Czech Republic national football team

Czech Republic
Association Českomoravský fotbalový svaz
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Flag of the Czech Republic Petr Rada
Captain Tomáš Rosický
Most caps Karel Poborský (118)
Top scorer Jan Koller (55)
Home stadium AXA Arena
Na Stínadlech
Stadion Eden
FIFA code CZE
FIFA ranking 9
Highest FIFA ranking 2 (March 1994)
Lowest FIFA ranking 67 (September 1999 From January 2000 to May 2000 from April 2005 to May 2005 From January 2006 to May 2006)
Elo ranking 12
Highest Elo ranking 1 (Jun 2004, Jun 2005)
Lowest Elo ranking 22 (Jan 2002)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away colours
First international
Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary 2 - 1 Bohemia Flag of Bohemia
(Budapest, Hungary; 5 April 1903)
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 1 - 4 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic
(Istanbul, Turkey; 23 February 1994)
Biggest win
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 8 - 1 Andorra Flag of Andorra.svg
(Liberec, Czech Republic; 4 June 2005)
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 7 - 0 San Marino Flag of San Marino.svg
(Liberec, Czech Republic; 7 October 2006)
Biggest defeat
Flag of Bohemia Bohemia 0-4 England Flag of England.svg
(Prague, Bohemia; 13 June 1908)
Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland 3 - 0 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic
(Zürich, Switzerland; 20 April 1994)
World Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2006)
Best result Round 1, 2006
European Championship
Appearances 4 (First in 1996)
Best result Runners-up, 1996
Confederations Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 1997)
Best result 3rd, 1997

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

Contents

History

See also: Czechoslovakia national football team

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
Flag of France 1998 Did not Qualify - - - - - - -
Flag of South KoreaFlag of Japan 2002 Did not Qualify - - - - - -
Flag of Germany 2006 Round 1 20 3 1 0 2 3 4
Flag of South Africa 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
Flag of England 1996 Runners-up 6 2 2* 2 7 8
Flag of BelgiumFlag of the Netherlands 2000 Round 1 3 1 0 2 3 3
Flag of Portugal 2004 Semi-Final 5 4 0 1 10 5
Flag of AustriaFlag of Switzerland 2008 Round 1 3 1 0 2 4 6
Flag of PolandFlag of Ukraine 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

Coaches

Flag of Slovakia Václav Ježek (1993)
Flag of Slovakia Dušan Uhrin (1994-1997)
Flag of Slovakia Jozef Chovanec (1998-2001)
Flag of the Czech Republic Karel Brückner (2001-2008)
Flag of the Czech Republic Petr Rada (2008-)

FIFA World Cup qualification

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 3
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia 4 3 0 1 8 5 +3 9
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 4 2 1 1 5 2 +3 7
Flag of Poland.svg Poland 4 2 1 1 6 4 +2 7
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7
Ulster banner.svg Northern Ireland 4 1 1 2 5 4 +1 4
Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino 4 0 0 4 1 12 −11 0
  Flag of the Czech Republic Flag of Northern Ireland Flag of Poland Flag of San Marino Flag of Slovakia Flag of Slovenia
Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg 14 Oct 10 Oct 9 Sep 1 Apr 1 – 0
Northern Ireland Ulster banner.svg 0 – 0 28 Mar 4 – 0 9 Sep 1 Apr
Poland Flag of Poland.svg 2 – 1 5 Sep 1 Apr 14 Oct 1 – 1
San Marino Flag of San Marino.svg 0 – 3 11 Feb 0 – 2 1 – 3 14 Oct
Slovakia Flag of Slovakia.svg 5 Sep 2 – 1 2 – 1 6 Jun 10 Oct
Slovenia Flag of Slovenia.svg 28 Mar 2 – 0 9 Sep 12 Aug 2 – 1

Results over the last 12 months

Date Home Team Score Away Team
8 September 2007 Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino 0-3 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
12 September 2007 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 1-0 Republic of Ireland Flag of Ireland.svg
17 October 2007 Flag of Germany.svg Germany 0-3 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
17 November 2007 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 3-1 Slovakia Flag of Slovakia.svg
21 November 2007 Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus 0-2 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
6 February 2008 Flag of Poland.svg Poland 2-0 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
26 March 2008 Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 1-1 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
27 May 2008 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 2-0 Lithuania Flag of Lithuania.svg
30 May 2008 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 3-1 Scotland Flag of Scotland.svg
7 June 2008 Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
11 June 2008 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 1-3 Portugal Flag of Portugal.svg
15 June 2008 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 2-3 Turkey Flag of Turkey.svg
20 August 2008 Flag of England.svg England 2-2 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg

