Czechia

A solid but not flashy European side, these guys have a long history of punching above their weight and producing technically gifted players without ever quite breaking through to the sport's biggest stage. They had a decent qualifying run but nobody's penciling them in as a dark horse just yet — they're more the kind of team that grinds out results and makes things uncomfortable for bigger names. Keep an eye on whether their younger generation can step up, because if a couple of those prospects hit their stride at the right moment, they could surprise a few people.