One of the greatest strikers of his era, Robert Lewandowski will have his sights fixed on leading Poland on the global stage once more. When the Poles enter the UEFA play-offs for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ at the end of next month, all eyes will be on the veteran; granted, this is nothing new for the 37-year-old, but the pressure will definitely be on.
While fellow long-time superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are now only waiting for the nod from their coaches, Lewandowski still has a fight on his hands if he is to help his country secure their place at this year World Cup.
Poland will aim to take a vital step towards achieving that goal when they take on Albania in the play-off semi-finals in Warsaw on 26 March.
“We’ll be at home against Albania, and our fans’ support will give us an extra boost,” said the country’s all-time top scorer in his usual matter-of-fact manner.
It is hard to get much more out of him, but there is a lot at stake, and his impressive stats – a current tally of 88 goals from 163 caps – won’t mean much if the global extravaganza goes ahead without him.
If Lewandowski and Co see off the Albanians’ challenge, their reward will be an away game against either Sweden or Ukraine, with the victors clinching a World Cup ticket.
“Our priority is clearly Albania,” said Poland boss Jan Urban, who has been in charge since July 2025. “We will go into that first game as favourites, and we need to make that count at home.”
At the same time, Urban also warned against complacency, reminding his players that the favourites tag is merely a label and not a free pass: “We’ve seen too many surprises in football for that.”
His words are no cliché, and that explains why he is focused on Albania every day. “That match is always in my head,” he said in an interview with Flashscore.com. “I know it’ll keep nagging at me as time goes on.”
Much of Urban’s planning revolves around how he can get the most out of Barcelona marksman Lewandowski, who temporarily quit the national team after falling out with the coach’s predecessor Michał Probierz, but will go into the play-offs as captain.
Lewandowski’s last four appearances for Poland showed, once again, just how important he continues to be. He scored three goals and created a further three for his team-mates, playing a key part in the Poles finishing just behind the Netherlands in the World Cup qualifiers.
“He has the ability to be where defenders least expect the ball to go,” Urban said. “His anticipation is outstanding. Combine that with his finishing, and that’s why he has so many goals.”
Lewandowksi has proven his coach right, time and again. His goalscoring rate in the UEFA Champions League is particularly impressive – he has netted a 107 goals across 140 games for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Only Ronaldo and Messi have scored more times in the competition.
His record at the global showpiece is not quite so prolific, however. He failed to score in his debut World Cup at Russia 2018, and Poland were consigned to an early exit at the end of the group stage.
Four years later in Qatar, he put his team on the road to a 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia with a goal and an assist, but despite the forward finding the back of the net again in the Round of 16, Poland’s adventure came to an end against France. The bottom line is that Lewandowski has notched just twice in seven World Cup matches, so you would be forgiven for thinking that he has unfinished business at the competition.
“I think we all expect an effective Robert Lewandowski – a ‘killer’ in the penalty area,” explained Urban. “But for that to happen, you need to provide him with service. “
Indeed, the Poles’ hopes of vaulting through the European play-offs to face the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in World Cup Group F could very well depend on whether they can supply the ammunition for their goalscoring machine to fire on all cylinders.
