Czech Republic national under-21 football team

The Czech Republic national under-21 football team is the national under-21 association football team of the Czech Republic and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years.

Czech Republic Under-21
Nickname(s)Lvíčata (Little Lions)
AssociationFotbalová asociace
České republiky
(FAČR)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachJan Suchopárek
Most capsJan Polák (45)
Top scorerTomáš Pekhart (17)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Czech Republic 1–0 Malta 
(Opava, Czech Republic; 5 September 1994)
Biggest win
 Czech Republic 8–0 Bulgaria 
(Teplice, Czech Republic; 5 October 2001)
 Czech Republic 8–0 Liechtenstein 
(Prague, Czech Republic; 11 September 2007)
 Czech Republic 8–0 San Marino 
(Serravalle, San Marino; 9 June 2009)
 Czech Republic 8–0 Andorra 
(Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic; 10 August 2011)
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 5–0 Czech Republic 
(Vejle, Denmark; 10 September 2024)
Records are for competitive
matches only
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances9 (first in 1996)
Best resultWinners (2002)

Although the breakup of Czechoslovakia occurred officially on 1 January 1993, the under-21 team continued until the end of the 1994 championship. After that, the Czech Republic and the Slovakia under-21s became separate footballing entities.

For both nations, the first matches were played in September 1994 in qualification for the 1996 championship.

The Czech Republic under-21 team reached the quarter-finals in 1996, but failed to qualify for 1998. The team reached the final in both the 2000 and 2002 tournaments, winning the latter on penalties.

Subsequently, the team failed to qualify for the tournaments in 2004 and 2006. They qualified for the 2007 competition but finished last in the group stage. They once again failed to qualify for the 2009 competition. In the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, they placed fourth.

Competitive Record

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Summer Olympics record

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Summer Olympic record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA Squad
  1992 did not qualify
  1996
  2000 Group stage 14th 3 0 2 1 5 6 Squad
  2004 did not qualify
  2008
  2012
  2016
  2020
  2024
  2028 to be determined
  2032
Total Group stage 14th 3 0 2 1 5 6

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record

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UEFA European Under-21 Championship record UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification record
Year Round Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
  1996 Quarter-finals 2 0 0 2 2 4 10 7 2 1 33 9
  1998 did not qualify 8 3 0 5 13 13
  2000 Runners-up 4 2 1 1 9 7 12 9 1 2 20 6
  2002 Winners 5 2 2 1 5 5 12 9 2 1 29 6
  2004 did not qualify 10 7 0 3 20 7
  2006 12 6 3 3 26 11
  2007 Group stage 3 0 1 2 1 4 4 3 1 0 7 3
  2009 did not qualify 8 4 2 2 19 5
  2011 Fourth place 5 2 0 3 4 6 10 9 1 0 30 4
  2013 did not qualify 10 6 3 1 26 7
  2015 Group stage 3 1 1 1 6 3 Qualified as hosts
  2017 Group stage 3 1 0 2 5 7 10 7 2 1 29 10
   2019 did not qualify 10 5 1 4 14 15
   2021 Group stage 3 0 2 1 2 4 7 4 3 0 17 2
   2023 Group stage 3 1 0 2 2 4 10 7 1 2 23 6
Total 9/15 31 9 7 15 36 44 126 82 19 25 289 100
*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

Individual awards

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In addition to team victories, Czech players have won individual awards at the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Year Golden Player Golden Boot
  2002 Petr Čech
  2015 Jan Kliment

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

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2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   England 10 8 1 1 26 7 +19 25 Final tournament 3–1 1–2 2–0 3–0 4–1
2   Czech Republic 10 7 1 2 23 6 +17 22 Play-offs 1–2 1–0 3–0 4–0 7–0
3   Slovenia 10 4 4 2 11 7 +4 16 2–2 1–1 0–0 3–0 2–0
4   Kosovo 10 3 3 4 8 13 −5 12 0–5 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–0
5   Albania 10 3 1 6 9 17 −8 10 0–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–0
6   Andorra 10 0 0 10 1 28 −27 0 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–3 0–3
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs

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The four play-off winners qualify for the final tournament.

