From October 1987 to November 1988 Czechoslovakia took part for the first time in the qualifying of the still unofficial European Championship. In the mid-time it took part in June 1988 in the China-based 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament, an essay for the first official World Cup three years later, where it failed to progress to the quarter-finals despite defeating Japan and drawing with impending powerhouse United States. In the European Championship Czechoslovakia was defeated by West Germany in the last qualifying round.