As the independent Czech Republic, qualified only once before — 2006 in Germany — so 2026 is its 2nd World Cup. (Predecessor Czechoslovakia appeared at 8 tournaments and were runners-up in 1934 and 1962, but that is a separate, now-defunct national team.)
The Plzeň-made attacker who earned a move to Lyon — a quick, two-footed creator who gives Koubek's grinding side a spark of genuine flair behind Schick.
The country's most-capped player and finest goalkeeper — a wall in the great mid-2000s side.
A towering centre-forward; 55 goals in 91 games remains the Czech benchmark.
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Miroslav Koubek (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pavel Nedvěd #11 | MF | 1994–2006 | 91 | 18 | The Czech Fury. A tireless engine of a midfielder and 2003 Ballon d'Or winner — Italy adopted him as their own. |
| Petr Čech #1 | GK | 2002–2016 | 124 | 0 | Record caps and a rugby scrum-cap. Kept goal as if the net personally owed him money. |
| Tomáš Rosický #10 | MF | 2000–2016 | 105 | 23 | Little Mozart. Conducted the midfield with a passing range you could hum along to. |
| Jan Koller #9 | FW | 1999–2009 | 91 | 55 | All-time top scorer and, briefly, an emergency goalkeeper. At 2.02m, simply unmissable. |
| Karel Poborský #8 | MF | 1994–2006 | 118 | 8 | The scorpion lob over Portugal at Euro '96 — a goal that launched a thousand long ponytails. |
| Milan Baroš #15 | FW | 2001–2012 | 93 | 41 | Euro 2004's Golden Boot. Pace to burn and a finish to match. |
| Vladimír Šmicer #7 | MF | 1993–2006 | 81 | 27 | Euro '96 finalist and Istanbul hero — scored in Liverpool's 2005 Champions League comeback too. |
| Patrik Schick #10 | FW | 2016– | 53 | 26 | Author of Euro 2020's goal of the tournament — a 49.7-metre lob from the halfway line. Still leading the line in 2026. |
| Zdeněk Nehoda #9 | FW | 1971–1987 | 91 | 31 | European champion in 1976 — the elder statesman whose record the Czech era spent years chasing. |
| Vladimír Coufal #5 | DF | 2019– | 62 | 2 | Overlapping right-back and dressing-room heartbeat — still bombing forward in 2026. |
Heirs to a grand Central-European footballing house — Panenka's chip, Nedvěd's lungs, Poborský's lob, Čech's gloves — the Czechs return from a two-decade World Cup exile with a workmanlike side built on Slavia Prague, marshalled by one of the tournament's oldest coaches, and led up front by the man with the longest-range goal you'll ever see. Not favourites; never to be taken lightly.