Poland‘s Play-off Path: Three Potentialโ Hurdles โto the 2026โค World Cup
Polandโข secured their place in the โWorld Cup play-offs afterโ topping their Nationsโ League โC โขdivision group,โค accumulating 16 points from 18 available against Armenia, the Faroe Islands, and Latvia. Their qualifying โคcampaign saw themโข finish with 13 points in a group also featuring Liechtenstein, Kazakhstan, Wales, and Belgium. Now, โฃthe focus โขshifts to navigating a potentially challenging play-off route to reach the tournament in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
While โคa favorable draw is possible, a worst-case scenario looms, presenting significant obstacles to Poland’s world Cup ambitions. This scenario highlights three especiallyโ formidable opponents: Ireland,Italy,Tรผrkiye,and Denmark.
Ireland’s Late Surge: Ireland unexpectedly entered the play-off picture with โขaโฃ strong finishโ to qualifying, securing victories against โคPortugal (2-0) and Hungary (3-2) in dramatic โคaway matches. This late momentum makes them a dangerous opponent inโฃ the โขsemi-finalโ stage.
Kosovo’s Unpredictability: Kosovo also โpresents a challenging prospect. Duringโค the qualifying rounds, they โearned 11 points, including โฃa point against Switzerland, four against Slovenia, and six againstโข Sweden. Their performance demonstratesโ an ability to compete with established โขEuropean nations.
The Finalโ hurdle: Italy, Tรผrkiye, or Denmark: the biggest challenge, tho, is anticipated in a potential play-off final. Playing the final match away from โขhome would โขsignificantly reduce Poland’s chances of success.โข Furthermore, if teams from the โคhigher-seeded pot prevail in their semi-finals, facing either โItaly, Tรผrkiye, or Denmark โwouldโ position โฃPoland as the clear underdog.
Italy, despite recent struggles – including difficulties defeating โIsrael and Moldova during qualifying – remains a team boasting considerable talent.Missing out on a third consecutive World Cup wouldโข be considered a national disgrace โฃfor the Italians. โคThey have a 50% chance of โฃfacing Sweden or North Macedoniaโ in the โsemi-finals, โthe teamsโฃ that eliminated them from contention โin theโค 2018โ and 2022โ World Cup play-offs.
Tรผrkiye, unable to qualify directly due to a challengingโ group with Spain, โคdemonstrated theirโฃ strength by โwinning all four matches against Georgiaโฃ and Bulgaria. They also achievedโ promotion to the A division of the Nationsโค league (from which Poland was relegated) โฃand reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
Perhaps the biggest surprise among the potential โฃopponents is Denmark. Brian Riemer’s team led their โqualifying group for a significant period, but ultimately finished second after a disappointing end to โthe campaign: a โข2-2 draw with Belarus at home and a 2-4โข defeat against Scotland. Nevertheless, Denmark reached the knockout stageโฃ of Euro 2024 and the โขquarter-finals of the Nations League, where they lost toโค eventual champions Portugalโ after extra time.
the play-off draw will takeโค place on Thursday at โ1:00โ p.m., with liveโ coverage โavailableโข on Przeglฤ d Sportowy Onet.โค Nonetheless of โthe draw,โ Poland will need โขto โovercome theirโ semi-final opponent toโ keepโข their World Cup โคdreams alive, acknowledging that a loss would indicate they are โฃnot โyet โขat the level required to compete on the world stage.