England v Poland (2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying)

England v Poland

England Poland 2 1
BBC Report Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)
Event	UEFA Group I
Date	Wednesday 31 March 2021
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Attendance	0
← England - Albania Poland - Andorra England - Austria Poland - Russia →

England v Poland was a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying game. It took place on Wednesday 31 March 2021 at Wembley Stadium, London.

Harry Maguire's late winner made it a maximum nine points from three World Cup 2022 qualifiers for England as they overcame Poland at Wembley.

Poland presented a much sterner test than the formalities against San Marino and Albania and it looked like England would have to settle for a point until Maguire struck five minutes from time.

England's impressive first half brought a deserved lead when Harry Kane scored his 34th international goal from the penalty spot in the 19th minute, following Michal Helik's challenge on Raheem Sterling.

And yet England almost paid the price for a largely average performance after the break as Poland, who were without injured world-class striker Robert Lewandowski, equalised when a dreadful error by Manchester City's John Stones saw him concede possession on the edge of the area and Jakub Moder beat Nick Pope emphatically.

It was the first goal Pope had conceded in seven England appearances and looked like being costly until Stones made amends by showing superb athleticism to head Phil Foden's corner into the path of Maguire, who lashed a powerful drive high past Wojciech Szczesny to keep manager Gareth Southgate's perfect record in these World Cup qualifiers intact.

England's performance can be divided up into the two halves and ultimately they were very grateful for Maguire's late intervention.

In the opening 45 minutes they were controlled and composed after a slow start, cutting through Poland at will although they did not create too many clear-cut chances.

England dominated in midfield, were barely threatened at the back, and the combination of Sterling and Mason Mount looked hugely promising on the left side.

And at the heart of it all was West Ham United's Declan Rice, knitting play together in midfield, not merely breaking up attacks but showing a willingness to start them as well. The 22-year-old looks the complete operator, growing in stature with every game.

Rice is a certain starter when England open their Euro 2020 campaign against Croatia at Wembley on 13 June and he demonstrated once more what a crucial figure he will be in manager Southgate's plans.

Kane, too, proved how important he will be as England again showed that they have the ability to grind out wins when not at their best.

In the second half, however, England were average and lost all of the fluency that allowed them to dominate in the first period.

Poland will be disappointed not to get a point after showing real spirit to fight their way back into contention, especially when they were without the stellar talent of Lewandowski.

In contrast to England, Poland's players did not take the knee at kick-off but very clearly pointed to the "Uefa Respect" inscription on the left sleeve of their jersey, which refers to the European federation's campaign against racism, xenophobia and intolerance.

For England, Maguire's decisive late contribution made it a satisfactory start to their qualifying campaign.

England were not put to the test by master marksman Lewandowski, but even without him this match revived the fears that a potentially vulnerable defence will not get its first serious test until their Euro 2020 campaign begins.

And the warning signs were posted just before the hour when Stones received a pass from Pope, hesitated on the ball then faltered, allowing Poland to rob him of possession for Moder's leveller.

Stones has been immaculate for Manchester City this season but this was a little like old times in an England shirt, the defender having been punished for carelessness before at this level.

In Stones' defence he did brilliantly to create Maguire's winner, but doubts about England's defence remain. Lewandowski may have opened the cracks even wider had he been available.

Match

Details

31 March 2021 (2021-03-31) 20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)	England	2–1	Poland	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 0 Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
	Kane  19' (pen.) Maguire  85'	BBC Report Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Moder  58'

England

Poland

01 Nick Pope 02 Kyle Walker 06 Harry Maguire 05 John Stones 03 Ben Chilwell 08 Kalvin Phillips 04 Declan Rice 11 Mason Mount 09 Harry Kane 89' 07 Phil Foden 86' 10 Raheem Sterling 90' Substitutes: 12 Kieran Trippier 13 Dean Henderson 14 Jesse Lingard 90' 15 Conor Coady 16 Reece James 86' 17 Eric Dier 18 Dominic Calvert-Lewin 89' 19 Tyrone Mings 20 Luke Shaw 21 Ollie Watkins 22 Sam Johnstone 23 Jude Bellingham Manager: Gareth Southgate

01 Wojciech Szczęsny 14 Michał Helik 54' 15 Kamil Glik 05 Jan Bednarek 18 Bartosz Bereszyński 20 Piotr Zieliński 85' 10 Grzegorz Krychowiak 16 Jakub Moder 13 Maciej Rybus 86' 23 Krzysztof Piątek 76' 09 Karol Świderski 45' Substitutes: 02 Sebastian Kowalczyk 03 Arkadiusz Reca 86' 04 Paweł Dawidowicz 06 Rafał Augustyniak 76' 07 Arkadiusz Milik 45' 08 Kacper Kozłowski 11 Kamil Grosicki 85' 12 Karol Niemczycki 17 Przemysław Płacheta 19 Sebastian Szymański 21 Kamil Jóźwiak 54' 22 Łukasz Fabiański Manager: Paulo Sousa

League table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
England	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Qualification to 2022 FIFA World Cup
Hungary	3	2	1	0	10	4	+6	7	Advance to second round
Albania	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	6
Poland	3	1	1	1	7	5	+2	4
Andorra	3	0	0	3	1	8	−7	0
San Marino	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10	0

See also

• 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at UEFA.com