All times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Croatia   3–3 (5–4 p)   Denmark 2–1 1–2 (a.e.t.)
Slovakia   3–5   Ukraine 3–2 0–3
Republic of Ireland   1–1 (1–3 p)   Israel 1–1 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Iceland   1–2   Czech Republic 1–2 0–0

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Final tournament) group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   ENG   ISR   CZE   GER
1   England 3 3 0 0 6 0 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   Israel 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4
3   Czech Republic 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
4   Germany 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Results and fixtures

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  Win   Draw   Loss

2023

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22 June 2023 (2023-06-22) UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Final tournament) group stage Czech Republic   0–2   England Batumi, Georgia
20:00 Report
Stadium: Adjarabet Arena
Attendance: 8,168
Referee: Horațiu Feşnic (Romania)
25 June 2023 (2023-06-25) UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Final tournament) group stage Czech Republic   2–1   Germany Batumi, Georgia
20:00
Report
Stadium: Adjarabet Arena
Attendance: 5,023
Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)
7 September 2023 (2023-09-07) Friendly Czech Republic   2–0   Slovakia Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic
18:00 CEST
Report Stadium: Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty
Attendance: 4,158
Referee: Tomasz Musial (Poland)
12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) 2025 UEFA U21 Euro qualifying Group I Iceland   2–1   Czech Republic Reykjavík, Iceland
18:30 (16:30 UTC±0)
Report
Stadium: Víkingsvöllur
Referee: Jovan Kachevski (North Macedonia)
13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) 2025 UEFA U21 Euro qualifying Group I Czech Republic   1–1   Wales České Budějovice, Czech Republic
18:00 CEST
Report
Stadium: Stadion Střelecký ostrov
Referee: Zaven Hovhannisyan (Armenia)
17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) 2025 UEFA U21 Euro qualifying Group I Czech Republic   0–0   Denmark České Budějovice, Czech Republic
18:00 CEST Report Stadium: Stadion Střelecký ostrov
Referee: Jasmin Sabotic (Luxembourg)
20 November 2023 (2023-11-20) Friendly Czech Republic   2–1   Slovakia Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
18:00 CEST
Report
Stadium: Malšovická aréna
Attendance: 4,568
Referee: Tomasz Musial (Poland)

2024

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21 March 2024 Friendly Czech Republic   3–0   Northern Ireland Pardubice, Czech Republic
17:30 CEST
Stadium: CFIG Arena
Attendance: 2,892
Referee: Peter Kráľovič (Slovakia)
26 March 2024 2025 UEFA U21 Euro qualifying Group I Czech Republic   4–1   Iceland Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
17:30 CEST
Report Stadium: Malšovická aréna
Attendance: 9,126
Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov (Bulgaria)

Players

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Current squad

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The following players were called up for 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification against Wales and Lithuania on 11 and 15 October 2024.[1]

Caps and goals updated as of 2 October 2024 before the match against   Wales.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Jiří Borek (2002-09-23) 23 September 2002 (age 22) 0 0   Vyškov
1GK Lukáš Horníček (2002-07-13) 13 July 2002 (age 22) 5 0   Braga
1GK Antonín Kinský (2003-03-13) 13 March 2003 (age 21) 6 0   Slavia Prague

2DF Štěpán Chaloupek (2003-03-08) 8 March 2003 (age 21) 6 0   Slavia Prague
2DF Matěj Hadaš (2003-11-25) 25 November 2003 (age 20) 0 0   Sigma Olomouc
2DF Josef Koželuh (2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 (age 22) 6 0   Slovan Liberec
2DF Filip Prebsl (2003-03-04) 4 March 2003 (age 21) 7 0   Slavia Prague
2DF Karel Spáčil (2003-05-18) 18 May 2003 (age 21) 2 0   Hradec Králové
2DF Martin Suchomel (2002-09-11) 11 September 2002 (age 22) 8 0   Sparta Prague

3MF Alexandr Bužek (2004-08-02) 2 August 2004 (age 20) 0 0   Slavia Prague
3MF Kryštof Daněk (2003-01-05) 5 January 2003 (age 21) 17 2   Sparta Prague
3MF Marek Icha (2002-03-14) 14 March 2002 (age 22) 7 0   Slovan Liberec
3MF Petr Juliš (2003-04-17) 17 April 2003 (age 21) 0 0   Hradec Králové
3MF Matěj Jurásek (2003-08-30) 30 August 2003 (age 21) 8 1   Slavia Prague
3MF Adam Karabec (2003-07-02) 2 July 2003 (age 21) 23 4   Hamburger SV
3MF Ondřej Kričfaluši (2004-03-09) 9 March 2004 (age 20) 4 0   Teplice
3MF Daniel Langhamer (2003-03-20) 20 March 2003 (age 21) 2 0   Mladá Boleslav
3MF Matěj Šín (2004-06-02) 2 June 2004 (age 20) 1 0   Baník Ostrava
3MF Denis Višinský (2003-03-21) 21 March 2003 (age 21) 5 0   Slovan Liberec
3MF Patrik Vydra (2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 21) 10 0   Mladá Boleslav

