Czechia U21take on the visitors England U21 in the round 1 match of UEFA Euro U21. The match will be played on Thursday, June 12th at MOL Aréna (Dunajská Streda).
Czechia barely made it to the current tournament. The Little Lions were a strong force around the turn of the millennium — runners-up at Euro 2000 and champions two years later. Since then, they’ve only reached the semifinals once, and most of their appearances ended in group-stage exits. Still, they’ve shown impressive consistency, missing just one edition since 2015. They qualified once again for this tournament, hosted by neighboring Slovakia, but it was far from easy: they finished level on points (14) with Israel and only secured second place on head-to-head advantage. That wasn’t enough, as they had to go through the playoffs against Belgium — where they earned a confident 2-0 win in the first leg and sealed qualification with a 1-1 draw in the return. Their form has been patchy, but they’ve shown resilience in pressure situations.
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England were a dominant force in the 1980s, alternating between European titles and semifinal exits. After that golden era, results became more modest, though occasional success returned — and in 2023, they won the U21 Euros for the first time in over three decades. Some players from that squad remain in the mix, and the core group includes several Premier League regulars who are also pushing into the senior national team. Unsurprisingly, they cruised through qualifying, winning 8 of their 10 matches. England only edged out Ukraine for top spot in the second-to-last round, possibly taking advantage of a relaxed opponent. While recent friendlies brought mixed results — November draws with Spain and the Netherlands, and a 3-5 loss to France in March — they ended preparations on a high with a win over Portugal.
The teams have met six times in total — with Czechia earning a draw and a win early on. However, England have since won the last four meetings. The British side is stronger across the board and should prove it here — back England to win with a -1 handicap.
Prediction for the match: England to win with -1.0 handicap.
