Speaking at a press conference at the Al Kharaitiyat training centre in Qatar on Friday, the Poland captain said that, given his current physical shape, there is a good chance he could be fit to play in the next football World Cup in 2026, but “there’s a raft of factors” that will decide “whether this will be possible or not.”
Lewandowski told reporters that the weather conditions in Qatar “shouldn’t pose a problem” for the players and declared that “the team's spirit remains high,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The 34-year-old Barcelona striker has earned 134 caps and scored 76 goals for Poland.
He will be looking to net his first career World Cup goal in Qatar after failing to score at the 2018 tournament in Russia.
'All fit' for World Cup
Meanwhile, Poland’s head coach Czesław Michniewicz announced that “there have been no new injuries” and that all 26 players were "fit and available for selection.”
He said that four players were not in full training after they played in a friendly against Chile on Wednesday and needed time to recover.
Next Tuesday, Poland will take on Mexico in their first group-stage match at the 2022 World Cup.
They will then square up against Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
The game against Argentina on November 30 has been billed by the media as a showdown between two of the world’s best football players – Poland’s Lewandowski and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
All eyes on Qatar
The 2022 World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on Sunday, has been marred by controversy, including allegations of massive abuse of migrant workers from South Asia, gender and sexual orientation discrimination, and corruption allegations surrounding Qatar’s winning of hosting rights for the tournament from FIFA.
Last year, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported that at least 6,500 foreign workers died as a result of slave-like working conditions while building key infrastructure for the event.
Suspected human rights violations have spurred activists into action, while prompting a fair portion of football fans worldwide to boycott the tournament in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Polish team has been caught up in controversy surrounding its head coach, as Michniewicz was allegedly involved in Poland’s biggest match-fixing scandal in the early 2000s.
He was reportedly found to have spent 27 hours on the phone with a Polish "football mafia" boss, who was later sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.
(pjm/gs)
Source: PAP