World Cup team arrives in Fort Worth for monthlong stay downtown
The Czechia national soccer team arrived Friday for its stay in downtown Fort Worth during the FIFA World Cup.
The team received a police escort to the Sheraton hotel on Commerce Street and had fans awaiting its arrival. Czechia will use the hotel for the duration of the tournament, being held June 11 through July 19 at sites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Czechia, more commonly known as the Czech Republic, will open play against South Korea at 9 p.m. June 11 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The team is in Group A and will also face Mexico and South Africa during the group stage.
Czechia will also hold its base camp and will be training at the new Texas Health Mansfield Stadium to prepare for its upcoming matches. The team will hold an open practice at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, but fans had to enter a lottery to win access to the practice.
The team is led by forward Patrik Schick and midfielder Tomás Soucek. Schick plays in Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga, for Bayer Leverkusen. Soucek plays in the English Premier League for West Ham United, which was recently relegated to a lower tier of English soccer.
