Czech Republic national football team

Czech Republic national football team

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Czech Republic national football team

The Czech national football team is the national football team of the Czech Republic controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic.

History
Stadia
World Cup record
European Championship record
Notable former players
Coaches
FIFA World Cup qualification
Results over the last 12 months
Most Recent Squad

Recent call-up

Past squads and campaigns
See also
References
External links

History

Before World War I, Bohemia (present–day Czech Republic), whilst part of Austria–Hungary, played seven matches between 1903 and 1908, six of them against Hungary and one against England. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

When the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner–up finishes in World Cups (1934, 1962) and a European Championship win in 1976.

When Czechoslovakia split and reformed into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czech Republic national team was formed, and they played their first friendly match away to Turkey, winning 4–1, on 23 February 1994. The newly formed team played their first home game in Ostrava, against Lithuania, in which they registered their first home win, a 5–3 victory.

Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in which they defeated Malta 6–1 in Ostrava. During the campaign, the Czech Republic registered six wins, three draws, and a solitary defeat, finishing their qualifying group 5 in first place, above favorites The Netherlands. In the final tournament, hosted by England. The Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany. They continued their good form, and progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 final where they lost 2–1 to the Germans at Wembley Stadium.

Given their success at Euro '96, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, however, finished third in their group behind Spain, and Yugoslavia, and subsequently failed to qualify.

They did, however qualify for Euro 2000, winning all 10 of their group games, conceding just five goals. The team failed to perform well at the finals though, producing just one win, and being eliminated in the group stage.

Once again, the Czech Republic failed to qualify for the World Cup, this time finishing second in their group, behind Denmark, and then being beaten 1–0, and 0–1 by Belgium in the UEFA play–offs for a place in the finals.

They progressed to the finals of Euro 2004, qualifying through their group ahead of The Netherlands, and their only dropped points being in a 1–1 draw away to Holland. In the finals, the Czechs progressed to the semi–finals, where they were beaten 1–0 by the eventual champions Greece

The Czechs finally qualified for a FIFA World Cup, qualifying for the 2006 edition in Germany, via a play–off against Norway, winning both legs 1–0. They seemed set to progress to the last 16, with a 3–0 win over the USA, however, 2–0 defeats to Ghana, and Italy promptly ended their hopes of progression.

The disappointing World Cup campaign was followed by a successful qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, where they finished top of their group, above Germany on head–to–head records. The Czechs beat co–hosts Switzerland 1–0 in their opening game, before being beaten 3–1 by Portugal, this meant that they, and Turkey carried identical records going into the final group game, the Czechs took a 2–0 lead just past the hour mark, they looked set to qualify, before a stunning late Turkish comeback in the last 15 minutes of the game, and the Czechs lost 2–3, and that signaled the end of another disappointing performance at a major tournament and the final match for coach Karel Brückner.

Stadia

Outside Stadion Eden

The most important matches of the Czech national team are held in Prague´s AXA Arena, the home stadium of Sparta Prague. Other venues include Stadion Eden (the biggest and perhaps most modern in the country) and stadiums in the cities of Teplice, Olomouc and Liberec.

World Cup record

For 1930 to 1994 records, see: Czechoslovakia

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1998	Did not Qualify
2002	Did not Qualify
2006	Round 1	20	3	1	0	2	3	4
2010	Qualifying¹
Total	1/3	3	1	0	2	3	4

Notes

¹Qualifying in progress

European Championship record

For 1960 to 1992 records, see: Czechoslovakia

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1996	Runners-up	6	2	2*	2	7	8
2000	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	3
2004	Semi-Final	5	4	0	1	10	5
2008	Round 1	3	1	0	2	4	6
2012
Total	4/4	17	8	2	7	24	22

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootout.

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Notable former players

For a list of notable players from the Czechoslovakia era, see: Czechoslovakia national football team

Patrik Berger (1994-2001)
Miroslav Kadlec (1987-1997)
Pavel Kuka (1990-2001)
Jan Koller (1999-2008)
Pavel Nedv?d (1994-2006)
Karel Poborský (1994-2006)
Pavel Srní?ek (1994-2001)
Vladimír ?micer (1994-2005)

Coaches

Václav Je?ek (1993)
Du?an Uhrin (1994-1997)
Jozef Chovanec (1998-2001)
Karel Brückner (2001-2008)
Petr Rada (2008-)

FIFA World Cup qualification

Results over the last 12 months

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team
8 September 2007		0-3
12 September 2007		1-0
17 October 2007		0-3
17 November 2007		3-1
21 November 2007		0-2
6 February 2008		2-0
26 March 2008		1-1
27 May 2008		2-0
30 May 2008		3-1
7 June 2008		0-1
11 June 2008		1-3
15 June 2008		2-3
20 August 2008		2-2