Robert Lewandowski or Zlatan Ibrahimovic could miss participating in 2022’s World Cup when Poland and Sweden meet in a play-off on Tuesday.
The winners of Chorzow will be drawn on Friday in the draw in this year’s World Cup group stage. This could be the last opportunity to participate in a World Cup for Swedish striker Ibrahimovic, who is 41, and Poland’s Lewandowski, who will be 34 when the finals begin in Qatar in November.
“A World Cup without Zlatan is not a World Cup,” Ibrahimovic said.
AC Milan in January. The veteran has had to endure an injury-ridden season. He also played all 90 minutes with AC Milan.
READ MORE: World Cup 2022 qualifying: Egypt defeats African champions Senegal
On Monday, Sweden head coach Janne Andersson told reporters that Ibrahimovic “is a weapon for us” as a substitute; however, he “can’t play the whole game.”
However, Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski is in top form with 50 goals for the club and his country this season.
The Poland captain, a back-to-back winner of FIFA’s top men’s player award, participated in training on Sunday after suffering an injury to his knee the week before and is scheduled to begin his training in Chorzow.
There will be a sense of seeking revenge on hosts Poland, which lost the game 3-2 in a 3-2 loss to Sweden at the end of their Euro 2020 group game last year.
Sweden’s goal of the match through Viktor Claesson in stoppage time in Saint Petersburg knocked Poland out in the group stage.
“We won last summer, so they (Poland) will no doubt be hungry for revenge,” said Sweden player Emil Forsberg.
“It would be great to give them another slap.”
Sweden is not happy they have Poland were automatically qualified for the play-off final, having been given a bye after UEFA prohibited their semi-final opponent Russia because of the invasion by Ukraine.
“The principle of playing under the same conditions, i.e., winning two matches to reach the World Cup finals, should apply,” stated Swedish FA General Secretary Hakan Sjostrand.
That same night Poland had a friendly draw away match against Scotland Thursday. With Lewandowski resting, Sweden needed extra time to defeat the Sweden Czech Republic 1-0 in their play-off semi-final.
Robin Quaison scored the winner for Sweden in the 110th minute of Stockholm.
