The Czech Republic national football team (), recognised by FIFA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in men's international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR). Historically, the team participated in FIFA and UEFA competitions as Bohemia and Czechoslovakia.
Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the first international competition of the Czech Republic was UEFA Euro 1996, where they finished runners-up. They have taken part at every European Championship since. Following the separation, they have featured at two FIFA World Cups, in 2006 and 2026.
History
1901–1911 (Bohemia) While part of Austria-Hungary, the national team of Bohemia (established on 19 October 1901) played its first international on 5 April 1903, a 2–1 loss for Hungary in Budapest. On 7 October, Hungary came to Prague for a 4–4 draw. The two countries played three more matches up to 1908, including Bohemia's only victory on 6 October 1907. Bohemia played its last match on 13 June 1908, losing 4–0 at home to England.
After being expelled from FIFA due to objections from the Austrian Football Association, the ČSF founded the UIAFA along with French USFSA and English Amateur Football Association in March 1909. Bohemia won the UIAFA Great European football tournament in 1911, defeating the AFA England team 2–1 in the final.
1939 With the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939 by Nazi Germany, the old Czechoslovak national team temporarily ceased to exist. Unlike the Slovak Republic (which proclaimed independence and operated an active, regular national team for several years), the Protectorate could not develop autonomous and prolonged international activity. However, during the course of 1939, the selection of Bohemia and Moravia (Reprezentace Čech a Moravy) was temporarily reactivated and took to the field to play three matches: August 27, 1939 (Prague): Bohemia and Moravia - Yugoslavia 7-3 (unofficial friendly) October 22, 1939 (Prague): Bohemia and Moravia - Austria (Ostmark) 5-5 (unofficial friendly) November 12, 1939 (Breslau): Germany - Bohemia and Moravia 4-4 (official friendly) These matches saw the participation of great stars of the era who had driven Czechoslovakia to become runners-up at the 1934 World Cup, such as Josef Bican, Oldřich Nejedlý, and Antonín Puč. After November 1939, however, the pressure and control of the Nazi regime abruptly brought the experiment to an end: the national team was disbanded, and Czech players continued to play only at the club level in local championships (the Národní liga), no longer able to wear an international representative jersey until the end of World War II and the re-establishment of Czechoslovakia.
1990s When Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czech Republic team was formed. They 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, ahead of group 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, losing 2–1 to Germany at Wembley Stadium.
The Czechs finished third in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament.
2000s The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2000, winning all of their group games and conceding five goals. In the finals the team were drawn in Group D, alongside France, the Netherlands and Denmark. The team lost to the Netherlands after a last-minute penalty and were defeated in second match by France, which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round. The Czech Republic managed a 2–0 win against Denmark in their final game courtesy of two goals from Vladimír Šmicer.
Once again, the Czech Republic failed to qualify for the World Cup, this time finishing second in their 2002 qualification 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, which finally ended in Dublin on 31 March 2004 in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland. The Czechs entered the Euro finals in Group D, alongside the Netherlands, Germany and Latvia. The team trailed 2–0 to the Netherlands before winning the game 3–2 and beat Germany in the final group match. The 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. The first 90 minutes finished goalless and Greece won the game in the last minute of the first half of extra-time with a silver goal.
The Czech Republic achieved their record win during the 2006 World Cup qualifying, 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. At the end of the campaign, after finishing in second place in Group 1 and defeating Norway in a playoff, the Czechs qualified for their first World Cup. The team was boosted prior to the play-off matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd, who had initially retired from international football after Euro 2004. The squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany included 18 players from the Euro 2004 team. With the team ranked second in the world, 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, exiting the tournament. In the next game, with Milan Baroš still recovering from injury, the team suffered a 2–0 loss to Ghana. Baroš returned for the final game against Italy, a must-win for a round of 16 appearance. The team were reduced to ten men as Jan Polák was dismissed before half-time for two bookable offences. Italy went on to win 2–0. Pavel Nedvěd, Karel Poborský and Vratislav Lokvenc retired from the national team after the tournament.
In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, they finished top of their group, above Germany on head-to-head record. The Czech Republic beat co-hosts Switzerland 1–0 in their opening game of the finals, before being beaten 3–1 by Portugal. This meant the Czechs and Turkey carried identical records going into the final group game. Although the Czechs took a 2–0 lead just past the hour mark and looked set to qualify, Turkey scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to win the game 3–2.
The Czechs entered 2010 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, before losing to 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. Ivan Hašek took temporary charge as manager, 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.
2010s 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. 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. Going into their third and final group match, the Czech Republic needed at least a draw against co-hosts Poland to advance to the knockout stage. A second-half strike by Jiráček proved the difference between the teams as the Czechs ran out as 1–0 winners. Due to Greece beating Russia in the other group game, the Czech Republic subsequently finished top of Group A, becoming the first team ever to win a group at the European Championships with a negative goal difference.
Bílek stayed on as coach, despite unrest amongst fans, and was tasked with qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. The Czechs were drawn into UEFA qualifying Group B along with Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta. The campaign started with goalless draws against Denmark and Bulgaria, paired with a narrow win against Malta. The team then lost 0–3 to Denmark at home. The Czechs were then able to beat Armenia and draw with group leaders Italy, but lost to both Armenia and Italy in the rematches. Bílek resigned after the loss and was replaced with assistant coach Josef Pešice.
Pavel Vrba was appointed as the team's new coach in 2014, ahead of Euro 2016 qualifying. The Czech team was drawn into 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 leaders, 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. That would eventually be eclipsed during their first qualifier for Euro 2020, as they were beaten 0–5 at Wembley Stadium by England.