Most Recent Squad

[1]
Match Date: October 11 2008 and October 15 2008
Venue: Silesian Stadium and Na Stínadlech
Opposition: Flag of Poland.svg Poland and Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia
Head coach: Petr Rada

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Petr Čech 20 May 1982 68 0 Flag of England Chelsea
23 GK Daniel Zítka 20 June 1975 2 0 Flag of Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht
2 DF Zdeněk Grygera 14 May 1980 59 2 Flag of Italy Juventus
6 DF Marek Jankulovski 9 May 1977 71 11 Flag of Italy A.C. Milan
12 DF Zdeněk Pospěch 14 December 1978 13 1 Flag of Denmark F.C. Copenhagen
22 DF David Rozehnal 5 July 1980 52 0 Flag of Italy SS Lazio
21 DF Tomáš Ujfaluši 24 March 1978 75 2 Flag of Spain Atletico Madrid
14 MF David Jarolím 17 May 1979 21 1 Flag of Germany Hamburger SV
5 MF Radoslav Kováč 27 November 1979 27 1 Flag of Russia Spartak Moscow
20 MF Jaroslav Plašil 5 January 1982 44 3 Flag of Spain CA Osasuna
3 MF Jan Polák 14 March 1981 43 6 Flag of Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF Jan Rajnoch 30 September 1981 2 0 Flag of the Czech Republic FK Mladá Boleslav
MF Libor Sionko 1 February 1977 36 8 Flag of Denmark F.C. Copenhagen
MF Radek Šírl 30 September 1981 5 0 Flag of Russia Zenit St Petersburg
10 FW Václav Svěrkoš 1 November 1983 6 1 Flag of the Czech Republic FC Baník Ostrava
15 FW Milan Baroš 28 October 1981 69 32 Flag of Turkey Galatasaray S.K.
FW Martin Fenin 16 April 1987 7 1 Flag of Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
FW Tomáš Necid 13 August 1989 1 1 Flag of the Czech Republic Slavia Praha

Recent call-up

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Jaroslav Drobný 18 October 1979 2 0 Flag of Germany Hertha BSC Berlin
GK Jan Laštůvka 7 July 1982 0 0 Flag of England West Ham United
25 GK Michal Daněk 6 July 1983 0 0 Flag of the Czech Republic FC Viktoria Plzeň
16 GK Jaromír Blažek 29 December 1972 14 0 Flag of the Czech Republic AC Sparta Praha
GK Martin Vaniak 20 October 1970 7 0 Flag of the Czech Republic SK Slavia Praha
13 DF Michal Kadlec 13 December 1984 8 1 Flag of Germany Bayer Leverkusen
DF Jan Šimůnek 20 February 1987 0 0 Flag of Germany VfL Wolfsburg
19 DF Tomáš Zápotočný 13 September 1980 4 0 Flag of Turkey Besiktas J.K.
DF Martin Jiránek 25 May 1979 31 0 Flag of Russia FC Spartak Moscow
MF Mario Holek 28 October 1986 0 0 Flag of Ukraine FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
MF Luboš Kalouda 20 May 1987 0 0 Flag of Russia CSKA Moscow
MF Jiří Kladrubský 19 November 1985 1 0 Flag of the Czech Republic AC Sparta Praha
17 MF Marek Matějovský 20 December 1981 12 1 Flag of England Reading F.C.
MF Daniel Pudil 27 September 1985 3 1 Flag of Belgium KRC Genk
10 MF Tomáš Rosický (Captain) 4 October 1980 68 19 Flag of England Arsenal FC
19 MF Rudolf Skácel 17 July 1979 5 1 Flag of England Southampton F.C.
MF Marek Střeštík 1 February 1987 0 0 Flag of the Czech Republic 1. FC Brno
18 MF Tomáš Sivok 15 September 1983 6 0 Flag of Turkey Besiktas J.K.
11 MF Stanislav Vlček 26 February 1976 14 0 Flag of Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht
FW Karel Piták 28 January 1980 3 0 Flag of Austria Red Bull Salzburg
FW Marek Kulič 11 October 1975 9 2 Flag of the Czech Republic AC Sparta Praha
FW Michal Papadopulos 30 September 1981 1 0 Flag of the Czech Republic FK Mladá Boleslav
FW Miroslav Slepička 10 November 1981 1 0 Flag of the Czech Republic AC Sparta Praha

Past squads and campaigns

European Championship Squads

World Cup Squads

See also

References

External links