The lineup announced by Santos last Thursday includes Barcelona star striker Robert Lewandowski and other regulars such as Napoli midfielder Piotr Zieliński and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.
Meanwhile, defensive midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak and winger Kamil Grosicki are making a comeback to the national squad after a gap of several months. They have not yet played for the Polish team under Santos.
Goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski and midfielder Nicola Zalewski were initially named in the squad, but they later succumbed to injuries and will not be available for international duty, state news agency PAP reported on Sunday.
Poland will play the Faroe Islands in their fourth Euro 2024 qualifier at the National Stadium in Warsaw on September 7. Three days later the Poles will take on Albania in their next qualifying fixture in Tirana.
Poland in June lost 2-3 to Moldova in their third Euro 2024 qualifier in Chișinău, leaving fans jittery about the national football team's chances of qualifying for the European tournament next year.
The Polish team, captained by Lewandowski, on March 24 opened its Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a 1-3 defeat against the Czech Republic. The Poles then beat Albania 1-0 at home in their second qualifier on March 27.
After three rounds of fixtures, Poland are fourth in their qualifying Group E, ahead of only the Faroe Islands.
Poland are ranked 26th worldwide by football's governing body FIFA, while the Faroe Islands are No. 129 in the FIFA table. Albania are ranked 65th.
The Euro 2024 tournament will be held from June 14 to July 14, 2024 in 10 cities in Germany, with the final played at Berlin's Olympiastadion.
Poland reached the last 16 of last year's World Cup in Qatar before being eliminated by eventual runners-up France.
The lineup announced by the Poland manager last Thursday is led by captain Robert Lewandowski. Image: laczynaspilka.pl
Here is the full Poland squad for the September matches against the Faroe Islands and Albania:
Goalkeepers: Bartłomiej Drągowski, Kamil Grabara, Wojciech Szczęsny.
Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Bartosz Bereszyński, Matty Cash, Paweł Dawidowicz, Tomasz Kędziora, Jakub Kiwior, Mateusz Wieteska.
Midfielders: Adrian Benedyczak, Jakub Kamiński, Kacper Kozłowski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Kamil Grosicki, Karol Linetty, Michał Skóraś, Bartosz Slisz, Damian Szymański, Sebastian Szymański, Paweł Wszołek, Piotr Zieliński.
Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik, Karol Świderski.
EURO 2024 qualifying groups
Group A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus
Group B: Netherlands, France, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar
Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta
Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia
Group E: Poland, Albania, Czech Republic, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia
Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino
Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra
Group J: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein
(gs)
Source: PAP, TVP Info, laczynaspilka.pl