Football: Poland earn World Cup spot with playoff win over Sweden

Poland's national soccer team has qualified for this autumn’s World Cup in Qatar after defeating Sweden 2-0 in a playoff at home on Tuesday.

Polish football players celebrate on Tuesday after qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Photo: PAP/Zbigniew Meissner

Captain Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for the home team from a penalty in the 49th minute at the Silesian Stadium in the southern Polish city of Chorzów.

Midfielder Piotr Zieliński made it 2-0 for Poland after an error by the away team's defence in the 72nd minute, sealing the win and sending fans into jubilation.

Polish football players celebrate after the final whistle on Tuesday night. Photo: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski

The Poles, under manager Czesław Michniewicz, went into the match ranked 28th worldwide by football's governing body FIFA, while Sweden were No. 17 in the FIFA table.

Football’s world governing body FIFA earlier this month banned Russia from the playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar, giving Poland a bye to the playoff finals in European qualifying for the World Cup.

The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.

Poland also qualified for the previous World Cup in Russia, but suffered an early exit from the tournament in 2018. The Poles lost 1-2 to Senegal and 0-3 to Colombia in the group stage. They won their final game, beating Japan 1-0, but finished bottom of their Group H.

Poland finished third in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany and were also third in Spain in 1982.

(gs)

Source: PAP