Czech football team suffers heavy defeat in World Cup qualifier

The Czech national football team lost 1–5 to Croatia in their fourth World Cup qualifying match on Monday evening, marking their joint second-worst defeat since the split of Czechoslovakia. Their only bigger loss was a 0–5 defeat to England in 2019.

After three straight wins, this was the team’s first stumble in the group stage under coach Ivan Hašek. The result seriously complicates their chances of qualifying directly for the World Cup, as only the group winner secures a guaranteed spot.