While Rome burned, Warsaw also writhed in pain as the Polish national football team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating the Swedish national football team in a qualifying play-off at the Strawberry Arena in Solna on Tuesday.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026: FULL REPORT
The result was widely seen as unfair by fans who pointed out that Poland secured 17 points from their World Cup qualifying group, while Sweden qualified for the play-offs two years ago thanks to their appearance in the UEFA Nations League. The Scandinavian side did not record a single win in their qualifying group and finished last.
“This system is totally unfair. The game is over,” wrote one user on X, pointing out the imbalance between the two teams competing for a spot in the tournament.
“In addition, Sweden qualified for the play-offs after playing in the Nations League against Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan. In comparison, Poland faced Portugal, Croatia and Scotland – three countries that qualified for the World Cup by finishing first in their groups.”
Under UEFA rules, the 12 runners-up from the group from the World Cup qualifying round are joined by the four best-placed Nations League group winners who do not finish in the top two. Sweden won their Nations League group and finished among the top-performing teams, earning them a place in the play-offs before they had even played a single qualifying match.
The Kosovo national football team, which defeated Sweden in its qualifying group but failed to qualify for the World Cup itself, was quick to point this out. “Sweden reached the World Cup despite losing to us twice,” wrote Kosovo Football on X.
The situation on social media escalated when 37-year-old Polish striker Robert Lewandowski was seen in tears as his hopes of playing one World Cup final for Poland ended in the final minutes of the match.
However, the Polish captain is undecided about his international future. “I still don’t know,” said a dejected Lewandowski after the match.
List of teams that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup
Co-organizers: Canada, Mexico, USA
AFC: Australia, Iraq, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
CAF: Algeria, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Concacaf: Curacao, Haiti, Panama
CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
OFC: New Zealand
UEFA: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trkiye
– The end
Published on:
01 April 2026 22:21 IST
Read the full article
