Czech Republic World Cup 2026: Success hinges on sharpshooter Schick

The Czech Republic have had to wait 20 years, but they're finally back at a FIFA World Cup, having come through a tumultuous qualification campaign that saw them change manager and navigate two play-offs on penalties.

Below are my Czech Republic World Cup 2026 predictions, including an assessment of their squad and chances of advancing from Group A, where they take on South Africa, South Korea and co-hosts Mexico.

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Goalkeepers: Lukas Hornicek (Braga), Matej Kovar (PSV Eindhoven), Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague)

Defenders: Vladimir Coufal (Hoffenheim), David Doudera (Slavia Prague), Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague), Robin Hranac (Hoffenheim), Stepan Chaloupek (Slavia Prague), David Jurasek (Slavia Prague), Ladislav Krejci (Wolverhampton), Jaroslav Zeleny (Sparta Prague), David Zima (Slavia Prague)

Midfielders: Lukas Cerv (Viktoria Plzen), Vladimir Darida (Hradec Kralove), Lukas Provod (Slavia Prague), Michal Sadilek (Slavia Prague), Hugo Sochurek (Sparta Prague), Alexandr Sojka (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Soucek (West Ham), Pavel Sulc (Olympique Lyonnais), Denis Visinsky (Viktoria Plzen)

Forwards: Adam Hlozek (Hoffenheim), Tomas Chory (Slavia Prague), Mojmir Chytil (Slavia Prague), Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)

Two of the Czech Republic's most important players, skipper Ladislav Krejci and Tomas Soucek, arrive at the World Cup on the back of Premier League relegations with Wolves and West Ham United, respectively, but their main man in attack, Patrik Schick, enjoyed another productive season with Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 22 goals across the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League.

All three are likely to be crucial to their chances of a positive World Cup campaign alongside Lyon's Pavel Sulc, who struck 11 times in 27 Ligue appearances in 2025/26.

World Cup Odds

Veteran boss Miroslav Koubek was brought in after their penultimate Group L game in qualifying, with Ivan Hasek paying the price for a 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands.

Koubek's appointment proved to be decisive as he led them to success in the play-offs, with 2-2 draws against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark followed by penalty shootout wins, which will stand them in good stead for the knockouts of this World Cup, if they make it there.

Group A Fixtures:

11 June 8pm local (12 June 3am BST) - vs South Korea (Guadalajara)

18 June 12pm local (5pm BST) - vs South Africa (Atlanta)

24 June 7pm local (25 June 2am BST) - vs Mexico (Mexico City)

Player to watch: Patrik Schick

Schick was unfortunate not to pick up the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 (played in 2021), scoring the same number of goals (five) as Cristiano Ronaldo, netting more in open play, but losing out on the award to the Portuguese superstar on assists; what a crazy rule that is, by the way.

Nevertheless, that experience of scoring regularly at a big international tournament should serve him well for the World Cup, and the likes of Sulc and Lukas Provod should ensure he is well supported in attack.

Football Odds

Prediction: Round of 32

While top spot is achievable, I think a second or third-place finish is more realistic for the Czechs in Group A, so they stand a solid chance of making the knockouts.

Given how they scraped into the tournament, though, failing to beat the Republic of Ireland or Denmark after 120 minutes, I'm not confident about them in the round of 32, where they are most likely to exit the competition, in my opinion.