As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.Vsichni jsou uz v Mexiku – They all went to MexicoOutside of this year’s debutants, only seven qualified nations have waited longer than the Czech Republic to play at a World Cup.It has been 20 years since they last appeared on football’s global stage, when they had stars such as Ballon d’Or winner Pavel Nedved and all-time Premier League clean sheet record holder Petr Cech.Vsichni jsou uz v Mexiku, which translates roughly as ‘They all went to Mexico’, has captured the nation’s joy at returning to football’s biggest party.The song is older than the nation itself. Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved into two independent countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, on December 31, 1992.‘They all went to Mexico’ was a single released by Mexican-American artist Carlos Santana on the 1983 album Havana Moon. Its lyrics use Mexico as a metaphor for the afterlife, with Santana pondering being left behind by his loved ones.“Where’s my brown dog, where’s my hound?“He liked my truck, he hung around.“But he’s a canine, Romeo.“And I guess he went to Mexico,” Santana sang.Prague-based music label Supraphon was known for covers of American songs, and Czech country legend Michal Tucny covered Santana’s song with his band Tucnaci. Tucny’s cover took on a new meaning in 1986 when Czechoslovakia failed to qualify for the World Cup, held in Mexico that summer.Just like Santana and Tucny, Czechoslovakia were left behind, while so many other nations were in Mexico.“The sense of the song is that everyone has a better life than me. So everyone is (happy) in Mexico and I am struggling in the Czech Republic,” says Czech supporter Zbynek Vitek, 35.Covering American songs carried symbolism during a time when Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule, behind the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain, and opposed to the U.S. during the Cold War.In the build-up to this year’s tournament, however, the song has provoked joy decades later.Two of the Czech Republic’s group games are being held in Mexico — in Mexico City and Guadalajara. The other will take place in Atlanta, Georgia.