Czech Republic National Football Team

Manager / Jaroslav Silhavy
Appointed / September 2018
Captain / Vladimír Darida
Top Scorer in Euro 2020 Qualifiers / Patrik Schick, 4
Top Scorer in Squad (Domestic season 2020-21) / Tomas Pekhart, 22 (Legia Warsaw, Polish Ekstraklasa)
Most Carded in qualifying / Jakub Jankto, 3
Group / D, vs. Scotland (15/06/2021), vs. Croatia (19/06/2021), vs. England (23/06/2021)

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

Czech Republic Road to Euro 2020

Despite the lack of well-known names within the squad, the Czechs have qualified for the European Championships for the 7th successive time under the management of Jaroslav Silhavy. Gone are the days where they were considered dark horses for the tournament with incredible talent such as Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Petr Cech. Now just a handful of players ply their trade in the top leagues in Europe such has been the downturn in Czech football over the past 10 years or so.

It has become extremely difficult for the Czech Republic to push for knockout rounds against European heavyweights. They did qualify with relative ease from Group A, finishing 2nd behind England with 5 wins and 3 losses from their 8 group games. The real plus point from their qualification campaign was beating England in Prague towards the back end of 2019, one of the best competitive results they have had in recent years.

As for the Nations League, the Czechs performed well finishing top of their League B group which also contained Slovakia, Israel and Scotland. They won 4 and lost 2 of their 6 group games but both losses did come against Scotland which will be a concern considering they have been drawn in Group D with the Scots alongside both England and Croatia. You would suspect it will be a decent battle between the Czechs and the Scottish to seal that all-important 3rd placed finish.

Czech Republic Euro 2020 Squad

As previously touched upon the squad is nowhere near the level of quality it has been in previous major tournaments. The squad of Euro 2004 which reached the semi-final stage immediately comes to mind as a side which was filled with world class talent. The squad now is predominantly filled with players who play domestic football in their native Czech Republic or at lesser known sides in some of the bigger leagues around Europe.

Goalkeeper

A couple of reasonable keepers within the Czech Republic camp and it isn’t really an area of immense worry for them. Both Tomas Vaclik and Jiri Pavlenka are capable keepers and play at a decent level in top quality European leagues. Vaclik is backup keeper at Spanish La Liga outfit Sevilla while Pavlenka is number 1 at German Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen although they were relegated to the German 2nd tier this season. Third choice is Aleš Mandous of Czech outfit Sigma Olomouc who has just one cap to his name and is highly unlikely to be used throughout the tournament.

Defence

Half of the Czech defenders named in the squad play within their native Czech league with either Sparta or Slavia Prague and are therefore relatively unknown on an international scale. The most well-known member of the backline is Vladimir Coufal who enjoyed a fantastic season at West Ham United as the Hammers finished in the Premier Leagues top 6. Elsewhere there is Tomas Kalas who has spent the majority of his senior career in England with spells at Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Fulham and now represents Bristol City in the English Championship. It is a steady backline but nothing more than that and the better sides in the group such as England and Croatia should have very few issues in getting past them on multiple occasions.

Midfield

Vladimir Darida will be the Czech Republic captain at Euro 2020, The 30-year-old midfielder made his international debut in 2012 and has won 70 caps since then. He currently plies his trade for Hertha Berlin but has also represented fellow Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. He is one of the better known names in the squad and is a talented midfield player and has a knack of scoring goals from midfield. The best known player in the squad to UK followers will be Tomas Soucek who enjoyed a stellar campaign for West Ham alongside international compatriot Coufal. Arguably the signing of the season following an excellent loan spell in the second half of the last campaign. The Czech midfielder has not only hit double figures in goals but been a warrior in the middle of the park for West Ham who have gone from relegation candidates to European qualification in 12 months. Other than that there isn’t really much to write home about in the Czech midfield. Jakub Jankto is a creative spark and could shine having had a decent campaign with club side Sampdoria.

Attack

A few reputable names in the Czech Republic attack, most notably Patrik Schick who currently represents Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Schick, now 25, was once tipped to be the next big thing in Czech football a few years back. He hasn’t quite lived up to the hype but has still played for some top European clubs including RB Leipzig, Roma and Sampdoria commanding a combined transfer fee of £70m+. If the Czechs are to qualify then you would expect Schick would have to be at his very best. In support of Schick who is undoubtedly the main striker there is Matej Vydra who plays his club football for Premier League side Burnley. Those who have watched Vydra will know that while not the most prolific, he brings exceptional work-rate and decent pace in behind. The other striker who is filled with plenty of promise is 18 year old Adam Hlozek of Sparta Prague. Hlozek scored 15 goals in the final 19 league games of the season to finish joint top scorer at Sparta and is now being linked with a host of top clubs around Europe. West Ham are favourites to sign him this summer but the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich have also been linked. He is definitely one to watch out for and could be the key to firing the Czech Republic through to the knockout stages.

Czech Republic predicted line-up vs. Scotland: Vaclik; Coufal, Celustka, Brabec, Boril; Souceck, Darida, Barak; Provod, Jankto, Schick (4-3-3)

Czech Republic Euro 2020 Betting Tips & Predictions

Paired in Group D along with England, Scotland and Croatia I struggle to see the Czechs qualifying from this one. Their squad is predominately sacked with players from their native league which isn’t of the highest standard and I expect them to get found out on the international stage. They are priced at 2.3 to finish bottom of Group D which I feel is a fairly likely scenario.

As a slightly longer odds tip I quite like the look of Tomas Soucek to be the Czechs top scorer at a price of 5.0. Soucek enjoyed a fantastic scoring season for the hammers netting 10 premier league goals and his aerial presence in particular will make him a constant attacking threat. He also makes intelligent late runs into the box and has a real knack of scoring goals. I doubt the Czechs will score many so just a couple from Soucek will likely land him as top scorer for them in the tournament and the midfield giant is more than capable of doing so.

Predicted stage of elimination: Group Stage

How to watch Croatia v Czech Republic in Euro 2020

📅   When / Friday, 18 June 2021, 17:00 BST
🏟   Where / Hampden Park (Glasgow)
📺   TV / BBC One, ZDF
📱   Online streaming / bet365