Czech Republic national football team

When Czechoslovakia split and reformed into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czech Republic team was formed, and played their first friendly match away to Turkey 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.

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 defeat against Luxembourg, finishing their qualifying Group 5 in first place, above favourites 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 progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 Final, whereby lost 2–1 to Germany at Wembley Stadium.

Czechs finished third in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament.

The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2000, winning all of their group games and conceding five goals.[2] In the finals the team were drawn in Group D, alongside France, Netherlands and Denmark.[3] The team lost to Netherlands to a last-minute penalty[4] and lost the second match against France which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round. Czech Republic managed a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game courtesy of two goals from Vladimír Šmicer.[4]

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 in both legs by Belgium in the UEFA play-offs for a place in the finals.

A team settled with Pavel Nedvěd, Jan Koller, Tomáš Rosický, Milan Baroš, Marek Jankulovski, Tomáš Galásek together with the emergence of goalkeeper Petr Čech were unbeaten in 2002 and 2003, scoring 53 goals in 19 games and qualifying for Euro 2004 in the process. The Czech Republic went on a 20-game unbeaten streak, finally ended in Dublin on 31 March 2004 in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland.[5] The Czechs entered the Euro finals in Group D, alongside the Netherlands, Germany and Latvia.[6] The team trailed 2–0 to the Netherlands in a 3–2 win and beat Germany in the final match.[7] Czech Republic beat Denmark in the quarter-final, went into the semi-final against Greece and Tomáš Rosický hit the bar after just two minutes, Jan Koller had shots saved by the Greek goalkeeper and Pavel Nedvěd left the pitch injured in the end of the first half. It was not to be as the 90 minutes finished goalless and Greece won the game in the last minute of the first half of extra-time with a silver goal.[8]

Czech Republic (red) v Ghana (white) at the 2006 World Cup.

The Czech Republic recorded their record win during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), thrashing Andorra 8–1 in a qualification match in Liberec. In the same match, Jan Koller became the all-time top scorer for the national team with his 35th international goal.[9] At the end of the campaign, after finishing in second place in Group 1 then defeating Norway in a playoff, the Czechs qualified for their first FIFA World Cup.[10] The team was boosted prior to the play-off matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd,[11] who had initially retired from international football after Euro 2004. The squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany included 18 of the Euro 2004 team which reached the semi-finals. With the team ranked second in the world,[12] they started the tournament with a 3–0 win over the United States. During the game, however, Jan Koller was forced to leave with a hamstring injury,[13] putting him out of the tournament. In the next game, with the absent Koller and Milan Baroš still recovering from injury, the team suffered a 2–0 loss to Ghana.[12] Baroš returned for the final game against Italy which Czechs had to win to progress. The team were reduced to ten men as Jan Polák was dismissed before half-time for two bookable offences.[13] Italy went on to win 2–0. Pavel Nedvěd, Karel Poborský and Vratislav Lokvenc retired from the national team after this tournament.[14]

In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, they finished top of their group, above Germany on head-to-head records. Czech Republic 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. Czechs took a 2–0 lead just past the hour mark and looked set to qualify. The Turks, however, scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to win the game 2–3.[15]

Czechs faced World Cup qualification, being drawn in Group 3, under the guidance of coach Petr Rada. They started with a 0–0 away draw against Northern Ireland, which was followed by a loss against Poland. A late goal from Libor Sionko won the next game 1–0 against Slovenia. This was followed by a win against San Marino, and a goalless draw in Slovenia. In their following match, against neighbours Slovakia, a 2–1 defeat at home left Czech Republic in a precarious qualifying position. Manager Petr Rada was dismissed and six players were suspended.[16] Ivan Hašek took temporary charge as manager,[17] gaining four points from his first two matches, as the team drew away to group leaders Slovakia and thrashed San Marino 7–0 in Uherské Hradiště. They subsequently beat Poland in Prague but followed this result with a goalless draw against Northern Ireland, finishing third in the group and failing to qualify for the World Cup. Hašek announced his immediate resignation.[18]

