UEFA Nations
2026-09-29 - Czechia vs England
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Nations League Match Day 2
Tuesday 29th September 2026 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Czechia
Promotion to League A of the Nations League will help in the development of this group of Czechia players, especially after taking part at the 2026 World Cup Finals. They did not make much of an impact in North America, while Czechia have already learned how tough it is going to be to retain their spot in League A after an opening home defeat to Croatia.
It is a defeat that means Czechia are going to have to find some big results against what looks to be the stronger teams in this Group and that begins with another home game, but this time against World Cup Semi Finalists England. Anything less than a victory would likely mean Czechia are going to be hot favourites to finish bottom of the section, especially with away games at Spain and England to come over the next several days.
Czechia had been unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions and had earned the spot at the World Cup Finals by winning a couple of Penalty Shoot Outs in the Play Off ties played last March. However, they were beaten twice in 3 World Cup Group games and have added the defeat to Croatia to a poor run of form. Czechia had been unbeaten in 13 competitive fixtures at home and had won 9 of those before the 1-2 loss to Croatia on Match Day 1 of the Nations League Group Stage.
Injuries have really hurt Czechia even before the first game in this Nations League tournament and the options are very limited for the home team.
England
Plenty of positives can be taken from the performance against Spain and Thomas Tuchel was focusing on those after England's 2-3 home loss to the World Champions. However, others have pointed out that England continue to struggle to find big results against the very best teams, especially in highly competitive situations, and that needs to be improved if they are going to win the Euro 2028 tournament hosted in the United Kingdom.
The first test is in the Nations League after England earned promotion from League B following a surprising relegation, but that opening defeat means there is work to do. Consecutive away games at Czechia and Croatia over the next few days will be a real test for the England players and a squad that will want to earn a spot in the Quarter Final of this competition.
England have won 1 of the last 4 games in all competitions and that was in the Third Place Play Off at the World Cup, which cannot be considered as competitive a fixture as the games that the team have lost. Extra Time was needed to beat Norway in the World Cup Quarter Final before the late capitulation against Argentina in the Semi Final and the 2-3 defeat to Spain will have hurt. England have won the last 7 away competitive fixtures played since a 1-1 draw at North Macedonia in the Euro 2024 Qualifying Group.
Thomas Tuchel may choose to make one or two changes to his starting eleven to freshen things up as England deal with four fixtures in eleven days.
Head to Head
Since Czechia split with Slovakia, England have played this opponent five times and have won 3 of those, including beating them 1-0 at home in the delayed Euro 2020 Group Stage.
The last time Czechia hosted England ended in a 2-1 home win during the Euro 2020 Qualifiers.
That is the sole occasion in which Czechia have hosted England since the breakup of Czechoslovakia.
Prediction
After the opening home defeats suffered by both Czechia and England in this Nations League Group, there is some pressure on both to earn a positive result on Match Day 2.
Both have improvements to be made, especially defensively, but England showed more composure in the final third against a tougher opponent and that will give Thomas Tuchel's men confidence.
Changes are expected, but England still have a strong squad of players from which to choose, while Czechia have headed into this international window with a number of players missing through injury.
Czechia did beat England the only time they have hosted them since the breakup of Czechoslovakia, but the home team look short of options and England may end up proving to be a little too strong in the final third for an opponent that also earned promotion from League B in the last running of the Nations League.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Czechia 0-2 England
