Libor Sionko scored in the second minute, Marek Matejovsky in the 23rd and Jaroslav Plasil in the 64th.

The Germans and Czechs are both 7-1-2 with 23 points and cannot be overtaken by third-place Ireland (4-3-4), which has 16 points.

It was the most one-sided home defeat for the Germans since a 5-1 loss to England in September 2001. The capacity crowd of 66,000 at the Allianz Arena booed and whistled, apart from a small Czech section, and many German fans left long before the final whistle.

Germany dropped to 12-2-2 under Joachim Loew, who took over as coach from Juergen Klinsmann after last year's World Cup.

Both teams were missing several injured or suspended regulars. Czech playmaker Tomas Rosicky was held out because of a tender hamstring.

The Czechs, who failed to get out of the first round of last year's World Cup despite an opening win over the United States, went ahead after Jaroslav Plasil crossed to Jan Koller, who beat an offside trap. Alone in front of goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, the striker laid the ball off to Sionko, who slotted his shot into the net.