A changed team under Michal Bílek entered the Euro 2012 qualifiers and began with a home loss to Lithuania. But a win at home to Scotland was followed by wins against Liechtenstein. Spain defeated Czech Republic in between the Liechtenstein games, but the play-off spot was still in their hands. In the next game, a last minute penalty from Michal Kadlec away to Scotland secured a 2–2 draw.[19] Despite Scotland winning their next two games and the Czechs again being defeated by Spain, the team could finish second if they could beat Lithuania away from home in the final game, assuming Spain would beat Scotland at home. Spain won 3–1 and Czech Republic defeated Lithuania 4–1 to seal second spot and a place in the play-offs. Czech Republic were drawn to face Montenegro in the two-legged play-off. A goal from Václav Pilař and a last minute second from Tomáš Sivok helped the Czechs to a 2–0 first leg lead. In the second leg in Podgorica, a late goal from Petr Jiráček sealed a 1–0 win and the Czechs ran out 3–0 aggregate winners and qualified for Euro 2012.

At the tournament, the Czechs lost their opening game 4–1 to Russia, with their only goal coming from Václav Pilař. In their second match, against Greece, the Czech Republic went 2–0 up within the first six minutes thanks to goals from Petr Jiráček and a second from Pilař. Following the half-time substitution of captain Tomáš Rosický, Greece scored a second-half goal following a mistake from Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech, although there were no more goals and the Czech Republic recorded their first win of the tournament.[20] Going into their third and final group match, the Czech Republic needed at least a draw against co-hosts Poland to advance to the knock-out stage of the tournament. A second-half strike by Jiráček proved the difference between the teams as the Czechs ran out 1–0 winners. Due to Greece beating Russia in the other group game, the Czech Republic subsequently finished top of Group A,[21] becoming the first team to ever win a group at the European Championships with a negative goal difference.[22] The Czech team faced Portugal in the quarter-finals. Portugal eventually made the breakthrough with 11 minutes remaining through a header from Cristiano Ronaldo to win the match 1–0 and eliminate Czech Republic.

Bílek stayed on as coach, despite unrest amongst fans, and was tasked with qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.[23] The Czechs were drawn into UEFA Qualifying Group B along with Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta. The beginning of the campaign was [23] two goalless draws with Denmark and Bulgaria, paired with a narrow win against Malta, capping off their first three games. The team then lost 0–3 to Denmark at home. The team was able to win against Armenia and draw with group leaders Italy, but lost to both Armenia and Italy in the rematches.[23] Bílek resigned[23] after the loss and was replaced with assistant coach Josef Pešice.[24] In their last two games with their new coach, the Czechs recorded wins over Malta and Bulgaria but lost to Italy, leaving them in third place and ending their qualification hopes. Pešice resigned as coach following the conclusion of qualifying.

Pavel Vrba was appointed as the team's new coach on the first day of 2014, ahead of Euro 2016 qualifying.[25] The Czech team was drawn into[26] Group A, along with Netherlands, Turkey, Iceland, Latvia and Kazakhstan. The Czech team began with a win, defeating Netherlands, and followed up with victories over Turkey, Kazakhstan and Iceland, leaving them as group leaders with maximum points after four matches. A draw at home against Latvia followed; nonetheless, Czech Republic remained group leader, and on 6 September 2015, qualified for their sixth European Championship. They only got one point from a draw with Croatia, losing to Spain and Turkey. During a friendly match against Australia on 1 June 2018, the Czechs recorded their biggest defeat losing 0–4 in Sankt Pölten, Austria.[27] It was surpassed during their first qualifier for Euro 2020, as they were beaten 0–5 at Wembley Stadium by England.[28]

The following players were called up for the friendly against Germany and 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against Israel and Slovakia in October 2020.[30]

