The Czech Football Association has officially released coach Ivan Hašek after the team’s disappointing 2-1 loss to the Faroe Islands in the latest round of World Cup qualifying.
It remains uncertain who will take over Hašek’s position. Czech FA president David Trunda announced that there will be an interim coach appointed for the remainder of the qualifying phase, with a foreign coach likely stepping in for a permanent role thereafter.
Former Czech football legend Pavel Nedvěd has been tasked with creating a shortlist of possible replacements.
The recent defeat against the Faroe Islands, a region with merely 55,000 residents, marks the most significant upset for the Czech team in major tournament qualifiers since a loss to Luxembourg 20 years ago during the European Championship. Interestingly, despite that setback in the past, the Czech Republic still managed to qualify for the finals held in England.
Currently, the Czech team has the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, needing to defeat another underdog, Gibraltar, in their final match on November 17 to secure second place in Group L, thereby moving on to the playoffs.
During Hašek’s tenure, the Czech team was eliminated in the group stage of the 2024 European Championship but successfully topped their group in the Nations League and advanced to the elite Ligue A that same year.
