The Czech Republic went to a penalty shoot-out twice – and both times the team kept their nerve. After two real nail-biters, the team has now qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 20 years.
Following another nail-biting football match, the Czech Republic has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 20 years. Coach Miroslav Koubek’s team won the closely contested play-off final against Denmark 3–1 on penalties.
- After 120 minutes, the score in Prague was 2–2 (1–1, 0–1). Michal Sadilek converted the final penalty, having seen the Danes Rasmus Höjlund, Anders Dreyer and Mathias Jensen all miss their attempts.In normal time, Pavel Sulc (3’) and Ladislav Krejci (100’) had put the hosts ahead twice in front of 19,000 spectators, with Denmark equalising through Joachim Andersen (72’) and Kasper Högh (111’).
Bundesliga trio led by Patrik Schick put the Czech Republic back on track
In the end, the hosts – whose starting line-up included the Bundesliga trio of Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Vladimir Coufal and Robin Hranac (both TSG Hoffenheim) – came out on top.
Five days earlier, the Czechs had also only won on penalties in the semi-final against Ireland after trailing 0-2. The team now heads to the World Cup, where they will face South Korea, South Africa and hosts Mexico in Group A.
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