Robert Lewandowski won’t play for the national team? There is news about the Pole’s health

And since the injury occurred, the question immediately arises: Will Robert Lewandowski help the national team fight for a place at the 2026 World Cup?

Robert Lewandowski injured. Will he play in the Polish national team?

The FC Barcelona striker suffered a fractured eye socket during the match against Villarreal. RL9 has traditionally been treated harshly by the defenders of the rival Spanish champions. Unfortunately, it looks like the Pole will now have to play for weeks wearing an uncomfortable, special face mask that protects the injured part of the face.

Does this mean that Lewandowski will be able to help coach Jan Urban’s team? There are many indications that this is the case. However, the pride of Catalonia will not be able to count on their sniper in Tuesday’s return match of the King’s Cup semi-final. Barcelona will play at home against Atletico Madrid. In the first match in the Spanish capital, coach Diego Simeone’s players won 4-0 against Barca.

Can the national champions afford to make up for the four-goal loss in the second leg? It seems almost impossible, considering the class of the rival from Madrid. However, Barca has already done great things, so you can’t have 100 percent. certainty about the scenario of Tuesday’s rematch (March 3, 9 p.m., broadcast by Eleven Sports 1).

What about Lewandowski? The Pole will want to support the team from Catalonia, but also the Polish national team. Knowing RL9’s ambition, even appearing on the bench against Atletico would not be a particular surprise. However, since the club itself announced the absence of “Lewy” in the second leg of the semi-final on Sunday, it can be expected that coach Hansi Flick will be able to use his ace at the earliest on Saturday (i.e. March 7, 9:00 p.m.) in the league match, where Barca will play on difficult terrain against Athletic Bilbao.

World Cup 2026: When and where is the Poland-Albania play-off match?

In recent years, Polish football players have become specialists in winning tickets to large tournaments, competing through the so-called a second, play-off chance. This was the case, among others, in the case of the previous World Cup in Qatar (2022), where the Poles found themselves thanks to winning the match against Sweden.

After excluding the Russians from the competition, who were the Polish team’s opponents, due to their brutal attack on Ukraine, Poland played in the final against the Swedes. In Chorzów, after goals by Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zieliński, the team won a relatively certain 2-0. It was also a great success for the then coach Czesław Michniewicz. The Pole was brought in in an emergency after a stormy breakup between the Polish Football Association and the Portuguese Paulo Sousa.

Two years later, a similar story happened to the team led by Michał Probierz. This time it was about Euro 2024. However, the Poles had to overcome two obstacles. It started with a high victory at the PGE Narodowy against Estonia (5:1) in the semi-final. In the play-off final, Poland defeated Wales in Cardiff after a series of penalties (0-0 in regular time and overtime). The hero of the match was goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, who saved the decisive penalty in favor of the Poles.

During the November (2025) draw for the 2026 World Cup play-offs, Poland was placed in the second “four” among the drawn teams. The quartet consists of two semi-finals: Ukraine (from pot 1) – Sweden (4) and Poland (2) – Albania (3). The Poles will play the semi-final of the play-offs at home. The final is a competition on the opponent’s territory, either against Ukraine or Sweden. Of course, assuming an optimistic scenario and a win over Albania.

The Poland-Albania match will take place on March 26 at PGE Narodowy. First whistle at 20:45.

The final and the direct match for promotion to this year’s World Cup will take place on March 31, either in Stockholm (hosted by the Swedes) or in Valencia (Ukraine – due to the ongoing war on Ukrainian soil).