[2] Brückner began his coaching career in 1973 with his home club SK Sigma Olomouc,[3] before moving to FC Zbrojovka Brno, who he led in the Czechoslovak First League in the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons.

[3] He was appointed coach of the Czech Republic national under-21 football team in 1997 and the side finished second at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

[4] Brückner became the national team manager in 2001, following the Czech Republic's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Although Jan Koller scored a goal to make the score 2–1, Brückner responded by taking the unusual step of making a tactical substitution during the first half of the match, sending on midfielder Vladimír Šmicer to replace defender Zdeněk Grygera after just 25 minutes.

[9] On 2 March 2009, the Austrian Football Association announced that Brückner had left his position as Austria's coach by mutual consent after having led the team to just one win in seven matches.