Czech Republic national football team
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| Nickname(s) | Národní tým | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Fotbalová asociace České republiky | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Michal Bílek | ||
| Captain | Tomáš Rosický | ||
| Most caps | Karel Poborský (118) | ||
| Top scorer | Jan Koller (55) | ||
| Home stadium | Various | ||
| FIFA code | CZE | ||
| FIFA ranking | 29 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 2 (Sept 1999; Jan-May 2000; Apr-May 2005; Jan-May 2006) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 67 (March 1994) | ||
| Elo ranking | 22 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 1 (June 2004, June 2005) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 37 (September 2010) | ||
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| First international | |||
 Turkey 1–4 Czech Republic  (Istanbul, Turkey; 23 February 1994) |
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| Biggest win | |||
Czech Republic 8–1 Andorra  (Liberec, Czech Republic; 4 June 2005) Czech Republic 7–0 San Marino  (Liberec, Czech Republic; 7 October 2006) Czech Republic 7–0 San Marino (Uherské Hradiště, Czech Rep.; 9 Sep. 2009) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
 Switzerland 3–0 Czech Republic (Zürich, Switzerland; 20 April 1994)  Norway 3–0 Czech Republic (Oslo, Norway; 10 August 2011) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2006) | ||
| Best result | Round 1, 2006 as Czech Republic; Runners-up, 1934 and 1962 as Czechoslovakia | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 4 (First in 1996) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1996 as Czech Republic; Winners in 1976 as Czechoslovakia |
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| Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 1997) | ||
| Best result | 3rd, 1997 | ||
The Czech Republic national football team (Czech: Česká fotbalová reprezentace) represents the Czech Republic in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic, the governing body for football in the Czech Republic. Their current head coach is Michal Bílek. Before its separation in 1992, the team participated in FIFA and UEFA competitions as Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, and the majority as Czechoslovakia.
The national team was founded in 1901, existing under the previously mentioned names before the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1992. Their first international competition as the Czech Republic was Euro 1996 where they finished runners-up, their best finish in any international competition. Despite their early success, they have only featured in one FIFA World Cup, the 2006 tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. They suffered the same fate at Euro 2008, their most recent appearance in the final stages of a major tournament.[1]
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[edit] 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.
[edit] The 1990s
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 an embarrassing defeat against Luxembourg, 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 1996, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. However, they finished third in their qualifying group, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament.
[edit] The 2000s
They did, however, qualify for Euro 2000, winning all ten of their group games, conceding just five goals. In the finals the team were unlucky in the first match against the Netherlands as they hit the woodwork three times before losing 1–0 to a last minute penalty. The Czechs lost the next match against eventual champions France meaning elimination despite a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game.
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.
However after the disappointment of the play-off defeat to Belgium, the fortunes of the national team began to change significantly with a settled team of star players at top European clubs such as Pavel Nedvěd, Jan Koller, Tomáš Rosický, Milan Baroš, Marek Jankulovski and Tomáš Galásek together with the emergence of highly-rated young goalkeeper Petr Čech. The team were unbeaten in 2002 and 2003 scoring 53 goals in 19 games, easily 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.[2] The Czechs entered the Euro finals as one of the dark horses for the title. Despite going behind in all three group games, the team won them all. This included trailing 2–0 to the Netherlands in a classic 3–2 win and beating Germany in the final match with a much weakened team having already qualified. The Czechs convincingly beat Denmark in the quarter-finals meaning a semi–final against Greece awaited them. Greece won the game in the last minute of the first half of extra-time with a silver goal after the Czechs missed several chances and hit the bar. Greece would go on to win the tournament.
