Poland in a surprising line-up against the Netherlands. Jan Urban can surprise!

The November training camp is not easy for coach Jan Urban. The coach of the Polish national team has to deal with several absences of players.

Will Jan Urban surprise the Dutch? Interesting composition of the Polish national team

In case of absences, most often the decisive factors were either cards or injuries. Due to an excess of yellows, defender Przemysław Wiśniewski and midfielder Bartosz Slisz must be suspended in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

However, goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski, defender Jan Bednarek and striker Krzysztof Piątek were ruled out with injuries. The match against the Netherlands will therefore be an interesting test for other players coach Urban has in the national team.

A replacement for Slisz may be especially interesting. Between the lines during the press conferences, the words of the Polish coach could be read that the hosts at the PGE National Stadium may try a formation without the classic, defensive midfielder.

In such a situation, it may turn out that Sebastian Szymański will be moved back to the second line for the “small game”, usually positioned closer to Robert Lewandowski. However, Karol Świderski may appear behind “Lewy’s” back. The captain of the national team and “Świder” have already shown good communication on the pitch more than once, and the coach can probably count on that.

Coach Urban can also do a lot of planning in the defensive formation. In the absence of Bednarek and Wiśniewski, Jan Ziółkowski – a talented AS Roma defender – and the much more experienced Bartosz Bereszyński may join the team. However, “Bereś” is proven in representative battles and it must be admitted that the former player, among others, Lech Poznań and Legia Warszawa, even at the most important events, did not disappoint. This may mean that Bereszyński will join the defensive trio for the match against the Netherlands.

Goal staff? Kamil Grabara has been showing in recent weeks that he is one of the greatest specialists in his position in the Bundesliga. It seems that in the absence of Skorupski, the VfL Wolfsburg player, rather than Bartłomiej Drągowski, is closer to joining the national team.

Probable lineup of the Polish national team for the match against the Netherlands:

Kamil Grabara – Bartosz Bereszyński, Jan Ziółkowski, Jakub Kiwior – Matty Cash, Piotr Zieliński, Sebastian Szymański, Nicola Zalewski – Jakub Kamiński, Karol Świderski – Robert Lewandowski.

Poland – Netherlands at PGE Narodowy. Will the hosts beat the favorite?

The match in Warsaw will be a clash between the runner-up and the leader of Group G. Moreover, in the first qualifying match between the Dutch and the Poles in Rotterdam, it ended in a draw (1:1). The Poles will certainly want to show their good side again, having as their rival a leading team not only in Europe, but also on a global scale.

The Polish national team is fighting to advance to the third consecutive World Championship, having previously qualified for both the tournament in Qatar (2022) and the World Cup abroad (2018). If such a feat were successful, Poland would achieve such a result – i.e. three World Cup qualifications in a row – for the first time since 1986. That is, the golden times of Polish football, led by, among others, with World Championship medals of the national team of coaches Antoni Piechniczek and previously Kazimierz Górski.

The Dutch have not lost against the Poles in the last 14 matches, of which they won seven in the previous nine matches. Oranje need a draw at the PGE Narodowy to ensure promotion to next year’s World Cup. The last time Poland beat the Netherlands was in… May 1979, during the Euro 1980 qualifiers. Then the goals for the Poles were scored by Zbigniew Boniek and Włodzimierz Mazur.

The Poland-Netherlands match will take place on Friday (November 14) at the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw. The referee’s first whistle at 20:45. The broadcast will be carried out by TVP1 and TVP Sport. Additionally, you will be able to use the TVP Sport website and the mobile application of the public sports station TVP.