Ondrej Lingr was not even seven years old when his country last appeared in the FIFA World Cup™. The memories of Germany 2006 are faint, but it still provides ammunition when he playfully teases club coach Ben Olsen, who was on the USA team that were soundly defeated 3-0 by Czech Republic 20 years ago.
The Houston Dynamo man is now part of a side desperate to break a drought and qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in North America. Czechia find themselves in Path D of March’s European play-offs, facing Republic of Ireland and then a potential final against Denmark or North Macedonia, with the winners progressing to Group A of the World Cup alongside Korea Republic, co-hosts Mexico and South Africa.
The lone Czechia player who plies his trade in Major League Soccer (MLS) tells FIFA that he is eager to help return them to the big stage, while also bringing attention to the Dynamo and the city of Houston.
Ondrej Lingr: This is the most important year of my career for me, because we have a World Cup and maybe it’s my last chance to get to the World Cup. I’m happy that I can start [pre-season] training with the club because I came late last year, which is not the best because you need to go through a full pre-season. Also, I played a full year in Europe and I didn’t have a rest. I played two straight seasons, so I’m happy that I had some rest and I can start pre-season with Houston.
To be honest, we could have done better. We lost to Faroe Islands. It was a bad game from us. We lost against Croatia there, but had a 0-0 draw at home with Croatia. I played that match and that was a good result. We can definitely do better, but we still have a chance. We play two games at home. That’s a big thing.
I think now it’s not about playing style, it’s about the team’s character. In these types of games you have to be all in, because if you lose, you’re out. So it’s just about preparing ourselves mentally for the game and playing it like a final. I think we can adjust things later if we go to the World Cup, but right now, it’s two finals and it’s only about winning.
It’s a big advantage for us because we can have our fans and play on our field. But it’s also a big responsibility. If you lose, it’s bad. We will do everything to prepare ourselves to win this game and return to the World Cup after 20 years. It’s a big, big thing for Czechia right now.
We have an experienced team. You don’t want to concede first, that’s the most important thing. You don’t want to chase the result if you are losing 1-0, so the main thing is to be good in defence. The fans will help us too. They will be our 12th player.
It would be a really great thing. It would be special for the Czech people, because we usually don’t go to the World Cup. Two years back I was on the team in the EURO, but the World Cup is a different thing. Also, it’s in the United States, so it’s special for me because we have just a few players from Czechia that are playing here in the United States, and I’m the only one who is in the national team. It would also be a very good thing for the Houston Dynamo to have some players in the World Cup, so for our club it’s important.
I was small, but I knew the players. It was a great team. Names like [Jan] Koller, [Pavel] Nedved, [Tomas] Rosicky… They were great players. I joke with my coach about the 3-0 victory against the US (laughs).
It was Milan Baros. He played at Liverpool and he is from the area where I was born. Also, he is a striker, so he was my idol because we are quite similar.
It would be crazy to play Mexico in Mexico, but it would be a great experience. I know Santi Gimenez from Mexico. He is my friend because we played with each other at Feyenoord.
I love it here because people are really kind. We have a nice team, nice staff. I love to work hard here and I just want to be successful. Our goal is to make the play-offs, and everywhere I’ve been I’ve won a trophy, so it would be amazing if it can happen here. I would be so proud. If I’m successful here, I can be on the national team and grow in my career. Houston is a great city and for me, it’s an honor to play here.
Yeah, you can feel it already now. The city is preparing. Everybody is ready to be part of the World Cup.
I’ve been there with my wife and son to watch NFL and it’s a great stadium. Putting the normal grass on it will be special, so I think it’s a great stadium to host the World Cup.
It’s on a good path to be competing with the best competitions in the world. People in Europe are now respecting MLS. I came here and I didn’t know much about it, but it’s really on a high level. When we travel away for matches, the stadiums are great. I’ve played in about 50 games in European competitions like Champions League and Europa League, and I can say it’s a really high level here. I think it will get better. You can see a lot of amazing players coming here from Europe, like [Thomas] Muller, Son [Heungmin], so you can see that it’s growing fast.
