Hungary shatter Poland’s six-game unbeaten run as the White and Reds end their World Cup qualifying campaign with a loss

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Paulo Sousa’s men struggled once again against a resolute Hungarian side that bowed out of the World Cup Qualifiers with a 2-1 win.

With the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Kamil Glik, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Arkadiusz Milik, Piotr Zielinski and Kamil Jozwiak absent from the starting 11, Poland lined up with a rotated squad ahead of their final game of the Qualifiers.

The game started slowly and the first five minutes saw the hosts control possession as they searched for the first goal of the match.

Poland’s first chance of the game came in the 11th minute through Krzysztof Piatek. Jakub Moder’s found the forward but his shot was blocked from going goalwards by Attila Szalai.

Making his full debut at the PGE Narodowy, Matty Cash was forced into a mistake by the Hungarian press, however, was rescued by his Polish teammates as they were able to clear the ball away from danger.

A minute later, Jan Bednarek made a burst from the defence as he sprung a surprise on the visitors. The defender connected with the ball but it wasn’t enough to send it goalwards.

Kevin Varga led Hungary’s first charge into the Poland half but his low cross was pushed away from danger by the diving Wojciech Szczesny.

However, the visitors managed to work the ball into the box again as Loïc Négo was afforded the chance to shoot but quick reactions from the Poland backline saw his effort blocked.

Hungary restricted the White and Reds to shots from outside the box with Moder’s latest effort an easy save for Dénes Dibusz.

Marco Rossi’s men were able to take the lead before half-time through András Schäfer. The midfielder was able to power his header through Szczesny’s legs as the visitors held the upper hand at the half-time interval.

In the second half, Poland started brightly as Paweł Dawidowicz nodded Piotr Zielinski’s corner into the path of Piatek but the forward could only force a save from Dibusz.

The visitors responded with two brilliant chances through Varga and Szabolcs Schön. The latter released a curling effort towards goal with Szczesny doing well to make a save. However, the Polish goalkeeper saw the ball fall to Varga who was unable to keep his shot down to the relief of the shot-stopper.

Just after the hour-mark, Poland equalised after a header from Karol Swiderski. Zielinski’s corner found Bednarek who headed the ball against a Hungarian defender before the forward jumped up to nod it into the back of the net.

Sousa’s side continued to search for a second but their hopes of a win were dashed after Hungary scored their second goal in the 80th minute.

Substitutes Tomas Kiss and Daniel Gazdag combined as the former’s pullback found the latter on the edge of the box. He was not closed down and was allowed to release his shot that floated into the top corner of the goal and handed the visitors a positive 2-1 win over the White and Reds.

Poland now await their opponents for the play-off semi-final as they look to cement a spot in next year’s World Cup.

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