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.[3] 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.[4] The team was boosted prior to the play-off matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd,[5] who had initially retired from international football after Euro 2004. The squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany included 18 of the Euro 2004 team which reached the semi-finals. As two years previously, the Czechs were tipped to do well. They started the tournament in fine form with a 3–0 win over the USA. However, during the game Jan Koller had to leave with a hamstring injury,[6] putting him out of the tournament. In the next game, with the absent Koller and Milan Baros still recovering from injury, the team struggled, losing 2–0 to Ghana with Tomáš Ujfaluši being sent off with the team a goal behind. Baroš returned for the final game against Italy which the Czechs had to win to progress. Once again the team were reduced to ten men as Jan Polák was dismissed before half-time for two bookable offences.[6] Italy went on to win 2–0. Pavel Nedvěd, Karel Poborský and Vratislav Lokvenc retired from the national team after this tournament.
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 and looked set to qualify. However, the Turks scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to win the game 2–3,[7] and that signalled the end of another disappointing performance at a major tournament and the final match for coach Karel Brückner.
After the failure to impress at the European Championship, the 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 poor performance against Poland, losing 2–1. A late goal from Libor Sionko won the next game 1–0 against Slovenia. This was followed by an unconvincing win against San Marino, and a goalless draw in Slovenia. In their following match, against neighbours Slovakia, a disastrous 2–1 defeat at home left the Czechs in a precarious qualifying position. Manager Petr Rada was dismissed and six players were suspended.[8] Ivan Hašek took temporary charge as manager,[9] 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.[10]
[edit] The 2010s
A much changed team under new manager Michal Bílek entered the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The campaign began disastrously with a home loss to Lithuania. But an important win at home to Scotland was followed by wins against Liechtenstein. World champions Spain defeated the Czechs in between the Liechtenstein games but the play-off spot was still in their hands. In the next game a controversial last minute penalty from Michal Kadlec away to Scotland grabbed a 2–2 draw.[11] 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 the Czechs convincingly defeated Lithuania 4–1 to seal second spot and a place in the play-offs. The Czechs were drawn to face Montenegro in the two-legged play-off. A memorable 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.
[edit] Record in major tournaments
[edit] World Cup
For 1930 to 1994 records, see: Czechoslovakia
Since independence from Slovakia, the Czech Republic has only qualified for one FIFA World Cup, in 2006. The team went out in the first round following one victory and two defeats.
| FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup Qualification record | Manager(s) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D * | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||
 1998 |
Did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 6 | Uhrin | |||||||||
  2002 |
12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 10 | Chovanec | ||||||||||
 2006 |
Round 1 | 20th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 12 | Brückner | ||
 2010 |
Did not qualify | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 6 | Rada, HašekNote 1 | |||||||||
 2014 |
To be determined | ||||||||||||||||
 2018 |
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 2022 |
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| Total | 0 Titles | 1/4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 46 | 26 | 7 | 13 | 90 | 34 | |||
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
- ***Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Notes:
- Rada managed the first six matches, Hašek managed the remainder of the qualification process.
[edit] FIFA Confederations Cup
The Czechs qualified for the 1997 Confederations Cup following their second place in the UEFA Euro 1996 Competition and Germany's subsequent refusal to take part. Given that teams only qualify for the Confederations Cup if they win either the FIFA World Cup, or regional championship (UEFA Euro,) this is their only appearance.
| FIFA Confederations Cup record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | Squad |
 1992 |
Did Not Qualify | ||||||||
| 1995 |
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| 1997 |
Third Place | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | Squad |
 1999 |
Did Not Qualify | ||||||||
| 2001 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2013 |
To Be Determined | ||||||||
| 2017 |
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| 2021 |
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| Total | Third Place | 1/8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | - |
[edit] European Championship
1960 to 1992 records, see: Czechoslovakia
Since their independence, Czech Republic have never failed to qualify for the European Football Championships, with their best finish being second place in the 1996 edition of the tournament (which was also their first), since then they have advanced from the first round on only one occasion, in 2004.
| UEFA European Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
 1996 |
Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
  2000 |
Group Stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
 2004 |
Semi Final | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
 2008 |
Group Stage | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
  2012 |
Qualified | |||||||
| Total | 7/13 | 25 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 32 | |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootout.
- **Gold background colour indicates winning the tournamen. Red border colour indicates hosts.
