Czech Republic at the 2026 World Cup: Will the team surprise with a simple plan?

World Cup 2006: Czech Republic in a quick check

The goal machine from the Bundesliga

After many years, the Czech Republic is finally back on the World Cup stage. But getting there was a razor’s edge ride. The tournament will be too.

A generation of Czech football fans has never seen their team play on the biggest stage – until now. After 20 years of absence, the “Repre” is back at a world championship. The expectations? Manageable. The team? A team of workers, not a glamor troupe. Coach Miroslav Koubek only took over at Christmas, immediately switched to a flexible five-man chain and relied on iron discipline.

What this team lacks in shine, this team makes up for with cohesion and late goals – as shown by their two penalty shootout playoff wins. Koubek has turned an unsettled group into a close-knit unit that consists of far more than just eleven regular players. The Czechs came to work – and to stay as long as possible.

The qualification was a nightmare. After a weak group phase – including an embarrassing draw against the Faroe Islands – the Czech Republic suddenly found itself without a permanent coach. Köstl’s interim solution saved the team into the playoffs with a bang. Things got dramatic there: against Ireland it was only a penalty shootout, and against Denmark too. Twice a test of nerves, passed twice.

It was only with the signing of Miroslav Koubek in December 2025 that things calmed down. Koubek relied on defensive order and clear statements – and led the team into the finals with two wins in the friendly games against Kosovo (2:1) and Guatemala (3:1). The survival recipe is ready.

The Czech Republic plays in Group A against South Korea, South Africa and Mexico.

• South Korea – Guadalajara, June 12, 4:00 a.m. (CEST): The Koreans are strong, disciplined and uncomfortable in pressing. Their switching game is quick, the wingers look for every gap. For the Czech Republic, this means staying compact and not offering any rooms in the center. The opportunity lies in the physicality – Souček and Schick have to show their presence, otherwise there is a risk of a false start.
• South Africa – Atlanta, June 18, 6:00 p.m. (CEST): South Africa have pace and courage, but are defensively vulnerable. The Czech team has to secure the second balls and force set pieces. Jurásek’s crosses could become the key. But be careful: if you stand too high, you will run into a counter attack. A game of patience.
• Mexico – Mexico City, June 25, 3:00 a.m. (CEST): Mexico is technically superior, plays with a lot of ball possession and looks for combination play. For the Czech Republic it will be a game against the ball – stand deep and hope for moments of transition. The altitude of Mexico City and the late kick-off time are an additional test. The itinerary: Guadalajara, Atlanta, Mexico City – three climate zones, three challenges.

• Tomáš Souček (West Ham United, market value approx. 10 million euros): The captain is the heart of the “Repre”. 1.93 meters tall, four-time footballer of the year, marathon man in midfield. He gets his endurance from his mother, who runs marathons – and as a child he sometimes went with her through the forest. Souček survived a difficult time with insomnia and depression, and today he celebrates every goal with the “helicopter” celebration. He remains limited when it comes to building up the game, but he is indispensable as a vacuum cleaner in front of the defense. The fans call him “Helicopter”. That fits.
• Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen, approx. 18 million euros): The target player who is waiting in the penalty area is chic. Even as a child, he didn’t celebrate goals, but rather fetched the ball and wanted to keep going. Tears flowed after missed opportunities. His career took him from Sparta Prague via Sampdoria Genoa, AS Roma and RB Leipzig to Bayer Leverkusen – only there did he explode. He scored his 100th goal for the club in April 2026. He remains prone to injury and often dives in combination play. But when it counts, he’s there. A real goal machine.
• Adam Hložek (TSG Hoffenheim, approx. 10 million euros): Hložek acts like an accelerator in the Czech team – dangerous outside, inside, everywhere. He made his debut at the age of 16 at his hometown club Sparta Prague, where he scored 40 competitive goals before moving to Leverkusen. There he was often only a rotation player, but now he is looking for his luck in Hoffenheim. His trademark: a huge lion tattoo on his thigh. “The lion gives me strength,” he says. He is sometimes careless when it comes to defensive behavior. But when he gets rolling, things get wild.
• David Jurásek (Slavia Prague, approx. 5 million euros): Jurásek is the flanker on the left. Benfica paid 14 million euros, set the release clause at 80 million – then came the ankle injury. After a loan to Hoffenheim, he returned to Slavia, where he finally won his first championship title. Jurásek brings speed, physicality and a strong left foot. But he makes mistakes under pressure and is vulnerable in positional play.
• Jindřich Staněk (Slavia Prague, approx. 2 million euros): The “Tiger” came to football via a detour. First he tried his hand at ice hockey. At a young age he trained as a backup at Everton with top stars such as Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto’o. “It was like being beaten up,” he says today about the shooting training at the time. He had to go through the third division and calls himself a “cat with seven lives”. Strong in the penalty area, sometimes flighty on crosses. He loves visiting the zoo and spending a lot of time in front of the tiger enclosure. He feels “inspired” by the big cats. This is where his nickname comes from.

When Miroslav Koubek was introduced as coach last December, the mood at “Reprezentace” was bad. After an embarrassment against the Faroe Islands, predecessor Ivan Hasek was sacked and Tomáš Souček was stripped of his captain’s armband – because he had not thanked the fans sufficiently after the 6-0 win against Gibraltar.

But the 74-year-old Koubek, who once kept goal for Sparta Prague, brought calm back to his homeland, which he never left as a coach (with the exception of a guest appearance at the Bavarian FC Amberg). With two successful penalty shootouts in the playoffs, the coach gifted his country its first World Cup participation in 20 years.