Poland vs. Albania

PGE Narodowy is the venue as Poland and Albania go head-to-head in a crunch World Cup qualifying meeting.

Poland are aiming to move on after an underwhelming Euro 2020 campaign that saw them finish bottom of their group (D1, L2) despite having a knock-out berth within their grasp until the final minutes. The hosts have endured mixed fortunes across their opening three World Cup qualifying matches (W1, D1, L1) as they head into proceedings trailing second-placed Hungary by three points. It’s sufficient to say Poland can ill-afford to drop points here if they are to reach back-to-back World Cup finals for the first time since 1982 and 1986. Luckily for the Poles, they go up against an Albania side they’ve defeated in three of their four previous World Cup qualifying H2Hs (D1). A tight contest could be on the cards, though, as each of those four matches featured a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals.

On the other hand, Albania take the field just one point adrift of second-placed Hungary after picking up two wins from their inaugural three Group I outings (L1). But it’s worth noting that both Albania’s victories in the ongoing qualifying cycle came against lower-ranked outfits Andorra and San Marino. Getting off the mark first could prove crucial to the visitors’ hopes of snatching away precious points, considering each of their three Group I results (win/loss) saw the winner on the day keep a clean sheet. Though they can take some confidence from their recent form in away World Cup qualifiers (W3, D1, L1), the Albanians have to be concerned about failing to beat better-ranked teams in the World Cup qualifying since March 2013.