
Football
Veljko Paunović is the new coach of the national football team
Veljko Paunović will succeed Dragan Stojković Pixi on the bench of the Serbian football team

Veljko Paunović will succeed Dragan Stojković Pixi on the bench of the Serbian football team

After the unexpected defeat by Albania, the Football Association of Serbia accepted the resignation of Dragan Stojković and appointed Zoran Mirković as the temporary coach of the A team. Mirković, the strategist of the young selection, joined the team in Nis and leads the coaching staff for the next qualifying match.

In the defeat against Albania, the hardest part is not the result itself, nor the almost lost chance to qualify for the World Cup, but the impression that the "eagles" had neither the will nor the plan on the field. After the resignation of Dragan Stojković Pixi, fans and sports workers are increasingly demanding changes in the Football Association of Serbia, warning that the problem is "much deeper than one coach".

Serbia plays the most important match in the qualifiers, against Albania, but not at the Maracana, but at the mini-stadium in Leskovac, supposedly for the safety of the players, but actually so that Vučić would not hear the pumping from the stands

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in which 48 national teams will participate, so Europe will have 13 representatives instead of the current 16. The Serbian national team will play in group K against England, Albania, Latvia and Andorra

A victory over Denmark would take Serbia to the circle of the best European teams in the League of Nations and to an easier path to the World Cup. A draw and a loss puts Serbia in third place in the fourth group, so it would struggle to the playoffs to stay in the A division of the League of Nations, as well as a more difficult job in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

In five years, the Football Association of Serbia received 1,8 billion dinars from budget reserves, although at the same time it received money from UEFA for national teams that qualify for the European or World Cup. Football is a commercial sport that should actually make money

In a goalless game against Denmark, the players of Serbia failed to qualify for the round of 16 of the European Championship in Germany, but with two points won and without a single victory, they took the last place in the group

While the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic was in Moscow and had a meeting with Sergey Lavrov, the President of Serbia was in Brussels for a summit on nuclear energy.
Despite the fact that before the duel in Razgrad it was at the head of the group with a maximum of six points and was considered the absolute favorite, Serbia only managed to draw 1:1 with Bulgaria in the last moments of the game.
Although Kosovo is not playing at the World Cup in Qatar, Serbian-Kosovo relations complicate the situation there as well
The Football Association of Serbia will be managed by the technical administration until the end of the year. After the resignation of Nenad Bjeković, the main candidate for the presidency is former Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimović, for whom there was no place in the third Government of Ana Brnabić
As a coach, Dragan Stojković achieved great results, led the national team to the World Cup and introduced it to the elite division of the League of European Nations. And not only that - Pixi brought new optimism to our football and restored many people's faith in the national team, primarily because of the attacking football he imposed and which has been in his blood since his playing days, when he played for a goal more