The Czechoslovakia national football team (, ) represented Czechoslovakia in men's international football from 1919 to 1993. The team was controlled by the Czechoslovak Football Association, and the team qualified for eight FIFA World Cups and three European Championships. It had two runner-up finishes in World Cups in 1934 and 1962, and won the European Championship in the 1976 tournament.
At the time of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed the remainder of this campaign under the name Representation of Czechs and Slovaks (RČS, , ) before it was disbanded in November 1993. Both the Czech and Slovak national teams are considered to be the joint successors of the Czechoslovak record.
History Bohemia While part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 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.
Inter-war After World War I, an independent Czechoslovakia made its first appearance in 1919 in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris, a large sports competition organized in celebration of the Allied victory in the War. However, the matches of the tournament are not included in the official FIFA register. Czechoslovakia topped their group with three wins over Belgium, United States, and Canada, thus reaching the final, where they defeated the hosts France with a dramatic 3–2 win, thanks to two late goals from Antonín Janda.
In the following year, Czechoslovakia participated in the 1920 Olympic event in Antwerp, opening with a 7–0 win over Yugoslavia on 28 August. This squad, which had thirteen players from the Inter-Allied roster, then beat Norway 4–0 the next day in the quarter-finals and France 4–1 in the semi-finals on the 31st. However, in the final against Belgium on 2 September, the Czechoslovaks left the field 2–0 down after 40 minutes in protest with the English referee John Lewis, and were ejected from the tournament. Czechoslovakia returned for the 1924 Olympics in Paris and defeated Turkey 5–2 in the first round, but was eliminated in the second 1–0 against Switzerland in a replay after a 1–1 draw.
The nation entered the World Cup for the first time in 1934, and won its qualifier against Poland after its neighbor withdrew following a 2–1 Czechoslovak win in the first leg. At the finals in Italy, Czechoslovakia advanced past Romania, Switzerland, and Germany to reach the final, where it lost 2–1 to the host country after extra time. Oldřich Nejedlý won the Golden Shoe with five goals in the tournament.
Czechoslovakia qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France with a 7–1 aggregate victory over Bulgaria, and reached the quarter-finals with a 3–0 win over the Netherlands in Le Havre. In the quarter-final against Brazil, known as the Battle of Bordeaux for its rough play, Czechoslovakia lost the replay 2–1.
In 1939, under the German occupation name of "Bohemia", the team played three matches, defeating Yugoslavia 7–3 and drawing with both Ostmark (occupied Austria) and Germany itself.
Post-World War II
After an absence from the 1950 qualification campaign, Czechoslovakia qualified for 1954 by topping its qualifying group unbeaten against Bulgaria and Romania with three wins and a draw. However, in the finals in Switzerland, it was eliminated from a strong group after defeats to Uruguay and Austria.
It also topped its qualifying group for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, ahead of Wales and East Germany. They opened their finals campaign on 8 June with a 1–0 defeat to Northern Ireland in Halmstad, followed by a 2–2 draw with reigning champions West Germany and a 6–1 win over Argentina. On 17 June, Czechoslovakia lost a play-off to advance into the knockout stages 2–1 to Northern Ireland in Malmö.
Modern age On 5 April 1959, Czechoslovakia played the first ever qualifying match in a UEFA European Championship, losing 2–0 away to the Republic of Ireland but eventually advancing 4–2 on aggregate. Subsequent victories over Denmark (7–3 aggregate) and Romania (5–0 aggregate) put the country into the four-team finals in France. It lost 3–0 to the Soviet Union in the semi-final but gained third place with a 2–0 win over the hosts at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
Czechoslovakia qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile by defeating Scotland 4–2 after extra time in a play-off in Brussels, Belgium, after finishing level in their qualifying group. In the group at the finals, Czechoslovakia opened with a 1–0 win over Spain from a Jozef Štibrányi goal, and then drew 0–0 with holders Brazil. In the last group game on 7 June, Václav Mašek put Czechoslovakia ahead against Mexico in 12 seconds; the team lost 3–1 but advanced nonetheless.
After goalkeeper Viliam Schrojf's performance, a goal from Adolf Scherer in Rancagua was enough to beat Hungary in the quarter-final, and two more late goals by him against Yugoslavia put Czechoslovakia into their second World Cup final. In the final at the Estadio Nacional de Chile in Santiago, Josef Masopust put Czechoslovakia ahead after 15 minutes by finishing Scherer's pass, but Brazil soon equalised and exploited Schrojf's errors to win 3–1. Masopust's inspiration was awarded with the 1962 Ballon d'Or.
Czechoslovakia did not go to the 1966 FIFA World Cup, with Portugal topping their qualifying group, nor did they qualify for the European Championships of 1964 and 1968. On 3 December 1969, they defeated Hungary 4–1 in Marseille in a play-off to reach the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, having finished joint top of their qualifying group. Czechoslovakia lost all three of their matches in the 1970 World Cup, in a group featuring holders England and eventual winners Brazil.
