Poland Falls to Sweden, Lewandowski Misses Out on 2026 World Cup Glory

Gothenburg:

Robert Lewandowski will be missed at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, as Poland failed to qualify after losing to Sweden in the playoff final at the Strawberry Arena on Tuesday. It was a dramatic finish to the match as Viktor Gyökeres scored the winner in the 88th minute, confirming Sweden’s qualification for the event for the first time since 2018.

The Arsenal striker smashed the winner to take his team 3-2 ahead in the game to become the hero five days after netting a hat-trick in Sweden’s playoff semifinal win over Ukraine. Interestingly, Sweden made it to the quarterfinals in their previous appearance at the FIFA World Cup and will now join the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F for the event later this year.

Sweden had hired former Chelsea and West Ham coach Graham Potter on a short-term deal with a goal to get the team to the World Cup and he succeeded in the mission.

Coming back to Robert Lewandowski, this would have been his final World Cup appearance had Poland qualified, and it seems unlikely that he will be around when the next edition comes in 2030. In his World Cup career, he scored two goals and assisted in one in seven matches, having first found the net in the game against Saudi Arabia in 2022. Poland made it to the Round of 16 in FIFA World Cup four years ago before being knocked out by France.

Türkiye, Bosnia and Czechia also qualify for FIFA World Cup as Italy miss out again

Meanwhile, in other matches, Italy have missed out on qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the third straight edition with their final appearance dating back to 2014. They lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the penalty shootout 1-4 after the regular match ended 1-1 and neither team managed to score in the extra time.

Türkiye defeated Kosovo 1-0 to join hosts USA in Group D for the World Cup alongside Paraguay, and Australia. Czechia sealed the final place at the World Cup in a penalty shootout victory over Denmark following a 2-2 draw in regular and extra time. They have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 2006 and will face Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A.

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