Koubek Quits as Czechia Coach With a Bitter Swipe at the Media

Miroslav Koubek has resigned as head coach of Czechia, ending a six-month tenure that delivered the country's first World Cup appearance in two decades and then collapsed into a bottom-of-the-group humiliation in North America.

The Czech Football Association dressed it up as a mutual parting. Koubek did not. In his own statement he blamed not only the team's failure but what he called "a media campaign based on a series of half-truths and fabrications" for forcing him out.

From 20-year wait to bottom of the group: how it unravelled

Czechia arrived at the 2026 World Cup carrying the weight of a 20-year absence. Their last appearance came in 2006, and qualification under Koubek was sold as a landmark moment for Czech football.

It did not survive contact with Group A. Czechia lost their opener to South Korea, drew with South Africa, then fell to co-hosts Mexico, finishing rock bottom with a single point.

One point from three games

The numbers tell the story bluntly.

• Lost to South Korea in the opening fixture
• Drew with South Africa, the result that kept faint hopes alive
• Lost to hosts Mexico to confirm elimination
• Finished bottom of Group A with one point

For a side that had waited two decades to return to the global stage, exiting at the first hurdle without a win was a brutal anticlimax. The feel-good qualification narrative curdled almost overnight.

A tenure that lasted six months

Koubek had only been in post since December 2025. His meeting with FA chairman David Trunda took place on 14 December in Kladno, where the pair agreed two objectives: return Czechia to the World Cup and build a foundation for the long term.

They achieved the first. The second never had time to take shape. Koubek was gone within six months, his exit confirmed on 29 June.

'Half-truths and fabrications': Koubek's parting shot at the media

The FA's framing was diplomatic. Trunda described an "open and fair debate" and said Koubek had offered his position, which he accepted after the World Cup failure.

Trunda was generous in his assessment of the outgoing coach.

"Qualifying for the World Cup was an extraordinary moment for all of Czech football, and Mr. Miroslav Koubek played a huge part in it. For that, he deserves my sincere respect and thanks."

The coach tells a different story

Koubek accepted his share of responsibility for the results. But he made clear the press played a direct role in his decision to walk.

"A media campaign based on a series of half-truths and fabrications against me also contributed to my decision. In this atmosphere, my work for the Czech national team would no longer make sense."

That is not the language of a mutual agreement. It is the language of a man who believes he was hounded out after delivering the headline achievement his employers wanted.

Was the criticism justified?

The honest answer sits somewhere in the middle. The results were genuinely poor: no team expects to finish bottom of a group containing South Africa, even with Mexico and South Korea alongside them.

Yet Koubek had also done what no Czech coach had managed in 20 years. Whether the scrutiny crossed into the territory he describes is impossible to verify from the outside, but the speed of his departure tells you how toxic the atmosphere had become.

He signed off by thanking Pavel Nedved, the FA executive committee, his staff and the supporters, while expressing regret that he would not get to fulfil the "specific and clear visions" he held for the job.

What next for Czechia ahead of Euro 2028 qualifying

The World Cup may have been a 20-year itch, but Czechia's true comfort zone is the European Championship. They have appeared at every Euros since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

A stronger continental pedigree

Their finest hour came at Euro 96, where they reached the final before losing to Germany. That continental record offers a sturdier platform than the World Cup record suggests, and it raises the stakes for the next campaign.

Qualification for Euro 2028, co-hosted by the UK and Republic of Ireland, begins next March. The qualifying draw takes place on 6 December.

A coaching vacancy at the worst time

The timing is awkward. Czechia must appoint a successor, integrate them and settle on an approach before competitive fixtures resume, all while the wounds from the World Cup are still raw.

For bettors and fans tracking the national team's trajectory, the instability matters. A coach quitting six months in, while accusing the domestic press of a smear campaign, is not the profile of a settled, upwardly mobile side heading into a tournament on near-home soil. For broader context on the tournament's storylines, see our world cup analysis coverage.

What happens next

The immediate priority for the Czech FA is finding a replacement before the Euro 2028 qualifying draw on 6 December. Whoever takes the job inherits a squad with genuine continental pedigree but a bruised confidence and a recruitment process conducted under public scrutiny.

Koubek's accusations will not disappear quietly. His framing of a hostile media puts pressure on both the FA and the press, and his successor will walk into a job where the relationship between coach and country has already been openly strained.

Czechia's status as Euros regulars gives them a realistic shot at reaching 2028. But the question hanging over them is whether the bottom-of-the-group failure was a one-off humiliation or the first sign of deeper drift. The next appointment will go a long way to answering it.