2025–26 Czech First League

Czech First League
Season2025–26
Dates18 July 2025 – 24 May 2026
Matches152
Goals399 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorerDaniel Vašulín and Tomáš Chorý (9 goals)
Biggest home winLiberec 6–0 Karviná
9 November 2025
Biggest away winMladá Boleslav 0–5 Plzeň
19 August 2025
Highest scoringPlzeň 3–5 Slavia
9 November 2025
2026–27
All statistics correct as of 14 December 2025.

The 2025–26 Czech First League, known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the 33rd season of the Czech Republic's top-tier football for professional clubs since its establishment, in 1993. Slavia Prague are the reigning champions. The season is scheduled to start in July 2025. The first half of the season will have 19 rounds, finishing in December, and the other half will commence on 31 January 2026. The season is expected to end on 25 May 2026 with two extra play-out fixtures on 28 and 31 May 2026.[1][2]

Format

The general season format is unchanged from last season. The 16 clubs will play each other home and away, until the league is split up in championship, play-off and relegation groups. The lowest-ranked team will be relegated directly to the second league, and the two teams positioned 14th and 15th will play a play-out with two teams from the second league positioned 2nd and 3rd in a home and away format.

This will be the eighth season to use VAR, featuring it in all matches played. There are no changes in the rules. The schedule also has not changed compared to last season.[2]

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of sixteen teams contest the league, including thirteen sides from the 2024–25 season, the winner of last season's second league, and two winners of the play-out, determined on 1 June 2025.

Team promoted to Czech First League

After being relegated in the 2023–24 season, FC Zlín returns to Czech First League as the champion of the 2024–25 Czech National Football League.[3]

Teams relegated from Czech First League

The lowest positioned team from the last season, SK Dynamo České Budějovice, was relegated to the Czech National Football League.

Locations and stadiums

Managerial changes

Pre-season:

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Contract valid until
Mladá Boleslav Josef Jinoch End of caretaker spell 25 May 2025 Aleš Majer[19] 2 June 2024 Undisclosed
Slovácko Tomáš Palinek End of caretaker spell 25 May 2025 Jan Kameník[20] 5 June 2025 Undisclosed
Sparta Prague Luboš Loučka End of caretaker spell 24 May 2025 Brian Priske[21] 8 June 2025 Undisclosed
Dukla Prague Petr Rada End of contract 2 June 2025 David Holoubek[22] 16 June 2025 Undisclosed

During the season:

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Match-week Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Contract valid until
Viktoria Plzeň Miroslav Koubek[23] Mutual consent 29 September 2025 10 5th Marek Bakoš[23] 29 September 2025 Undisclosed
Pardubice David Střihavka[24] Sacked 29 September 2025 10 16th Jiří Krejčí[24] 29 September 2025 Undisclosed
Baník Ostrava Pavel Hapal[25] Mutual consent 11 October 2025 12 11th Tomáš Galásek[26] 12 October 2025 Undisclosed
Pardubice Jiří Krejčí[27] End of caretaker spell 14 October 2025 12 16th Jan Trousil[27] 14 October 2025 Undisclosed
Karviná Martin Hyský[28] Signed by Viktoria Plzeň 15 October 2025 12 8th Marek Jarolím[28] 15 October 2025 Undisclosed
Viktoria Plzeň Marek Bakoš[29] End of caretaker spell 15 October 2025 12 6th Martin Hyský[29] 15 October 2025 2028
Slovácko Jan Kameník[30] Sacked 3 November 2025 14 16th Roman Skuhravý[31] 18 November 2025 Undisclosed

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Slavia Prague 19 13 6 0 41 16 +25 45 Qualification for the championship group
2 Sparta Prague 19 11 5 3 35 23 +12 38
3 Jablonec 19 10 5 4 27 20 +7 35
4 Viktoria Plzeň 19 9 5 5 35 26 +9 32
5 Karviná 19 10 2 7 34 30 +4 32
6 Slovan Liberec 19 8 7 4 33 19 +14 31
7 Sigma Olomouc 19 7 6 6 18 17 +1 27 Qualification for the play-off
8 Hradec Králové 19 7 6 6 30 26 +4 27
9 Zlín 19 7 5 7 26 24 +2 26
10 Teplice 19 5 6 8 20 25 −5 21
11 Pardubice 19 5 6 8 25 34 −9 21 Qualification for the relegation group
12 Bohemians 1905 19 5 4 10 14 24 −10 19
13 Mladá Boleslav 19 4 5 10 27 41 −14 17
14 Dukla Prague 19 2 8 9 14 27 −13 14
15 Baník Ostrava 19 3 5 11 12 25 −13 14
16 Slovácko 19 3 5 11 11 25 −14 14
Updated to match(es) played on 14 December 2025. Source: Chance Liga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Fair-play ranking; 8) Draw.[32]