[edit] Managers
Dušan Uhrin (1994–1997)
Jozef Chovanec (1998–2001)
Karel Brückner (2001–2008)
Petr Rada (2008–2009)
František Straka (2009)
Ivan Hašek (2009)
Michal Bílek (2009–present)
[edit] Recent results
| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 February 2011 |  Croatia |
4–2 | Czech Republic |
| 25 March 2011 |  Spain |
2–1 | Czech Republic |
| 29 March 2011 | Czech Republic |
2–0 |  Liechtenstein |
| 4 June 2011 | Czech Republic |
0–0 |  Peru |
| 7 June 2011 | Japan |
0–0 | Czech Republic |
| 10 August 2011 | Norway |
3–0 | Czech Republic |
| 3 September 2011 |  Scotland |
2–2 | Czech Republic |
| 6 September 2011 | Czech Republic |
4–0 | Ukraine |
| 7 October 2011 | Czech Republic |
0–2 | Spain |
| 11 October 2011 |  Lithuania |
1–4 | Czech Republic |
| 11 November 2011 | Czech Republic |
2–0 |  Montenegro |
| 15 November 2011 | Montenegro |
0–1 | Czech Republic |
[edit] Upcoming fixtures
[edit] Friendly matches
 Republic of Ireland |
Away | 29 February 2012 |
 Hungary |
Home | 1 June 2012 |
| Ukraine |
Away | 15 August 2012 |
 Finland |
Home | 11 September 2012 |
[edit] UEFA Euro 2012 Group A
| 8 June 2012 20:45 |
Russia |
v | Czech Republic |
Municipal Stadium, Wrocław |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 June 2012 18:00 |
Greece  |
v | Czech Republic |
Municipal Stadium, Wrocław |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 June 2012 20:45 |
Czech Republic |
v | Poland |
Municipal Stadium, Wrocław |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[edit] Stadia
The most important matches of the Czech national team are held in Prague's Generali Arena, the home stadium of AC Sparta Prague. However, as of November 2011, the team has only played 34 of 83 home matches there. This is due to the policy of playing matches against teams with a lesser reputation outside the capital city, as is the case for Spain.
Stadia which have hosted Czech Republic international football matches:
| Number of matches |
Stadium | First international | Last international |
|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Generali Arena, Prague | 26 April 1995 | 11 November 2011 |
| 19 | Na Stínadlech, Teplice | 18 September 1996 | 26 August 2009 |
| 5 | Bazaly, Ostrava | 25 May 1994 | 16 August 2000 |
| 5 | Andrův stadion, Olomouc | 25 March 1998 | 7 September 2010 |
| 4 | Stadion u Nisy, Liberec | 4 June 2005 | 11 August 2010 |
| 3 | Stadion Střelnice, Jablonec | 4 September 1996 | 5 June 2009 |
| 3 | Synot Tip Arena, Prague | 27 May 2008 | 8 October 2010 |
| 2 | Sportovní areál, Drnovice | 18 August 1999 | 15 August 2001 |
| 2 | Městský stadion, Uherské Hradiště | 16 August 2006 | 9 September 2009 |
| 1 | Stadion SSK Vítkovice, Ostrava | 26 March 1996 | 26 March 1996 |
| 1 | Strahov Stadium, Prague | 24 April 1996 | 24 April 1996 |
| 1 | Stadion FC Bohemia Poděbrady, Poděbrady | 26 February 1997 | 26 February 1997 |
| 1 | Stadion Evžena Rošického, Prague | 18 August 2004 | 18 August 2004 |
| 1 | Stadion Za Lužánkami, Brno | 8 March 1995 | 8 March 1995 |
| 1 | Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice | 29 March 2011 | 29 March 2011 |
[edit] Squad
[edit] Current squad
Match date: 11 and 15 November 2011.[12]
Opposition: Montenegro
Caps and goals updated as 15 November 2011.
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[edit] Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Czech Republic squad within the last twelve months:
