[citation needed] Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in which they defeated Malta 6–1 in Ostrava.

In the final tournament, hosted by England, the Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany.

The Czechs finished third in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, behind Spain and Yugoslavia, and subsequently missed the tournament.

[10] The team lost to the Netherlands after a last-minute penalty[11] and were defeated in second match by France, which eliminated them from advancing to the knockout round.

[11] Once again, the Czech Republic failed to qualify for the World Cup, this time finishing second in their 2002 qualification group, behind Denmark, and then being beaten 1–0 in both legs by Belgium in the UEFA play-offs for a place in the finals.

[14] The Czech Republic beat Denmark in the quarter-final, went into the semi-final against Greece and Tomáš Rosický hit the bar after just two minutes, Jan Koller had shots saved by the Greek goalkeeper and Pavel Nedvěd left the pitch injured in the end of the first half.

[15] The Czech Republic achieved their record win during the 2006 World Cup qualifying, thrashing Andorra 8–1 in a qualification match in Liberec.

[16] At the end of the campaign, after finishing in second place in Group 1 and defeating Norway in a playoff, the Czechs qualified for their first World Cup.

[17] The team was boosted prior to the play-off matches by the return of Pavel Nedvěd,[18] who had initially retired from international football after Euro 2004.

[23] Ivan Hašek took temporary charge as manager,[24] gaining four points from his first two matches, as the team drew away to group leaders Slovakia and thrashed San Marino 7–0 in Uherské Hradiště.

They subsequently beat Poland in Prague but followed this result with a goalless draw against Northern Ireland, finishing third in the group and failing to qualify for the World Cup.

In the second leg in Podgorica, a late goal from Petr Jiráček sealed a 1–0 win and the Czechs ran out 3–0 aggregate winners and qualified for Euro 2012.

[citation needed] At the tournament, the Czechs lost their opening game 4–1 to Russia, with their only goal coming from Václav Pilař.

[27] Going into their third and final group match, the Czech Republic needed at least a draw against co-hosts Poland to advance to the knockout stage.

The Czech team began with a win, defeating Netherlands, and followed up with victories over Turkey, Kazakhstan and Iceland, leaving them as group leaders with maximum points after four matches.

A draw at home against Latvia followed; nonetheless, Czech Republic remained group leaders, and on 6 September 2015, qualified for their sixth European Championship.

During a friendly match against Australia on 1 June 2018, the Czechs recorded their biggest defeat losing 0–4 in Sankt Pölten, Austria.

The Czech Republic won the first game against Scotland, who were one of 12 host countries for the Euros, with a double from Patrik Schick (2–0), including a long-range goal.

In the round of 16 the Czech Republic faced the Netherlands, surprising them with a 2–0 win with goals from Tomáš Holeš and Patrik Schick while the Dutch team finished the game with 10 players.

[37] Appearing in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012, they were beaten by Denmark 2–1, having conceded the first Danish goal after 5 minutes of play due to a refereeing error caused by a non-existent corner.

After qualifying, coach Jaroslav Šilhavý resigned in the face of criticism from fans and controversy surrounding some of the team's players.

However, since the 2018 World Cup qualification, major matches are usually played at the newer Stadion Eden, the home stadium of Slavia Prague, which was built in 2008.