[ 2024 European Cup Czech Republic ] Arguably the surprise package of Euro 2020, where they reached the quarter-finals.

They finished second in their qualifying group - and will face Portugal, Turkey and Georgia at Euro 2024 in Germany.

Having said that, they did not have the ideal preparation ahead of the Euros in the summer though, as their manager Jaroslav Silhavy resigned after a string of poor performances that nearly cost them a qualifying spot.

The October internationals were most likely a turning point, as they were beaten 3-0 in Albania and were quite lucky to defeat the Faroe Islands at home.

A draw in Moldova earlier in the campaign meant the Czechs needed to avoid defeat to the Moldovans in their final qualifier to progress to the next round, helped by Poland's sudden drop-off.

After that underwhelming qualification, Silhavy submitted his resignation and was replaced by Ivan Hasek, who temporarily led the national team in 2009.

Head coach Hasek has now named a 26-player squad for the European Championship in Germany - here GOAL takes a look at the Czech Republic squad for this summer's tournament.

GOALKEEPERS

Although Bayer Leverkusen absolutely flew in the Bundesliga this season under the tutelage of Xabi Alonso, Matej Kovar was largely restricted to the cup goalkeeper role with veteran Lukas Hradecky maintaining the No. 1 spot at BayArena. That means Slavia Pragie's Jindrich Stanek is llikely to be the Czech No. 1 in Germany.

Name    Club

Jindrich Stanek  Slavia Prague

Vitezslav Jaros   Sturm Graz

Matej Kovar       Bayer Leverkusen

DEFENDERS

Hasek has several natural centre-back options in Slavia Prague trio David Zima, Tomas Holes, and Tomas Vlcek, as well as Sparta Prague duo Ladislav Krejci and Martin Vitík, the latter was named the best Czech youth footballer of the year 2023.

 West Ham's Vladimir Coufal was banished from the Czech Republic squad for breaking team rules during the November international break and, while hewasn't been called up for the March friendlies, he returns for the Euros.

Name    Club

Vladimir Coufal West Ham

David Jurasek    Hoffenheim

David Zima Slavia Prague

David Doudera  Slavia Prague

Ladislav Krejci    Sparta Prague

Martin Vitik Sparta Prague

Tomas Holes      Slavia Prague

Tomas Vlcek       Slavia Prague

Robin Hranac     Viktoria Plzen

MIDFIELDERS

West Ham United midfielder and Czech Republic captain Tomáš Souček is one of the first names on the team sheet as one of the most experienced players in the squad with over 65 caps.

 Slavia Prague duo Lukas Provod, and Lukas Sadilek will likely battle it out for the other spots in the midfield double pivot or trifecta.

Fiorentina's Antonin Barak, Feyenoord's Ondrej Lingr, and Wolfsburg's Vaclav Cerny are all attacking midfielders by trade, and will likely operate further forward.

Name    Club

Antonin Barak   Fiorentina

Lukas Provod     Slavia Prague

Lukas Sadilek     Sparta Prague

Ondrej Lingr      Feyenoord

Tomas Soucek   West Ham

Vaclav Cerny      Wolfsburg

Matej Jurasek    Slavia Prague

Pavel Sulc    Viktoria Plzen

Lukas Serv  Viktoria Plzen

FORWARDS

Mojmir Chytil is one of a few promising young attacking options for Hasek, along with Adam Hlozek and Matej Jurasek, joining the more experienced pair of Patrik Schick and Tomas Chory.

Name    Club

Adam Hlozek     Bayer Leverkusen

Mojmir Chytil    SK Slavia Prague

Patrik Schick      Bayer Leverkusen

Tomas Chory     Viktoria Plzen

Jan Kuchta   Sparta Prague

Czech Republic head coach Ivan Hasek