4FW David Látal (2003-01-21) 21 January 2003 (age 21) 0 0   Chrudim
4FW Václav Sejk (2002-05-18) 18 May 2002 (age 22) 27 10   Zagłębie Lubin
4FW Filip Vecheta (2003-02-15) 15 February 2003 (age 21) 8 0   Karviná

Recent call-ups

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The following players have previously been called up to the under-21 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Matyáš Vágner (2003-02-05) 5 February 2003 (age 21) 1 0   Hradec Králové v.   Iceland, 26 March 2024

DF Denis Halinský (2003-07-13) 13 July 2003 (age 21) 4 1   Slovan Liberec v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
DF Albert Labík (2004-05-13) 13 May 2004 (age 20) 4 0   Teplice v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
DF Adam Ševínský (2004-06-19) 19 June 2004 (age 20) 1 0   Slovan Liberec v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
DF Martin Vitík (2003-01-21) 21 January 2003 (age 21) 15 1   Sparta Prague v.   Iceland, 26 March 2024
DF Lukáš Endl (2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 (age 21) 2 0   Karviná v.   Slovakia, 20 November 2023
DF Adam Kadlec (2003-07-06) 6 July 2003 (age 21) 1 0   Bohemians 1905 v.   Slovakia, 20 November 2023

MF Michal Ševčík (2002-08-13) 13 August 2002 (age 22) 8 1   Nürnberg v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
MF Tom Slončík (2004-12-21) 21 December 2004 (age 19) 3 0   Viktoria Plzeň v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
MF Lukáš Vorlický (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22) 0 0   Slavia Prague v.   Lithuania, 6 September 2024INJ
MF Michal Černák (2003-09-01) 1 September 2003 (age 21) 3 0   Jablonec v.   Iceland, 26 March 2024
MF Jakub Křišťan (2002-07-05) 5 July 2002 (age 22) 7 0   Teplice v.   Iceland, 26 March 2024
MF Adam Kronus (2002-07-29) 29 July 2002 (age 22) 0 0   Zbrojovka Brno v.   Slovakia, 20 November 2023
MF Martin Šubert (2002-08-13) 13 August 2002 (age 22) 0 0   Vlašim v.   Slovakia, 20 November 2023
MF David Tkáč (2002-07-06) 6 July 2002 (age 22) 3 1   Zlín v.   Slovakia, 20 November 2023

FW Denis Alijagić (2003-04-10) 10 April 2003 (age 21) 5 2   Žilina v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
FW Daniel Fila (2002-08-21) 21 August 2002 (age 22) 16 7   Slavia Prague v.   Denmark, 10 September 2024
FW Christophe Kabongo (2003-08-27) 27 August 2003 (age 21) 6 4   Viktoria Plzeň v.   Iceland, 26 March 2024
  • INJ = Withdrew due to an injury.

Previous squads

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Leading appearances

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As of 11 September 2024.[2]
 
Czech U21 in 2007
# Player Caps
1 Jan Polák 45
2 David Kobylík 31
3 Michal Trávník 30
4 Bořek Dočkal 28
Josef Kaufman
6 Jan Lecjaks 27
Michal Papadopulos
Václav Sejk
9 Lukáš Došek 26
Michal Kadlec
Ondřej Mazuch
Tomáš Pekhart
Roman Týce
Tomáš Ujfaluši

Leading goalscorers

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As of 11 September 2024.[3]
# Player Goals Club(s)[a]
1 Tomáš Pekhart 17 Tottenham Hotspur, Jablonec
2 Jan Chramosta 12 Mladá Boleslav
3 Patrik Schick 11 Bohemians 1905, Sampdoria
4 Václav Sejk 10 Sparta Prague, Teplice, Jablonec, Roda Kerkrade, Zagłębie Lubin
5 Milan Baroš 9 Baník Ostrava, Liverpool
Tomáš Došek Viktoria Plzeň, Slavia Prague
Václav Černý Ajax
8 Bořek Dočkal 8 Slavia Prague, Kladno, Slovan Liberec, Konyaspor
Pavel Novotný Slavia Prague
Václav Svěrkoš Baník Ostrava, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha
  1. ^ The club(s) during the player's time in the Under-21s.

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Nominace reprezentace do 21 let na kvalifikační zápasy s Walesem a Litvou" (in Czech). Football Association of the Czech Republic. 2 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Česko U21 - Historické statistiky - Nejvíce startů". Football Association of the Czech Republic.
  3. ^ "Česko U21 - Historické statistiky - Nejvíce branek". Football Association of the Czech Republic.
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