All caps and goals as of 18 November 2020, after match against  Slovakia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Tomáš Vaclík	(1989-03-29) 29 March 1989	34	0	Sevilla
16	1GK	Tomáš Koubek	(1992-08-26) 26 August 1992	11	0	FC Augsburg
23	1GK	Aleš Mandous	(1992-04-21) 21 April 1992	1	0	Sigma Olomouc
2	2DF	David Zima	(2000-11-08) 8 November 2000	0	0	Slavia Prague
3	2DF	Václav Jemelka	(1995-06-23) 23 June 1995	2	0	OH Leuven
4	2DF	Jakub Brabec	(1992-08-06) 6 August 1992	20	1	Viktoria Plzeň
5	2DF	Vladimír Coufal	(1992-08-22) 22 August 1992	11	2	West Ham United
6	2DF	Tomáš Kalas	(1993-05-15) 15 May 1993	22	2	Bristol City
17	2DF	Aleš Matějů	(1996-06-03) 3 June 1996	4	0	Brescia
18	2DF	Jan Bořil	(1991-01-11) 11 January 1991	18	0	Slavia Prague
19	2DF	Tomáš Holeš	(1993-03-31) 31 March 1993	4	1	Slavia Prague
22	2DF	Filip Novák	(1990-06-26) 26 June 1990	25	1	Fenerbahçe
7	3MF	Antonín Barák	(1994-12-03) 3 December 1994	15	5	Hellas Verona
8	3MF	Vladimír Darida (Captain)	(1990-08-08) 8 August 1990	68	8	Hertha BSC
9	3MF	Bořek Dočkal	(1988-09-30) 30 September 1988	43	7	Sparta Prague
10	3MF	Jan Kopic	(1990-06-04) 4 June 1990	22	3	Viktoria Plzeň
12	3MF	Lukáš Masopust	(1993-02-12) 12 February 1993	17	1	Slavia Prague
14	3MF	Jakub Jankto	(1996-01-19) 19 January 1996	30	3	Sampdoria
15	3MF	Tomáš Souček	(1995-02-27) 27 February 1995	30	4	West Ham United
18	2DF	Václav Černý	(1997-10-17) 17 October 1997	2	0	Twente
21	3MF	Alex Král	(1998-05-19) 19 May 1998	16	2	Spartak Moscow
11	4FW	Michael Krmenčík	(1993-03-15) 15 March 1993	26	9	Club Brugge
13	4FW	Zdeněk Ondrášek	(1996-01-24) 24 January 1996	7	2	Viktoria Plzeň
20	4FW	Matěj Vydra	(1992-05-01) 1 May 1992	32	6	Burnley

The following players have also been called up to the Czech Republic squad within the last twelve months:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Jakub Markovič	(2001-07-13) 13 July 2001	0	0	Slavia Prague	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
GK	Filip Nguyen	(1992-09-14) 14 September 1992	0	0	Slovan Liberec	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
DF	Roman Hubník	(1984-06-06) 6 June 1984	30	3	Sigma Olomouc	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020 RET
DF	Jaroslav Zelený	(1992-08-20) 20 August 1992	1	0	Jablonec	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
DF	Šimon Gabriel	(2001-05-28) 28 May 2001	0	0	Mladá Boleslav	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
DF	Daniel Holzer	(1995-08-18) 18 August 1995	0	0	Baník Ostrava	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
DF	Jan Juroška	(1993-03-02) 2 March 1993	0	0	Baník Ostrava	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
DF	Ondřej Karafiát	(1994-12-01) 1 December 1994	0	0	Slavia Prague	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Jakub Pešek	(1993-06-24) 24 June 1993	1	1	Slovan Liberec	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Radim Breite	(1989-08-10) 10 August 1989	1	0	Sigma Olomouc	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Lukáš Budínský	(1992-03-27) 27 March 1992	1	0	Mladá Boleslav	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Marek Havlík	(1995-07-08) 8 July 1995	1	0	Slovácko	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Adam Jánoš	(1992-07-20) 20 July 1992	1	0	Baník Ostrava	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Tomáš Malínský	(1991-08-25) 25 August 1991	1	0	Slavia Prague	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Roman Potočný	(1991-04-25) 25 April 1991	1	0	Baník Ostrava	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Adam Karabec	(2003-07-02) 2 July 2003	0	0	Sparta Prague	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Jáchym Šíp	(2003-01-22) 22 January 2003	0	0	Sigma Olomouc	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Tomáš Solil	(2000-02-01) 1 February 2000	0	0	Pardubice	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
MF	Lukáš Kalvach	(1995-07-19) 19 July 1995	1	0	Viktoria Plzeň	v.  Slovakia, 4 September 2020
FW	Stanislav Tecl	(1990-09-01) 1 September 1990	6	0	Slavia Prague	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020
FW	Antonín Růsek	(1999-03-22) 22 March 1999	1	0	Zbrojovka Brno	v.  Scotland, 7 September 2020

