Thursday, June 6, at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, the Czech Republic hosts Montenegro for the third matchday of Group L in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, in what is effectively a direct clash for the top spot in the standings. Both teams, after two matches, are on maximum points, having won their opening two group games against Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands. The Czech Republic comes into this match in very good form. The national team led by Ivan Hašek is unbeaten in their last seven matches across the UEFA Nations League and World Cup qualifiers, with five wins and two draws. This trend reflects the team’s solidity and steady improvement as they push strongly for qualification to the next World Cup, a tournament they last participated in during the 2006 Germany edition. The Czech Republic’s goal is to beat Montenegro for two main reasons: to claim sole first place and to send a strong message to Croatia, who have been resting during the first two rounds and are favorites to finish top of Group L for direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup final tournament. Montenegro arrives at the third matchday of Group L with momentum. The team coached by Robert Prosinečki, the only player to have scored in a World Cup for two different national teams (Yugoslavia and Croatia), has regained confidence and results after a long negative period. Their two wins in the group have certainly boosted morale, but Montenegro knows the games against the Czech Republic and Croatia will be a different challenge. With nothing to lose, Montenegro will try to extend their positive streak, aware that every point, especially against direct rivals in the group, could be crucial to achieving their first ever qualification to a major international tournament.

Czech Republic Recent Form and Key Statistics

2025 has started in the best way for the Czechs, with two wins in the first two matches of Group L: first a 2-1 home victory against the Faroe Islands, followed by a comprehensive 0-4 away win over Gibraltar. In both games, Patrik Schick stood out, scoring three goals, confirming himself as the team’s offensive leader and focal point in attack.

Looking at the last five outings, the Czech Republic has secured three wins and two draws, with an average of 1.8 goals scored and only 0.6 conceded per game—numbers that reflect an important balance between defensive solidity and attacking effectiveness.

Home form is also very encouraging: the team has won their last four matches played in front of their own fans, beating sides such as Ukraine, Albania, Georgia, and again the Faroe Islands. More generally, the Czech Republic has lost only one of their last nine home games.

Montenegro Recent Form and Key Statistics

Montenegro comes into this fixture after three consecutive wins: two in the opening group matches (3-1 against Gibraltar and 1-0 against the Faroe Islands) and one last November against Turkey in the UEFA Nations League, also with a 3-1 scoreline.

This winning streak marks a clear turnaround compared to previous months, when Montenegro had suffered six straight defeats between the Nations League and European qualifiers.

Their away form, however, remains one of the national team’s weak points: the last official away win was over two years ago, in March 2023, with a 0-1 victory against Bulgaria in Euro 2024 qualifiers. Since then, their away record includes five losses and just one draw.

Czech Republic vs Montenegro Prediction and Tactical Overview

The most recent meeting between the two sides was a friendly in June 2023, which ended in a clear 4-1 victory for the Czech Republic away in Montenegro. Before that, during the 2020 European Championship qualifiers, the Czechs won both home and away legs 3-0. Overall, in the last five direct encounters, the Czech Republic has always won, averaging 2.6 goals per game against Montenegro’s 0.4.

The home team has recently shown a proactive approach, taking the lead in six of their last seven matches. Moreover, in recent home games, they have consistently scored (often two or more goals), led by the talents of Patrik Schick, who has scored 27 goals this season with Bayer Leverkusen, and Vaclav Cerny, who has netted 18 goals with Glasgow Rangers.

Montenegro, on the other hand, has produced good results at home but often disappointed away, failing to score in their three Nations League away matches against Iceland, Turkey, and Wales. The entire attacking burden rests on Nikola Krstovic who, despite scoring 11 goals this year in Serie A with Lecce, cannot carry the team alone.

Defensively, Montenegro is still struggling to find balance, having conceded at least one goal in eight of their last nine official matches, including games against weaker opponents like Gibraltar.

For these reasons, the Czech Republic vs Montenegro prediction is a home win with at least three goals in total, with a high probability that all goals come from the Czech side.

• Czech Republic vs Montenegro prediction from the BetMines algorithm predicts a match with Over 2.5 goals at 57%.
  
  
• Czech Republic vs Montenegro prediction from the BetMines Algorithm predicts a match with Under 2.5 goals at 43%.

Czech Republic vs Montenegro Predicted Lineups

CZECH REPUBLIC (4-2-3-1): Kovar; Coufal, Zima, Krejci, Zeleny; Soucek, Cerv; Cerny, Sulc, Provod; Schick. Coach: Hašek

MONTENEGRO (4-2-3-1): Popovic; Vesovic, Vujacic, Sipcic, Vukcevic; Jankovic, Loncar; Marusic, Jovetic, Vukotic; Krstovic. Coach: Prosinecki