Czech captain Tomáš Souček, who plays for West Ham United, has one major unfulfilled goal: leading his country to the 2026 World Cup finals.

The West Ham United midfielder not only continues to shine in the Premier League, contributing 9 league goals this season, but also becomes an indispensable soul figure of the Czech team with his stable leadership and comprehensive performance.

Since Soucek took over the captain's armband at the 2020 European Cup, he has led the Czech Republic to many breakthroughs, including advancement to the UEFA Nations League A, and has accumulated 42 captain experiences, ranking second in the history of the Czech team.

Soucek admitted in an interview: "This will be a very significant thing. We are not a country like England that enters the World Cup every time. The Czech Republic has not been able to step into the World Cup for 20 years. As the captain, this is my biggest dream."

Currently, the Czech team has made a perfect start in Group L of the European qualifiers for the World Cup, defeating the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar to top the group, but their next opponents will be the stronger Montenegro and Croatia.

For the next game, Soucek knows that the challenge is about to escalate, but he also shows firm confidence: "Croatia is the favorite, but we believe in ourselves and we can compete with them."

In addition to the national team, Soucek also set records in the Premier League, and is only four goals away from surpassing Patrick Berge to become the Czech player's all-time top scorer in the Premier League. In the 194 Premier League appearances, he is also second only to Cech and Berge, ranking third among Czech players.