• ^INJ = Withdrew due to an injury.
• ^OTH = Other reason
  
• ^PRE = Preliminary squad.
• ^RET = Retired from international football
• ^WD = Withdrew due to non-injury related reasons.

As of 17 November 2019, after the match against Bulgaria.

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Andorra	2	2	0	0	12	1	+11
Armenia	5	4	0	1	14	3	+11
Australia	2	1	0	1	3	5	-2
Austria	5	2	1	2	9	5	+4
Azerbaijan	3	1	1	1	2	3	-1
Belarus	5	5	0	0	15	4	+11
Belgium	7	3	1	3	8	6	+2
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5
Brazil	2	0	0	2	1	5	-4
Bulgaria	7	5	1	1	13	3	+10
Canada	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6
China PR	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
Costa Rica	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Croatia	3	0	2	1	5	7	-2
Cyprus	3	3	0	0	7	3	+4
Denmark	11	3	6	2	9	7	+2
England	4	1	1	2	4	10	-6
Estonia	3	3	0	0	8	1	+7
Faroe Islands	4	4	0	0	7	0	+7
Finland	5	3	1	1	13	7	+6
France	4	1	2	1	5	4	+1
Germany	8	2	0	6	10	15	-5
Ghana	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2
Greece	4	1	2	1	2	2	0
Hungary	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1
Iceland	6	4	0	2	12	8	+4
Israel	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4
Italy	6	2	2	2	6	7	-1
Japan	3	0	2	1	0	1	-1
Kazakhstan	2	2	0	0	6	3	+3
Kosovo	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Kuwait	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Latvia	4	3	1	0	9	4	+5
Liechtenstein	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Lithuania	7	6	0	1	20	5	+15
Luxembourg	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2
Malta	10	8	2	0	30	5	+25
Mexico	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Moldova	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7
Montenegro	4	4	0	0	9	0	+9
Morocco	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Netherlands	11	5	3	3	16	14	+2
Nigeria	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2
North Macedonia	3	2	1	0	9	2	+7
Northern Ireland	7	2	3	2	6	6	0
Norway	8	4	3	1	10	6	+4
Paraguay	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Peru	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Poland	8	4	0	4	9	10	-1
Portugal	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2
Qatar	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Republic of Ireland	8	4	2	2	13	9	+4
Romania	2	1	0	1	1	2	-1
Russia	4	1	1	2	7	13	-6
San Marino	6	6	0	0	31	0	+31
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Scotland	7	4	1	2	11	8	+3
Serbia	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1
Serbia and Montenegro	3	1	0	2	6	3	+3
Slovakia	12	7	2	3	24	11	+13
Slovenia	5	3	1	1	7	2	+5
South Africa	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
South Korea	3	1	1	1	8	4	+4
Spain	5	0	1	4	1	6	-5
Sweden	3	0	2	1	5	6	-1
Switzerland	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Turkey	10	5	1	4	20	13	+7
Ukraine	4	1	1	2	5	3	+2
United Arab Emirates	2	1	1	0	6	1	+5
United States	3	2	0	1	7	3	+4
Uruguay	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2
Wales	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1
Total	283	154	55	74	502	255	+247

Player records are accurate as of 20 November 2018.
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

Jan Koller is the top scorer in the history of Czech Republic with 55 goals

(Above information in both tables taken from individual player pages, based on players from the list of Czech Republic international footballers)