Slovakia therefore had to play a playoff for the 1997 European Championships. The team finished last, and were relegated to Class B. Slovakia remained in Class B until the qualifying for the 2007 Women's Football World Cup, when classification was abolished, both for the European Championships and the World Cup. At the qualifying for 2009, Slovakia therefore had their first chance to qualify for a championship. Slovakia had to play in the first round, but won this game. In the second round, Slovakia lost, to Portugal.