Poland and Sweden prepare to battle for a place in World Cup finals in Qatar later this year in their playoff final at the Silesian Stadium on Tuesday night with kickoff at 21:45.
Poland made it to the playoff final after their semi-final opponents Russia were banned by FIFA from the competitions following their country’s invasion of their Eastern European neighbours Ukraine.
This allowed Czeslaw Michniewicz’s side test their wits against Scotland in a friendly battle at Hampden in their preparations for Tuesday clash against the Swedes. Poland saw off two players with injuries before the half-time mark, but managed to hold the Scotts to a 1-1 draw following a Krzysztof Piatek’s penalty right at the end of the match.
They will now be looking to make it to the World Cup finals for a second consecutive time and draw confidence from their recent run of form that has seen them suffer only one defeat in their last eight matches across all competitions, and not since 2009 have they failed to score in a World Cup qualifying match on home soil.
Meanwhile Sweden advanced to the playoff final after winning their semi-final encounter against Czech Republic. The match was closely contested and due to the quality of both sides, the match was forced into extra time where forwards Alexsander Isak and Robin Quaison combined for a late winner for Sweden in the second-half of extra time.
The win saw them bounce back from their back-to-back defeats in the group qualifying matches and have now won three and lost three of their last six qualifying matches and will looking to steady their momentum as eye a second consecutive World Cup appearance.
The Swedes will fancy their chances as they have a fine record against the Polish having won in their last consecutive meetings across all competitions and will want to extend that run on Tuesday, although they have not been doing well in their away matches having only won one of their last nine on the road games.
Poland vs Sweden head to head
Both sides have met in seven encounters since 1974 with Sweden claiming six victories while Poland have claimed only one victory. Take a look at their previous results;
- Sweden 3-2 Poland 23/06/21
- Sweden 3-1 Poland 05/06/04
- Poland 0-2 Sweden 10/09/03
- Sweden 3-0 Poland 11/06/03
- Sweden 2-0 Poland 09/10/99
Home
- Scotland 1-1 Poland
- Poland 1-2 Hungary
- Andorra 1-4 Poland
- Albania 0-1 Poland
- Poland 5-0 San Marino
Away
- Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic
- Spain 1-0 Sweden
- Georgia 2-0 Sweden
- Sweden 2-0 Greece
- Sweden 3-0 Kosovo
Poland team news
Poland will be without Arkadiusz Milik and Bartosz Salamon due to injuries, while Mateusz Klich is suspended and Krzysztof Piatek is a doubt.
Sweden team news
Sweden will be without Martiz Olsson who suffered an injury in their last match against the Czechs, while Emil Krafth and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are expeted back from suspension.
Prediction and odds
- Double chance
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
