Wales vs Poland

Cardiff City Stadium forms the backdrop for a ‘make or break’ Euro 2024 qualifying playoff final between Wales and Poland.

Wales ought to take the field in high spirits following a 4-1 thrashing of Finland in the semi-finals, bidding to avoid missing out on a major tournament for only the second time since 2016. Last week’s emphatic performance in Cardiff extended the Dragons’ impressive unbeaten run to seven matches (W4, D3) and consolidated their intimidating home form in Euro qualifying. Rob Page’s men have only lost once in their last 16 Euro qualifiers on home turf (W11, D4), suggesting their underwhelming streak of nine straight winless H2Hs (D2, L7) could end at the best possible moment. However, you’d need to go back to Wales’ first-ever encounter against Poland in 1973 for their only H2H triumph, which perhaps best illustrates the size of the task awaiting them this midweek.

In the meantime, Poland’s form in Euro 2024 qualifying Group E was far from impressive (W3, D2, L3), but they rediscovered their mojo in last week’s playoff semi-finals, demolishing 10-man Estonia 5-1 in Warsaw. Fresh off their biggest-margin triumph since October 2021, the Eagles take this crunch trip in a buoyant mood, confident of reaching the most prominent continental tournament for the fifth time on the trot. Indeed, Michal Probierz’s troops are unbeaten in their last five internationals (W3, D2). But on a less positive note, before a 2-0 victory at the Faroe Islands in October, Poland had lost three consecutive internationals on foreign soil, conceding 2+ goals on each occasion. Confidence stems from a 1-0 win on this ground in September 2022, which stretched Poland’s winning H2H streak to six games.