After missing out on the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup, Czechoslovakia reached the 1976 European Championship in Yugoslavia, topping a group featuring England, Portugal, and Cyprus, before defeating the Soviet Union 4–2 in a play-off. In the semi-final in Zagreb, they advanced after beating the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time. In the final on 20 June at Crvena Zvezda Stadium in Belgrade, Czechoslovakia led 2–0 before the game went to penalties at a 2–2 draw. Antonin Panenka scored the winning penalty with a chip, subsequently referred to by his name when executed by other players. In that squad, 16 of 22 players in the squad were Slovak and in both matches in the final tournament, 9 of 13 players were Slovak.
Czechoslovakia did not qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup, as Scotland won their group. The country did qualify for Euro 1980, and by coming second in its group behind West Germany faced the hosts Italy in a third-place play-off, which it won on sudden-death penalties at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. At the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, Czechoslovakia was eliminated in the group stage after draws with Kuwait and France and losing 2–0 to England. The country's last major tournament was the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, where in the group it opened with a 5–1 victory against the United States before defeating Austria with a penalty from Michal Bilek, enough to advance despite losing 2–0 to the hosts at the Stadio Olimpico. In the last 16 at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, a hat-trick from Tomáš Skuhravý featured in a 4–1 in over Costa Rica. Czechoslovakia was eliminated on 1 July in a quarter-final at the San Siro, losing 1–0 from a Lothar Matthäus penalty against eventual winners West Germany. Later that month, manager Jozef Vengloš who had led Czechoslovakia in the tournament was appointed as the first foreign manager in English football, at Aston Villa. Dissolution In December 1991, the draw was made for the qualifying competition for the 1994 World Cup, with Czechoslovakia drawn in Group 4 alongside Romania, Belgium, Wales, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands. Qualifying began in April 1992 and was scheduled to conclude in November 1993. However, during the period of the qualification tournament, the two distinct parts of Czechoslovakia decided to dissolve the country into two newly independent states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The dissolution took place on 31 December 1992, eleven months prior to the end of World Cup qualification. The national team had, by then, played three of their qualifying games, meaning that it was too late to make changes to the process. As a result, the single team continued under the new name Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, with the intention that new teams representing the two new nations be formed once the single team's participation in the 1994 World Cup ended. The team's last match was on 17 November 1993 against Belgium in Brussels, a goalless draw that eliminated them from qualification. The RCS top scorer with six goals was Peter Dubovský, who scored a hat-trick in the match against Romania in Všešportový areál on 2 June 1993. Following the establishment of separate football federations for both new nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakian teams both played their first internationals in February 1994.
Kit history
YearKit supplier1976−1993 Adidas
Coaching history
Results and fixtures (1908–1993)
Competitive record FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPositionSquad— 1930Did not enterDid not enter 1934Runners-up2nd430196Squad2200411934 1938Quarter-finals5th311153Squad2110711938 1950Did not enterDid not enter 1954Group stage14th200207Squad4310511954 1958Group stage9th411296Squad4301931958 1962Runners-up2nd631277Squad54012071962 1966Did not qualify63121241966 1970Group stage15th300327Squad75111671970 1974Did not qualify4211931974 19784202461978 1982Group stage19th302124Squad84221561982 1986Did not qualify832311121986 1990Quarter-finals6th5302105Squad85211331990 1994Did not qualify104512191994TotalRunners-up8/1530115144445—7241161514663—
UEFA European Championship
UEFA European Championship recordQualification recordYearResultPositionSquad— 1960Third place3rd210123Squad64111651960 1964Did not qualify2011231964 19686312841968 197264111141972 1976Champions1st211053Squad85211971976 1980Third place3rd412154Squad65011741980 1984Did not qualify83411571984 19886231751988 199285031291992Total1 Title3/983321210—5631131210748—
Olympic Games Olympic Games recordYearResultPositionSquad 1908Did not enter 1912 1920Disqualified4301153Squad 1924Second round9th311164Squad 1928Did not enter 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960Did not qualify 1964Silver medal2nd6501195Squad 1968Group stage9th3111103Squad 1972Did not enter 1976 1980Gold medal1st6420101Squad 1984Withdrew 1988Did not qualifyTotalGold medal5/172214446016—
Player records
+Most capped playersRankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer1.Zdeněk Nehoda90311971–19872.Marián Masný75181974–1982Ladislav Novák7511952–19664.František Plánička7301926–19385.Karol Dobiaš6761967–19806.Josef Masopust63101954–1966Ivo Viktor6301966–19778.Ján Popluhár6211958–19679.Antonín Puč60341926–193810.Antonín Panenka59171973–1982
+Top goalscorersRankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer1.Antonín Puč34601926–19382.Zdeněk Nehoda31901971–19873.Oldřich Nejedlý28431931–1938Josef Silný28501925–19345.Adolf Scherer22361958–1964František Svoboda22431927–19377.Marián Masný18751974–19828.Antonín Panenka17591973–19829.Jozef Adamec14441960–1971Tomáš Skuhravý14431985–1993
Head to head record (1908–1993)