The Czech Republic showed great courage, beating Denmark in a penalty shootout.

Following their dramatic victory in the penalty shootout against the Republic of Ireland five days ago, the Czech Republic welcomed Denmark, a team that had just convincingly beaten North Macedonia.

The Czech Republic is currently ranked 43rd by FIFA, 23 places below Denmark, which makes them underdogs, but they showed great determination from the outset when they took the lead in the third minute.

A corner from Vladimír Coufal was cleared to Pavel Šulc, who took a beautiful right-footed shot from the edge of the box, beating the reach of Mads Hermansen and flying into the net.

However, Denmark's response to going behind early on was positive, with Rasmus Højlund forcing Matěj Kovář to make a save at the near post, before the goalkeeper made an excellent save to push the ball over the crossbar after Gustav Isaksen's well-taken free kick.

Brian Riemer's players continued to control the ball throughout the first half, yet they almost conceded a goal after a lightning-fast counterattack when Lukáš Provod. The player received a great pass from Šulc and took a light shot, but Hermansen blocked it and it went wide.

The Czech players maintained their formation after the break, aiming for a resounding victory against a Danish team that seemed to have exhausted their attacking options.

Surprisingly, Denmark equalised with a free kick in the 72nd minute when Joachim Andersen jumped higher than Kovář after a pass from Mikkel Damsgaard to head the ball into the net, breaking the home team's stubborn resistance.

Riemer's players pressed their opponents in the Czech Republic's half, looking for a second goal that could be decisive, and Damsgaard almost did just that with a spectacular long-range shot that went just wide of the post.

De Rød-Hvide continued to put pressure on their opponents in search of the decisive goal in the final minutes, but the match had to go into extra time, with that shot on target being the only one from the Danish team in the second half.

Their lack of attacking creativity cost them dearly when the Epet ARENA erupted with joy at the Czech Republic's second goal, scored just 10 minutes after the second half began.

Tomáš Souček caused problems in the penalty area from Coufal's cross, and the ball reached the perfect position for captain Ladislav Krejčí to score with a deflected shot, beating goalkeeper Hermansen.

Just when the home team thought they had secured victory, Riemer's team fought back, equalising once again.

Kasper Høgh headed in an Anders Dreyer corner to score his first international goal, dampening the home crowd's enthusiasm and ultimately taking the match to a penalty shootout.

The tide turned in favour of the home team when Højlund hit the crossbar, and after Dreyer and Mathias Jensen both missed their penalty, Michal Sadílek successfully scored the decisive penalty, setting off the celebrations.

This will be remembered as one of the most outstanding achievements in recent Czech football history, as Šulc, Souček and Krejčí follow in the footsteps of the 2006 generation, including Petr Čech, Tomáš Rosický and Pavel Nedvěd, in representing the national team at the World Cup. They will join the co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in the final tournament.