Team profile: Czech Republic
Their FIFA ranking should inspire confidence, however qualifying out of the group might be another story. The Czechs will be looking to their midfield tyros to provide the impetus as they look to prove their positive showing at Euro 2004 was no fluke.
FIFA ranking: 2
Coach: Karel Bruckner
Key players: Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky, Milan Baros
World Cup record: First appearance (eight as Czechoslovakia, including runners-up 1938, 1962)
Qualifying route: Defeated Norway in European playoffs
Key question: The Czechs impressed plenty of people at Euro 2004 and followed that up by being the highest scoring European team in qualifying. Can they score enough goals to make a big impact?
Squad:
| Goalkeepers | # |
| Petr Cech | 1 |
| Jaromir Blazek | 16 |
| Antonin Kinsky | 23 |
| Defenders | |
| Zdenek Grygera | 2 |
| Pavel Mares | 3 |
| Marek Jankulovski | 6 |
| Martin Jiranek | 13 |
| Tomas Ujfalusi | 21 |
| David Rozehnal | 22 |
| Midfielders | |
| Tomas Galasek | 4 |
| Radoslav Kovac | 5 |
| Vladimir Smicer | 7 |
| Karel Poborsky | 8 |
| Tomas Rosicky | 10 |
| Pavel Nedved | 11 |
| David Jarolim | 14 |
| Jiri Stajner | 17 |
| Jan Polak | 19 |
| Jaroslav Plasil | 20 |
| Forwards | |
| Jan Koller | 9 |
| Vratislav Lokvenc | 12 |
| Milan Baros | 15 |
| Marek Heinz | 18 |
Group matches:
v USA, 16:00 GMT, Monday 12th June – Gelsenkirchen
v Ghana, 16:00 GMT, Saturday 17th June – Cologne
v Italy, 14:00 GMT, Thursday 22nd June – Hamburg