Sweden 3-2 Poland: Heartbreak as Biało-Czerwoni miss out on their first tournament in 12 years

Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter

A late Viktor Gyökeres goal consigned Poland to defeat as Sweden advance to the World Cup in their place. 

Earlier goals from Anthony Elanga and Gustaf Lagerbielke for the hosts were twice cancelled out by Nicola Zalewski and Karol Świderski. 

Poland had nearly twice the number of passes, more shots and 67% possession, and yet ended up coming away the losing side. It’s incredibly deflating not just when you look at the statistics, but also at the balance of play. Sweden rarely threatened the Polish goal at all, especially in the second half, but it seemed like luck was very much on the Swedish side. 

Of course, what I’m about to write will inevitably sound like the ramblings of a bad loser, but you would have to politely point out that the referee was inconsistent at best and influenced by the crowd at worst. Were the game being played in Poland, perhaps this would’ve been the reverse, but it did seem like there was a double-standard in regards to the ease with which Polish players picked up cheap bookings and yet the considerable time-wasting that occurred from Sweden’s goalkeeper when his team were leading was not punished. 

I don’t want to crow on about how much better Poland were and yet still ended up losing, but it was practically the opposite game to the one played four years ago in this very same situation. In fact, that’s perhaps being too kind on tonight’s Swedish performance, as it really was a team there for the taking. It reminded me a lot of many Premier League games I’ve watched this season, in which the more creative and dominant team comes away bested by a scattergun counter-attack and a workman-like (and slightly gamesmanship-like) low block. 

Right, sore loser portion of the report out of the way, and what of the positives? Well, Jan Urban is clearly the right man to lead Poland in qualifying for Euro 2028, but beyond that it’s a little hard to see past the pain of having the summer off. 

Other negatives include the fact that this very likely could’ve been Robert Lewandowski’s last game for his country, given some of the reports and overtures made in this international break. If that is the case, then that’s just as painful as not going to the World Cup. 

Another negative would be the panic in Poland’s defence, similar as it was to Thursday against Albania. I think part of this is having to play with a different goalkeeper to usual, but it would be hard to blame Kamil Grabara for this. Likewise, tonight did not show us the best of Oskar Pietuszewski, talented as he is Świderski was really great for the hour he played. 

Anyway, I’m sure there will be more reaction in the coming days and I’ll do my best to speak about it, but either way the next six months without watching Poland are likely to feel very long indeed. 

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