Poland prepares for tough fixture against Albania
Albania will take on Poland in Warsaw on March 26 in a World Cup play-off match, with a place at this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico at stake.
Poland head coach Jan Urban said Albania should not be underestimated, describing them as a strong and well-organised opponent ahead of what is expected to be a difficult away fixture for the Albanian side, CE Report quotes ATA.
Speaking to TVP Sport in an interview with journalist Robert Błoński, Urban said Albania had caused Poland problems in recent encounters.
“We know Albania very well, as we played them in the EURO 2024 and 2022 World Cup qualifiers. They are the most important opponent because we face them in the first match,” Urban said. “They have a technically well-prepared team that concedes few goals but also scores few. They are organised and disciplined, with players competing mainly in Italy and also in Asian clubs. They are solid footballers and not by chance caused us problems about two years ago, when they beat us 2–0 in Tirana.”
Commenting on Sweden and Ukraine, Urban said it remained unclear which team would represent a more favourable final opponent.
“If we only look at the qualifiers, the answer would be simple: Sweden were weaker, as they failed to win any of their six matches,” he said. “But they still have very good players competing at strong European clubs. Something wasn’t working recently, though I don’t know what. They changed coach in the autumn, and under Graham Potter they could return at any moment to the level that matches their players’ abilities.”
Urban added that Ukraine were on a similar level to Poland, Sweden and Albania.
“Qualification will be decided by details, skills and individual quality. At the moment our players are performing well at club level, but the play-offs are still two months away,” he said. “We must not focus only on today, because the situation can change at any moment. It’s dynamic, and we must not allow ourselves to be surprised by any circumstances.”
