The Czechoslovakia national under-21 football team was the national football team for the under-21s of Czechoslovakia, before the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia (For information about the national teams of the two countries, see the articles Czech Republic national under-21 football team and Slovakia national under-21 football team.)
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, Czechoslovakia's under-21 team was formed. Despite the end of the country in January 1993, the team played until March 1994, fulfilling its fixtures in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship as a combined team. Since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. Czechoslovakia's record for the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown.
In its twelve U-23 and U-21 competitions, the team had a decent record, winning the first competition in 1972 and reaching the quarter-finals on seven occasions. The team failed to qualify for the final eight on four occasions.
U-23 Challenge Cup In November 1967, Czechoslovakia were randomly chosen to play holders Bulgaria in Pleven for the Challenge Cup, but lost the match 2–1, with Mikuláš Krnáč scoring the goal for Czechoslovakia.
UEFA U-23 Championship Record Czechoslovakia's next competitive match was in qualification for the newly-formed under-23 championship, which got underway on 7 October 1970. They successfully navigated the qualification stage, topping a group with Finland and Romania. In the final stages they successively beat Sweden, Greece to reach the final against the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia became champions of the inaugural edition in 1972 after beating the USSR 3–1 in the deciding second leg of the final at Bazaly in Ostrava, with goals from Miroslav Gajdůšek, Dušan Herda and Milan Albrecht.
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
UEFA European Under-23 Championship finals recordQualifications recordYearRoundPositionGP*GPWDLGFGA 1972 Champions 1st 6 3 1 2 11 7 4 2 2 0 8 4 1972 1974 Quarterfinals 8th 2 1 0 1 2 7 4 3 0 1 9 3 1974 1976 did not qualify 4 0 2 2 3 7 1976 Total 1 title 2/3 8 4 1 3 13 14 12 5 4 3 20 14 Total
UEFA U-21 Championship Record From 1978, Czechoslovakia competed in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
1978: Losing quarter-finalists 1980: Losing quarter-finalists 1982: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group 3. 1984: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 4 in qualification group 5. 1986: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group 2. 1988: Losing quarter-finalists 1990: Losing quarter-finalists 1992: Losing quarter-finalists 1994: Losing quarter-finalists
References
External links UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.