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Football: Poland to face Scotland in Nations League

05.09.2024 13:00
Poland’s national football team is set to play Scotland in Glasgow on Thursday in its first match of the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League.
Poland boss Michał Probierz and player Jan Bednarek during a press conference in Glasgow on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.
Poland boss Michał Probierz and player Jan Bednarek during a press conference in Glasgow on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

The game at Hampden Park stadium in the Scottish capital kicks off at 8:45 p.m. Warsaw time.

The Poles, captained by star striker Robert Lewandowski, are looking to put up a strong performance as they start a series of matches against formidable European teams in the run-up to 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which begin in March next year.

Poland are ranked 28th worldwide by football's governing body FIFA, while Scotland are No. 48 in the FIFA table.

At a pre-match news conference in Glasgow on Wednesday, Poland manager Michał Probierz said: "It will be a very interesting match and a valuable test for us. We will see how our game compares to that of other European teams."

He added: "During the Nations League, we will certainly have the opportunity to evaluate our players and prepare them for World Cup qualifiers."

Poland will take on Croatia in Osijek on Sunday in their next Nations League fixture.

The Poles have been drawn to play Scotland, Croatia and Portugal in the group stage of the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League.

The four teams will play one another at home and away in Group 1 of the top League A from September to November.

The Nations League is UEFA’s newest national-team competition that is now in its fourth edition.

The European football governing body says the 2024/2025 edition of the competition has been expanded with a new knockout round to be played in March 2025.

The League A group winners and runners-up will participate in home-and-away quarterfinals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the final tournament in June 2025, according to the uefa.com website.

Meanwhile, the fourth-placed teams in League A will be automatically relegated to League B.

The competition's semifinals will take place on June 4 and 5, 2025. The winners will advance to the final on June 8, while the two beaten semifinalists will contest the match for third place earlier the same day.

The Nations League is designed to enable teams to play against those that are similarly ranked, while reducing the number of meaningless friendlies, UEFA said.

Portugal won the first edition of the Nations League in 2019, while France won the 2020/2021 UEFA Nations League, and Spain triumphed in the 2022/2023 edition.

2024/2025 UEFA Nations League

League A

Group A1: Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Scotland
Group A2: Italy, Belgium, France, Israel
Group A3: Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group A4: Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia

Poland in June suffered an early exit from the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, after losing its first two group-stage matches against the Netherlands and Austria and drawing 1-1 with France in its final game.

Poland finished last in their Group D and failed to advance to the knockout stage of the continental championships, with just one point from three group-stage games.

Scotland and Croatia were also eliminated from the Euro 2024 tournament after the group stage. Portugal, meanwhile, were knocked out in the quarterfinals by France.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, pzpn.pl, uefa.com/uefa.com