It is too early to assess how difficult the group that the Montenegrin footballers were drawn in the World Cup qualifiers is, but the first impression is that they can be satisfied.
France or Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar - these are the selections with which the "brave falcons" form group L, and special attention is paid to the Czechs, who have so far always emerged victorious in duels with our selection. Everyone remembers 2011 and the barrage for the European Championship when Montenegro was so close, but at the same time very far from qualifying for the big competition. The losing streak against the Czech Republic had just begun.
The dream of the World Cup or Euro is still going on, there is a new chance from March... Whether it's a rival to the chosen ones Robert Prosinecki whether it's the French or the Croats, everything is clear here - Montenegro will be an outsider, against the others it doesn't have to be the case, although the Czech Republic enters the qualifiers as the favorite for the number two spot.
The Czechs, however, do not have a lot of experience playing in World Cups, as they have only participated in the World Cup once since 1998, ending with Qatar 2022 - they played in Germany in 2006 and finished the competition in the group. They were more successful when it came to the European Championship, so it is remembered that the famous generation played the final with the Germans in 1996, as well as that the Czech Republic was third in Portugal in 2004.
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All that has passed, "dumplings" no longer have names like Karel Poborskog, Jan Koler, Pavel Nedved or Milan Baroš, but now it is a national team that has respect and that recently won placement in the A division of the League of Nations through a group with Ukraine, Georgia and Albania. Therefore, the Czech Republic is not a team of stars, it is characterized by solidity, and the West Ham tandem - the defender - leads the way Vladimir coufal and a tall midfielder Tomas Soucek, while the most famous name is in attack Patrick Schick, goal scorer of Bayer Leverkusen.
In the recently played campaign of the League of Nations, the best scorer of the Czech Republic was the midfielder of Viktoria Plzeň Pavel Sulc, who scored three goals, while the striker had one less Tomas Hori (Slavia Prague). In the group, the Czechs won all three games at home, they played a draw with Ukraine and Albania, and their only defeat was in Tblisi against Georgia.
1:13 is the goal difference of the Montenegrin national team in five defeats in matches with the Czech Republic. It all started in November 2011 in the play-offs for the European Championship, followed by defeats in the qualifiers for Euro 2020, as well as in a friendly match
At the Euro played this summer, the Czech Republic was an actor only in the group stage - it won a point in the competition with Portugal, Turkey and Georgia, with whom it played 1:1 in the second round in Hamburg. The scorer of the only goal was Šik, who played in the League of Nations only in the September cycle.
The Czech Republic is not a bogeyman on paper, but so far it has been shown that it does not lie to the Montenegrin national team, which has experienced all five defeats in five mutual matches so far with only one goal scored - it conceded as many as 13... The story began in November 2011. in the play-off for the EP (0:2, 0:1), then it continued in the qualifiers for Euro 2020, when it was 3:0 twice, and the last game was played in Podgorica in June of last year when the Falcons lost 4:1 in a friendly match.
The remaining rivals in the qualification group for the World Cup are lower class, although the Faroe Islands have not been "cannon fodder" for a long time.
Montenegro has not played against Faran until now and it is clear that it is no longer a team against which victories can be registered in advance - in the C League of Nations they were recently ranked third in a group with North Macedonia, Armenia and Latvia, where they won six in six rounds points.
For example, they defeated the Macedonians at home (1:1), they beat Armenia away (1:0), in the last qualifiers for the Euro they drew in Albania - 0:0, and the biggest result is, without a doubt, the victory over Turkey in the previous edition of the League of Nations (2:1 in Torshavn).
Gibraltar, on the other hand, is a team that has been a member of UEFA since 2013 and since then - both in the D League of Nations and in friendly matches - they have won a total of 10 times. There are 70 defeats, including two in duels with Montenegro in the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar (4:1, 3:0).
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