It took the Czech Republic all of 15 minutes to break the spirits of the Austrians and advance to its first FIFA Under-20 World Cup soccer final.

Forwards Tomas Micola and Martin Fenin scored in the early stages of the match, leading the Czechs to a convincing 2-0 victory over Austria in Wednesday night's semifinal at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Tomas Micola, right, celebrates his goal with teammates Ondrej Mazuch, centre, and Ondrej Kudela Wednesday night in Edmonton.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

The Czech Republic will play the winner of Thursday night's other semifinal matchup in Toronto (CBC, 7:30 p.m. ET) between Chile and defending champion Argentina.

The final, which will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, takes place on Sunday afternoon in Toronto (CBC, 2:30 p.m. ET).

"The first half was a little bit weak for us," said Austria coach Paul Gludovatz. "It hurts me a lot that the first goal came from a free-kick set-piece and it was a pity that the match was decided after 15 minutes [with the second goal]."

The normally defensive-minded Czechs attacked from the opening whistle, taking advantage of an undermanned Austrian defence.

Defender Thomas Panny missed Wednesday's match after breaking his fibula during Tuesday's practice.

Austria was also without defenders Michael Stanislaw and Michael Madl, who were each handed one-game suspensions for drawing second yellow cards in the quarter-finals against the United States.

"We expected a very even match and the statistics say so," said Czech coach Miroslav Soukup.

"I have to admire Austria because they were without two of their better players, while others had yellow cards. We were fortunate at the beginning of the game that we scored two quick goals and we almost got a third one."

The Czechs stunned Austria with the first goal during the fourth minute of play off a free kick.

Midfielder Lubos Kalouda curled a shot at the left side of the Austrian penalty area that was stopped by goalkeeper Michael Zaglmair, but Micola was left alone in the box to convert the rebound.

The Czech Republic opened up a 2-0 advantage following another defensive breakdown by Austria only 11 minutes later. Ondrej Kudela fed a crossing pass to a wide open Fenin, who made no mistake with his shot into the open net.

"We play as a team. I am pleased that people say I had a big impact on the outcome of this match but, for me, it is all about the team," said Fenin. "It's always a great feeling when you score a big goal in an important game but it's very hard to describe it."

Czechs lose Janda for next match

The Czechs, however, lost midfielder Petr Janda in the 37th minute for Sunday's final.

English referee Howard Webb handed Janda his second yellow card of the tournament for diving in the Austrian box, drawing an automatic suspension for the next match.

Deflated by the early Czech surge, the Austrians failed to put a consistent offensive attack together, registering only one shot in the contest.

That opportunity occurred in the 90th minute off a corner kick when a Sebastian Proedl header was easily turned away by Czech goalkeeper Radek Petr.

The defeated Austrians now focus their attention on the third-place game on Sunday (CBC, noon ET) in Toronto as they play the loser of the Argentina-Chile matchup.

"Of course the disappointment is huge but nevertheless we played five very, very good matches at this tournament," said Austrian midfielder Peter Hackmair.

"At this level, you have to perform well for 90 minutes, not just 45, and the first half was the decisive thing today. We are not out of the tournament yet because we still want to win third place and get the bronze medal."