5 teams you did not know who played in the FIFA Confederations Cup

#1 Czech Republic in 1997

The Czech Republic came third at their only appearance at the Confederations Cup

The Czech Republic produced a huge surprise in their maiden tournament as an independent nation as they reached the final of Euro 1996 by defeating the likes of Portugal and France in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before losing to Germany via a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff in the final.

With Germany declining to participate in the tournament, the UEFA seat at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was taken by the Czech Republic who had the likes of Pavel Nedved, Karel Poborsky and Vladimir Smicer in their ranks.

The Czechs were pooled alongside Uruguay, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates and were expected to qualify for the semi-finals comfortably. However, the Czechs began their tournament with a disappointing 2-2 draw against South Africa which was followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Uruguay. The European side were in deep trouble and needed to defeat the United Arab Emirates in their final group game if they had any chance to qualify for the semi-finals.

The last game of the group stage saw the Czechs at the ruthless best as they went on to thrash UAE 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Vladimir Smicer and a brace from Pavel Nedved in addition to an own goal from UAE.

Thus, the Czechs qualified for the semi-finals where they were up against Brazil. The Czechs were no match for the Samba flair in the semis, going down 2-0 thanks to goals from Romario and Ronaldo.

In the third place play-off, they were again up against Uruguay and managed to avenge their group stage loss by defeating them 1-0 thanks to a 63^rd minute winner from Edvard Lasota. Vladimir Smicer received the Silver Shoe for the second highest goal-scorer of the tournament with 5 goals behind Romario’s 7 and was also voted the third best player of the tournament.