Results

Home \ Away BOH DUK HKR JAB KAR LIB MLA OLO OST PCE PLZ SLA SLO SPA TEP ZLN
Bohemians 1905 1–2 0–1 0–3 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1
Dukla Prague 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 31 Jan 1–3
Hradec Králové 2–0 1–2 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–1 4–0 2–1 0–0
Jablonec 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 3–2 3–3 1–1 1–1 31 Jan 1–3
Karviná 1–2 2–0 4–3 1–2 1–1 0–0 1 Feb 2–1 4–1 0–1
Slovan Liberec 0–0 2–0 0–2 6–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1 Feb
Mladá Boleslav 31 Jan 3–2 2–4 3–3 1–4 1–1 0–5 1–3 0–0 1–2 3–1
Sigma Olomouc 0–0 31 Jan 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0
Baník Ostrava 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–2 1–4 2–0 0–3 1–1
Pardubice 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–4 2–1 0–1 1–5 1 Feb 1–1 1–3
Viktoria Plzeň 2–0 3–3 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 3–5 1–1 0–1
Slavia Prague 3–1 2–0 2–2 4–3 3–1 2–0 3–1 3–0 a 3–0 0–0
Slovácko 0–2 1–2 0–3 0–1 1 Feb 3–0 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–0
Sparta Prague 2–1 3–2 2–2 3–2 1–0 2–4 2–1 1–1 2–2 3–1
Teplice 3–0 0–1 1–1 2–3 1–0 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–3
Zlín 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–3 1–0 3–2 5–0 1–1 2–2 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 14 December 2025. Source: Chance Liga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 14 December 2025[33]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Daniel Vašulín Olomouc 9
Tomáš Chorý Slavia
3 Vojtěch Patrák Pardubice 8
Jan Chramosta Jablonec
5 Mojmír Chytil Slavia 7
Albion Rrahmani Sparta
Matyáš Vojta Mladá Boleslav
Lamin Jawo Jablonec
Rafiu Durosinmi Plzeň
10 9 players 6

Hat-tricks

Matchweek Date Player For Against Result
5 17 August 2025 Solomon John Mladá Boleslav Hradec Králové 3–2 (H)[34]
3 19 August 2025 Denis Višinský Plzeň Mladá Boleslav 5–0 (A)[35]
16 23 November 2025 Emmanuel Ayaosi Karviná Hradec Králové 4–3 (H)[36]
19 14 December 2025 Stanislav Petruta Zlín Olomouc 5–0 (H)[37]

Clean sheets

As of 14 December 2025[38]
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Jan Hanuš Jablonec 9
2 Jan Koutný Olomouc 7
Tomáš Koubek Liberec
Matouš Trmal Teplice
5 Michal Reichl Bohemians 1905 5
Adam Zadražil Hradec Králové
Peter Vindahl Sparta
Stanislav Dostál Zlín
9 Rihards Matrevics Dukla 4
Michal Jedlička Plzeň
Jakub Markovič Slavia
Jindřich Staněk Slavia

See also

References

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  3. ^ "Fotbalisté Zlína se po roční pauze vrátí do nejvyšší soutěže" (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 2025-05-07.
  4. ^ "Club info Bohemians 1905". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  5. ^ "Club info FK Dukla Praha". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  6. ^ "Club info FC Hradec Králové". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  7. ^ "Club info FK Jablonec". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  8. ^ "Club info MFK Karviná". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  9. ^ "Club info FC Slovan Liberec". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
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  20. ^ "Kameník se podle očekávání stal novým trenérem Slovácka". České noviny (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 2025-06-05.
  21. ^ "Dánský trenér Priske po roce znovu povede fotbalisty Sparty". České noviny (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 2025-06-08.
  22. ^ "Duklu po Radovi podle očekávání převzal trenér Holoubek". České noviny (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 2025-06-16.
  23. ^ a b "Plzeň je bez kouče, Koubek po neúspěších a blamáži s nováčkem skončil. Přijde Hyský?". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). Economia. Czech News Agency. 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
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  25. ^ Zamastil, Zdeněk (11 October 2025). "Hapal končí v Baníku a míří ke konkurenci". Sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Czech News Agency. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  26. ^ Hekele, David (12 October 2025). "Ostravský Baník má trenéra. Hapala na Bazalech nahradil exreprezentant Galásek". Deník (in Czech). Vltava Labe Media. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
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  33. ^ "Statistiky: Hráči". Chance Liga.
  34. ^ "Solomon John". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  35. ^ "Denis Višinský". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-08-19.
  36. ^ "Emmanuel Ayaosi". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  37. ^ "Stanislav Petruta". Chance Liga. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  38. ^ "Statistiky: Brankáři". Chance Liga.