bbc.co.uk
At the 2022 World Cup, Poland reached the round of 16 for the first time in 36 years. They had no chance with the 1-3 loss against the later vice world champion France. Despite this, the tournament in Qatar was seen as a disappointment by the Polish team. The contract of national coach Czeslaw Michniewicz was not extended at the end of last year. Fernando Santos, a well-known coach, has been in charge since January 2023. In qualifying group E for the EUERO 2024, the Poles are actually the top favorite. But in the first game under the new coach, Poland suffered a bitter 1-3 defeat against the Czech Republic on Friday. From minute one, the Czechs were very energetic, offensive and tactically excellent on the pitch. The Poles were overwhelmed by this until the final whistle. The Albanians have had a hard time scoring goals in the recent past against Poland. On the home side, there is a world-class striker like Robert Lewandowski. But the ex-Bayern and Dortmund player can only rarely build on his performances in the clubs in the national team. So the bookies don't expect many goals in this game. Albania qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 2016. In Group A, they narrowly missed qualifying for the round of 16 behind France and Switzerland. However, the next three major tournaments all took place without their participation. In the battle for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the Albanians only finished third in their respective groups. In the fight for EURO 2022, they took just 13 points from ten games in a group with France, Turkey, Iceland, Andorra and Moldova and finished 4th.
