On May 12, 2026, the Czech national team officially unveiled their 54-man preliminary squad for this year’s World Cup. The final 26-man roster will be selected from this list to represent the country at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
This marks the Czech Republic’s return to the World Cup finals after a 20-year absence. In the group stage starting this June, they will face South Korea, South Africa, and host nation Mexico.
Czech Football Association Chairman David Třenda commented on the selection process: “Regarding the preliminary list, we held thorough discussions within the sports management group, which included players like Zdeněk Grygera, Adolf Šádek, and Pavel Nedvěd. Of course, we also had in-depth conversations with national team head coach Miroslav Koubek. This preliminary list is the result of a long-term evaluation of players’ form, team compatibility, and various competitive factors. As required by FIFA, the list had to be submitted by May 11, 2026. Each World Cup participant can submit a maximum of 55 players in the preliminary squad, with the final roster drawn from this pool. Both general manager Pavel Nedvěd, head coach Koubek, and the sports management group have reached full agreement on this 54-man list.”
The Czech squad will officially assemble in Prague on May 28 for their final World Cup preparations. Three days later, on May 31, they will play a farewell home match at the epet Arena in Prague against Kosovo.
After that game, the Czech team will depart directly for the World Cup venue. They also plan a final warm-up match on June 4 in New Jersey, USA, with the opponent to be confirmed in the coming days.
According to the schedule, the Czech Republic will play their World Cup opener on June 12 against South Korea in Guadalajara, Mexico. They will then face South Africa in Atlanta on June 18, and conclude the group stage against host Mexico in Mexico City on June 25.
Below is the full Czech Republic 54-man preliminary World Cup squad:
**Goalkeepers:**
Lukáš Horníček (Braga), Martin Jedlička (Baník Ostrava), Antonín Kinský (Tottenham Hotspur), Jan Koutný (Olomouc), Tomáš Koubek (PSV Eindhoven), Jakub Markovič (Slavia Prague), Jindřich Staněk (Slavia Prague).
**Defenders:**
Vladimír Coufal (Hoffenheim), David Doudera (Slavia Prague), Matěj Hadaš (Olomouc), Tomáš Holeš (Slavia Prague), Robin Hranáč (Hoffenheim), Michal Hlaváček (Slavia Prague), Daniel Jermelka (Viktoria Plzeň), Matěj Jurásek (Slavia Prague), Ladislav Krejčí (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Karel Spáčil (Viktoria Plzeň), Adam Ševínský (Sparta Prague), Martin Vitík (Bologna), Tomáš Vlček (Slavia Prague), Jaroslav Zelený (Sparta Prague), David Zima (Slavia Prague).
**Midfielders:**
Lukáš Ambros (Górnik Zabrze), Michal Beran (Olomouc), Pavel Bucha (FC Cincinnati), Lukáš Červ (Viktoria Plzeň), Kryštof Daněk (LASK), Vladimír Darida (Hradec Králové), Patrik Hellebrand (Górnik Zabrze), Adam Karabec (Lyon), Ondřej Krištof (Baník Ostrava), Tomáš Ladra (Viktoria Plzeň), David Plánka (Baník Ostrava), Lukáš Provod (Slavia Prague), Matěj Ryneš (Sparta Prague), Lukáš Sadílek (Górnik Zabrze), Michal Sadílek (Slavia Prague), Hugo Sochůrek (Sparta Prague), Alexandr Sojka (Viktoria Plzeň), Tomáš Souček (West Ham United), Pavel Šulc (Lyon), Denis Višinský (Viktoria Plzeň).
**Forwards:**
Adam Hložek (Hoffenheim), Tomáš Chorý (Slavia Prague), Mojmír Chytil (Slavia Prague), Kryštof Karbongo (Mladá Boleslav), Jan Kliment (Olomouc), Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague), Vasil Kušej (Slavia Prague), Ondřej Mihálik (Hradec Králové), Vojtěch Patrák (Pardubice), Václav Sejk (Olomouc), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Matěj Vydra (Viktoria Plzeň).