30 years on from Euro '96, Czechs return to Wembley

Euro '96 was the first major tournament held after Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and few expected the newly formed Czech side to make an impact. Most of the squad still played in their domestic league, several had already booked post-group-stage holidays, and midfielder Vladimir Smicer was even planning his wedding.

Midfielder Patrik Berger recalled on the BBC's Sporting Witness podcast that his Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jurgen Kohler, who was in the Germany squad, did not even realise the Czechs were competing at the tournament.

The Czechs lost their opening match to Germany but then beat Italy and drew with Russia to reach the quarter-finals. There, Karel Poborsky scored one of the tournament's most memorable goals, chipping the ball over Portugal's goalkeeper. A goalless draw with France in the semi-final was followed by a penalty shootout win to reach the final.

At Wembley, Berger converted a penalty to put the Czechs ahead in the final against Germany, but Oliver Bierhoff equalised and later scored the first golden goal in a major final to hand Germany the title. Despite the defeat, around 100,000 fans greeted the team back in Prague.

As Czechoslovakia, the nation had won the European Championship in 1976, but the 1996 final remains the last one reached by the Czech Republic as an independent country. The team later reached the semi-finals in 2004 and the quarter-finals in 2012 and 2021, though their last two World Cup campaigns ended at the group stage.

Prague-based football journalist Ondrej Zlamal said the current generation lacks the talent of earlier squads, with fewer Czech players now at top clubs. The national team is now led by Spaniard Santi Denia, the first foreign manager in its history, whose initial squad includes several largely uncapped players.