Czech Republic ready for Wembley 30 years after Euro '96

The Czech Republic will return to the north London site that staged one of the biggest days in their history during this international break - as they head back to Wembley.

They face England twice in Nations League Group A3 - in Prague on Tuesday (19:45 BST) and London on 6 October.

The Czechs have been to Wembley since losing the Euro '96 final to Germany under the old stadium's twin towers, but this visit marks the 30-year anniversary of that remarkable summer in England.

Euro '96 was the first European Championship staged after Czechoslovakia separated - forming the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

But nobody expected the Czech team to have much impact at the tournament, including the country's own players.

They were outsiders, and most of the squad were still based in their domestic league.

Several had booked their holidays for straight after the group stage - which involved Germany, Italy and Russia - and Vladimir Smicer was even due to get married.

Midfielder Patrik Berger says his then Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jurgen Kohler did not even know the Czechs were at the Euros... and the defender was in the Germany squad.

Berger, speaking to the BBC Sporting Witness podcast earlier this year, said of Kohler: "He was asking me what my plans were for the summer. I said 'I'm going to the Euros' and he said 'to watch games?'

"I said 'no, we're playing you guys the first game of the group stages and then we will play in the final' - and he was laughing."

The Czechs lost their opening game 2-0 to Germany at Old Trafford before beating Italy 2-1 at Anfield.

Smicer's late equaliser in a 3-3 draw against Russia - at his future home of Anfield - was enough to see them through because Italy failed to beat Germany in the other game, finishing 0-0.

"We knew we were still in it, but we didn't know what the other result is," said Berger, who would go on to play for Liverpool with Smicer. "One minute we're not qualifying, the next it was we qualified, so we didn't really know.

"After the final whistle it took a few minutes before we realised we qualified for the quarter-finals."

In the quarters came one of the most memorable European Championship goals ever, with Karel Poborsky scooping the ball over Vitor Baia from the edge of the box to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 win over Portugal at Villa Park.

And, after a goalless draw against France in the semis at Old Trafford, the Czechs would win 6-5 on penalties.

Their spot-kicks were netted by players including future Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedved, Berger and Poborsky, who was back at the ground weeks later as a newly signed Manchester United player.

"You don't want to go there," said Berger of taking a penalty in a shootout.

"If someone says something different they're lying. Nobody wants to take that penalty."

He said the team "couldn't believe" they had beaten France.

"We were living the dream," Berger said. "It was an amazing feeling. An amazing moment for the country.

"To get to the final was kind of like a miracle for everyone."

Two days before the final, Smicer returned to Prague to get married.

Thousands of Czech fans turned out in the city centre for the occasion, but Smicer had to return to England the same day.

The Czech Republic faced Germany in the final at Wembley - and led after 59 minutes through Berger's drilled penalty.

He revealed he was not even meant to be the penalty taker but "could see nobody really wanted to take the ball".

"The only thing in my mind was hit it as hard as possible on target," he said.

Sadly for the Czechs, Oliver Bierhoff equalised 14 minutes later - and then scored the first ever golden goal in a major tournament final to give Germany the win.

"It wasn't meant to be," said Berger. "I'd love to be European champion, but silver for us was like a gold because it opened doors to so many of us. And it opened doors to the generation after us. I have no regrets.

"Thanks to Euro 96, because it was played in England, I caught the eye of Liverpool.

"There were 100,000 waiting for us in Prague celebrating. Even silver felt like winning the tournament for us."

As Czechoslovakia, the country won the European Championship in 1976 - and lost two World Cup finals (1934 and 1962).

But the Czech Republic's first tournament as a separate nation remains the last time they reached a final.

They have, however, enjoyed other memorable European Championships - having reached the 2004 semi-finals and the quarters in 2012 and 2021.

The 2004 squad had a mix of youth - such as Petr Cech, Milan Baros and Tomas Rosicky - and experience with Smicer, Berger and Poborsky.

They lost to eventual winners Greece in the last four.

Ondrej Zlamal, a Prague-based football journalist, says that team and their performances "were even better" than in 1996.

"This generation with Nedved and others culminated in 2004 and we had a feeling we should have won the Euros. We played better football than in 1996," Zlamal said. "It was the second highlight of the golden generation."

Their only two World Cups since then - 2006 and 2026 - have ended in group stage exits.

Zlamal said: "The performance this summer was really disappointing.

"There is a simple answer to why [the team have not lived up to the heights of the past] – we don't have such talented footballers as we had.

"We don't have enough players in the top teams like we used to.

"When I was six I watched the 1976 final which Czechoslovakia won, and my father told me 'remember this because you won't see it any more'.

"I don't believe this generation can reach such a success because the competition and football is much bigger.

"Miracles happen and maybe there could be a new generation which could be surprising as 1996... but I don't believe it will happen again."

A new era is starting with the Czech team under Spaniard Santi Denia, the first foreign manager in the national side's history.

His first squad - for Nations League games against Croatia, England and Spain - contains seven players with either no caps or one cap - although none are aged under 22.

Thirty years since Berger, Smicer, Poborsky and Nedved endured their north London heartbreak, the creaking old stadium has long ago been substituted out and replaced by a Wembley fit for the 21st Century.

Denia and his players could certainly pick a worse setting to deliver a statement performance.