Football is the most popular sport in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Football Association has run the country's top league, the 1
st league, since l925. The most popular club, AC Sparta Praha, have been remarkably successful in both domestic and European contests. Czechoslovakia were runners-up in the 1934 and 1962 World Cups, European champions in 1976 and the Czech Republic narrowly lost to Germany in the finals of 1996's European championships held in England. F. Planicka, I. Bican, J. Masopust, I. Viktor, A. Panenka, Z. Nehoda, T. Skuhravy, K. Poborsky, P. Berger and P. Nedved are among the most famous Czech footballers.
The Czech republic has always been a superpower in World Football and at the moment they are one of the new remaining
"Glamore teams" with the likes of such star as Karel Poborsky, Patrik Berger, Vladimir Smitzer, Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller. There are not many teams on the world stage that can complete with such raw talent and refined skill. The Czech Republic has their football players playing all over the world and in the top leagues such as Italy, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany and not to forget the Czech league which has its clubs playing in European Cups such as the Champion League and the UEFA Cup.