game for the Hungarians with 79 minutes on the clock,

Slovenia are now without a win from their last seven games in all international competitions, and they won’t be at this summer’s World Cup either after finishing third in their qualifying group.

With another friendly on Tuesday against Montenegro, Bijol will be hoping to return to Leeds United for their Premier League relegation run-in having ended that winless run with his nation.

How did Jaka Bijol perform for Slovenia vs Hungary?

Bijol said he was looking forward to linking up with Slovenia ahead of this international break, as they take their first steps under new manager Bostjan Cesar.

The former Marseille and West Brom defender – among others – was appointed as Slovenia’s new manager back in January this year, replacing Matjaz Kek who had been in charge since 2018.

Cesar is Slovenia’s all-time record appearance maker, with 101 caps in an international career that started all the way back in 2003, before playing his final game for his country in 2018.

Unfortunately, however, he didn’t get off to a winning start as Slovenia manager, losing 1-0 to Hungary in a disappointing performance, and Leeds defender Bijol didn’t enjoy his best night for his nation either.

As per Sofascore, he failed to win a single tackle against Hungary, whilst also winning just one of his six ground duels, being dribbled past twice and registering a passing accuracy of 79 per cent.

Bijol also made one foul, blocked zero shots, made just one interception and despite taking 77 touches, failed to complete his lone dribble attempt successfully.

Leeds won’t be alarmed by Bijol’s Slovenia showing

So, whilst it wasn’t the kind of performance Slovenia nor Leeds would’ve been hoping and expecting to see from Bijol, there won’t be any panic over it back in West Yorkshire.

The centre-back has been a good signing for Leeds this season, and has slotted into Daniel Farke’s defence pretty seamlessly.

He’s consistently been a seven out of 10 for the Whites this term, and has proven himself to be a steady and reliable presence in the heart of the backline.

Therefore, he’s sure to continue in this way for the remainder of the season, and if Leeds do stay up, then he most definitely will have played a significant part in that.

Fingers crossed then that if he does once again turn out for Slovenia against Montenegro on Tuesday evening, that he comes through that game unscathed and ready to get back to aiding Leeds’ survival battle.