Poland beat Sweden to secure spot in Qatar World Cup finals

Poland’s forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates after shooting from the penalty spot to score his team’s opening goal during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying match against Sweden at the Slaski Stadium in Chorzow, Poland, yesterday. (AFP)

• Portugal see off North Macedonia to qualify for 2022 World Cup Robert Lewandowski slotted home a second-half penalty as Poland booked their berth at the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Sweden in yesterday’s play-off. After the Poland captain converted a spot kick, Piotr Zielinski put the game beyond doubt with a superb second goal for the hosts in Chorzow. Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny played a key role in Poland’s victory with saves to deny Swedish playmaker Emil Forsberg in both halves. Poland go into Friday’s draw for the group stages of the World Cup finals, from November 21 to December 18, after dominating the second half. The Poles were awarded the crucial penalty just after half-time. Attacking midfielder Sebastian Szymanski rolled the ball into substitute Grzegorz Krychowiak, who was fouled by Jesper Karlstrom. The referee pointed straight to the spot and it was a trademark penalty kick by Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich ace casually arced his run, waited for Robin Olsen to move and then slotted the ball to the left of the Swedish goalkeeper. It was his 75th goal for Poland and arguably one of his most important. Zielinski put the result beyond doubt when he capitalised on a slip by Sweden defender Marcus Danielson and sprinted clear. He slotted his shot past Olsen with 18 minutes left to spark wild celebrations from the home crowd. Only a superb save from Olsen denied Lewandowski a second goal when the Poland striker was allowed a rare late chance in the area by the Swedish defence. Veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic came on for the final 10 minutes, but the 40-year-old Sweden striker was unable to influence the course of the match and will miss out on a third appearance at a World Cup finals. Portugal beat North Macedonia Bruno Fernandes fired Portugal to the 2022 World Cup by scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over Italy’s conquerors North Macedonia yesterday. Italy’s shock exit had North Macedonia dreaming of their first ever appearance at a World Cup finals but Portugal and Fernandes proved a step too far in Porto. Fernandes eased Portuguese nerves at the Estadio do Dragao by finishing off Cristiano Ronaldo’s pass in the first half and then made the win more comfortable in the second, latching onto an inch-perfect cross from the excellent Diogo Jota. The victory means Portugal extend their run of qualifying for six out of six World Cups since the turn of the century while Ronaldo is on course for his fifth, aged 37. The striker’s best previous result was reaching the semi-finals in 2006, when Portugal were beaten by Germany. North Macedonia, placed 67th in the world rankings, had defeated Germany to finish second in Group J before dumping out European champions Italy in the play-off semi-final on Friday, Aleksandar Trajkovski scoring a 92nd-minute winner to pull off a stunning result in Palermo. Portugal, meanwhile, have yet to strike a balance between their traditionally conservative approach and an array of attacking talent that would be the envy of any country in the world. They were denied top spot in Group A by Serbia while Fernando Santos’ side were relieved to see Turkey miss an 85th-minute penalty, with the score 2-1, in their semi-final win on Thursday. North Macedonia made a confident start too, their possession sustained enough to draw whistles from an agitated home crowd.