Czechia vs England facts

Czechia and England face a rapid reunion as they kick off their UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group C campaigns at the Batumi Arena in Batumi having also been drawn together in qualifying.

England won both matches against the Czechs on the way to these finals, the ninth successive tournament in which they have featured – although only one of the last six has extended into the knockout rounds. Czechia, meanwhile, have qualified for the fourth time in five tournaments, although they have failed to progress from the group stage in the last three.

Holders Germany and Israel are also in Group C at these finals, which is played in Georgia with all games at either the Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi or the Batumi Arena in Batumi.

Previous meetings

England beat Czechia home and away in qualifying. Anthony Gordon's early double (4, 11) and a Folarin Balogun strike (30) helped secure a 3-1 win at Burnley's Turf Moor on 11 November 2021, Adam Karabec with the visitors' response from the penalty spot (40).

Emile Smith Rowe (22) and Jacob Ramsey (46) got the goals at the Stadion Střelecký ostrov in České Budějovice on 3 June 2022, Daniel Fila's 88th-minute strike not enough for the home side.

Those were England's first competitive U21 wins against Czechia, both previous fixtures having come in the final tournament. The teams had played out a 0-0 draw in Arnhem on Matchday 1 in 2007; that proved to be Czechia's sole point of their campaign as they finished bottom of Group B with England progressing as runners-up before losing an epic penalty shoot-out to hosts the Netherlands in the semi-finals (12-13).

Czechia staged a late rally to qualify for the 2011 semi-finals at England's expense with a 2-1 comeback win in Viborg on Matchday 3. Danny Welbeck's 76th-minute strike put his team on course for the last four but goals in the closing stages from Jan Chramosta (89) and Tomáš Pekhart (90+4) took the Czechs through as Group B runners-up instead. They lost 1-0 to Switzerland after extra time in the last four.

England have won their last three games against the Czechs and are unbeaten in four since that 2011 defeat (W3 D1); overall, their record against Czechia is W4 D3 L2.

Max Aarons and Morgan Gibbs-White were both in the England side that beat Czechia 4-1 in the European U19 Championship elite round on 20 March 2019. Michal Fukala and Pavel Šulc were in the Czech line-up.

Martin Vitík was part of the Czechia side beaten 2-0 by England in a U17 friendly in November 2017.

Gibbs-White scored England's third goal in a 5-3 elite round win against Czechia in the U17 elite round on 23 March 2017.

Form guide

Czechia

This is Czechia's ninth final tournament appearance, and a fourth in five editions of the competition. Semi-finalists in 2011 and runners-up in 2000, they were champions in 2002, beating France on penalties in the final with a team including Petr Čech, Zdeněk Grygera, Tomáš Hübschman and Milan Baroš.

In addition, Czechoslovakia were losing quarter-finalists on six occasions.

The Czechs' 2021 campaign failed to extend beyond the group stage, a side coached by Karel Krejčí finishing third in Group B after 1-1 draws against Italy and co-hosts Slovenia were followed by a 2-0 defeat against Spain.

This time round, with Jan Suchopárek having replaced Krejčí as head coach, Czechia finished second behind England in Group G, winning seven of their ten matches and losing only against the section winners. That sent them into a play-off against Iceland, the Czechs winning 2-1 in the away first leg and holding on to progress by the same aggregate score.

Fila, Karabec and Václav Sejk were Czechia's joint top scorers in qualifying with four goals each.

England

This is England's ninth successive final tournament campaign – the longest ongoing sequence in the competition – and an 11th overall; they last missed out in 2006.

Champions in 1982 and 1984, England also reached four further semi-finals in the first six editions of the European U21 Championship.

However, the Young Lions have progressed only once from the group stage in the last six finals campaigns, reaching the semi-finals in 2017. They have won only four of their 19 finals games in that sequence, losing ten.

In 2021, a late Croatia goal in England's 2-1 Matchday 3 victory meant Aidy Bothroyd's side finished level on three points with their opponents but were eliminated on goals scored in a three-way head-to-head also involving Switzerland, finishing bottom of the section.

The win against Croatia is England's only victory in their last seven finals games (D2 L4).

Lee Carsley's team won eight of their ten qualifiers to finish three points clear of Czechia in the 2023 preliminaries, although a 2-1 home loss to Slovenia in the last game in their group on 13 June 2022 ended England's record 54-game unbeaten run in U21 qualifying (W47 D7), dating back to 14 November 2011.

Balogun, who is not in the final tournament squad, was England's top scorer in qualifying with six goals. Taylor Harwood-Bellis made the most appearances, starting all ten matches.

Links and trivia

Czechia coach Suchopárek was part of the squad that reached the final of EURO '96 in England, playing in five of their six matches including the 2-1 final loss to Germany. He had opened the scoring in a 3-3 draw against Russia at Anfield on Matchday 3.

Have played in England:
Vítězslav Jaroš (Liverpool 2017–, Notts County 2022 loan, Stockport County 2022/23 loan)
Jan Žambůrek (Brentford 2018–22, Shrewsbury 2020/21 loan)

Have played together:
Vítězslav Jaroš & Curtis Jones (Liverpool 2017–)
Vítězslav Jaroš & Harvey Elliott (Liverpool 2019–)