Poland must put UEFA EURO 2020 failure past them as they take on Albania in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers

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Paulo Sousa’s men have not had the best of runs in the last couple of months and something needs to drastically change if they are to qualify for next year’s World Cup.

Only one point from three games at EURO 2020 saw Poland get knocked out at the group stage phase and put their current Head Coach, Paulo Sousa, under a huge amount of pressure.

Securing a draw against the three-time winners was probably the biggest highlight of the tournament, but does not hide the fact that the White and Reds finished bottom of Group E.

However, the tide must turn at some point and facing a team like Albania may be a blessing in disguise as the Eagles sit directly above the White and Reds in third place.

Edoardo Reja’s men started their World Cup Qualifying with a bang as they beat Andorra 1-0 through Ermir Lenjani’s goal in the 41st minute. Albania dominated the game with 74% possession and restricted their opponents to only two shots with one hitting the target.

In the next game, it was a complete 180 as the Eagles were on the losing side. Facing England would never be easy as the hosts had no shots on target with Gareth Southgate’s men running out 2-0 winners.

Albania got the three points in the final game of the March international break as they cruised to a 2-0 win against San Marino. Once again, they dominated the game with 79% possession limiting their opponents to four shots.

Comparing the Eagles’ run to Poland’s, they’ve had slightly easier opponents compared to the White and Reds. Of course, all opponents should not be taken lightly as they could surprise you but that’s exactly what happened when Sousa’s men face Hungary in their first game of the World Cup Qualifiers.

Travelling to Budapest for their first match, Poland started the game very slowly and allowed the hosts to run into a 2-0 lead before the hour-mark after goals from Rolland Sallai in the sixth minute and Adam Szalai in the 52nd minute.

The introduction of Krzysztof Piatek and Kamil Jozwiak saw Hungary’s lead vanish in the space of two minutes as the duo got a goal each and levelled the game at 2-2.

Willi Orban put the hosts back into a 3-2 lead but Robert Lewandowski had the final say to level the game at 3-3 with eight minutes to go.

Poland showed no mercy in their second game against Andorra this time around as they beat their opponents 3-0 courtesy of goals from Lewandowski and Karol Swiderski.

Their final game against England didn’t go as well as they were beaten 2-1. Harry Kane opened the scoring in the 19th minute from the penalty spot before Jakub Moder equalised for Poland just before the hour-mark.

Harry Maguire secured maximum points for the Three Lions as his goal five minutes from time was enough to earn the victory over the White and Reds.

Poland and Albania have faced each other on 11 previous occasions with the White and Reds coming out on top seven times. The Eagles have beaten Poland just once with the victory coming back in 1953.

On paper, Paulo Sousa’s men should secure a victory a class the gap to the top two in Group I, England and Hungary, however, anything can happen as the White and Reds have a few of their top players missing which could see Albania come away with their second-ever victory and shock the Polish National Team, their fans and an entire nation.

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