(Football news) With a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on the line, Poland and Sweden will battle it out at the Stadion Slaski in the playoffs. The hosts received an automatic bye in the playoff finals after their match against Russia was cancelled due to the Ukraine invasion while Sweden defeated Czech Republic after 120 minutes.
Earlier this month, FIFA had announced that Russia will not be eligible to participate in the playoffs due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, which meant that their opponents Poland automatically progressed to the playoff final. However, they didn’t use the period to rest, instead, Czeslaw Michniewicz's side took on Scotland in a friendly to retain sharpness ahead of the fixture against Sweden.
The friendly against Scotland backfired in a few ways as two Polish players were forced to be substituted because of injuries while Kieran Tierney broke the deadlock in the 68th minute before a penalty by Krzysztof Piatek right before full time levelled the score. A result against Sweden would mean that Poland would qualify for their second consecutive World Cup and would aim to do better than their group stage elimination in 2018.
The hosts have only lost one match in the last eight across tournaments and haven’t failed to score in a single qualifying match since 2009. Moreover, a fit and ready Robert Lewandowski is the best striker in the world and Sweden would be extremely wary of the threat he possesses.
Sweden are also looking for back-to-back appearances in the World Cup after losing in the quarter-finals to England in 2018. The side must recover from their 120 minute fixture against the Czech Republic which saw substitute Robin Quaison score in the 110th minute to seal a place in the playoff final. Worryingly for Sweden, they have lost each of their last three World Cup qualifying away matches and have won only one of their last nine in all tournaments. However, Sweden have traditionally played well against Poland, winning six consecutive games, the last one being a 3-2 win in the group stage of Euro 2020.
In team news, Poland’s Arkadiusz Milik and Bartosz Salamon are currently injured while midfielder Mateusz Klich is suspended. With Piatek struggling with fitness, Lewandowski is expected to start the match and one of Marcin Kaminski or Bartosz Bereszynski should feature in the back three. Sweden’s answer to Lewandowski is none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is back from serving his ban alongside Emil Krafth. However, Martin Olsson will be unavailable for selection due to injury and either Ludwig Augustinsson or Pierre Bengtsson will replace him at left back. Despite being a closely contested fixture, Sweden should edge it out and find a place in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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