UEFA Nations League: Time for a Joyous Send-off or Is This an Unimportant Encounter

Wales vs Poland

It is a meeting of the bottom two teams in Group A4 of the UEFA Nations League, but forgive these two nations if they fail to get too excited ahead of Sunday night’s meeting in Cardiff.

With the World Cup on the horizon and very much the priority, it is hard to know if the battle to avoid relegation into League B will really carry that much weight?

On the flip side, this is the final competitive fixture for both nations ahead of the start of the World Cup in Qatar.

Perhaps home advantage and a passionate Welsh crowd will be key.

After this weekend, Rob Page’s men will have to wait two months until their next fixture – a meeting with the USA in their first World Cup group stage match on November 21.

They then take on Iran four days later before rounding off the group phase against England on November 29. All three matches will be played at the 40,000-seater Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

So, the best way to warm up will surely be to create some Nations League highlights and get a joyous send-off before their first World Cup since 1958.

Talking Points

Poland are eyeing a win when they travel at Cardiff City to face Wales in the UEFA Nations League — Poland forward Robert Lewandowski reacts after Netherlands’ Steven Bergwijn scored their second goal

On the team news front, Wales’ star man Gareth Bale could be recalled to the starting line-up.

That is if Page is willing to drop any of the front three from the 2-1 defeat to Belgium on Thursday night when Kieffer Moore got on the scoresheet and the likes of Daniel James and Brennan Johnson may have done enough to retain their place.

Chris Mepham and Ethan Ampadu are both suspended so Ben Cabango could be named in the back three and Joe Morrell recalled to central midfield.

Aaron Ramsey, Ben Davies, Joe Allen and Harry Wilson are already out through injury.

At the same time, Poland were going down to a 2-0 defeat to group leaders Holland.

Szymon Zurkowski will return to the squad from that encounter after serving a one-match suspension and is an alternative in midfield.

Of course, the Poles possess one of the most dangerous frontmen in Europe in Robert Lewandowski who has continued to score for Barcelona following his summer move from Bayern Munich.

Like Bale, this will likely be his final appearance at a major international tournament which both countries qualified for through the play-offs earlier in the year.

Looking at their respective groups, they will also feel that reaching the knock-out stages is a real possibility.

Whether Sunday is deemed a timely warm-up or merely a distraction of secondary importance, however, remains to be seen.

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History

Wales met Poland for the first time in a World Cup qualifier in 1973 and ran out 2-0 winners in Cardiff, thanks to goals from Leighton James and Trevor Hockey.

They have not beaten them since.

In fact, in eight subsequent meetings, Poland have tasted victory on six occasions with a further two draws.

That included the qualifier return the following September when, on home soil, the Poles were 3-0 winners, courtesy of Robert Gadocha, Grzegorz Lato and Jan Domarski.

The following two matches, in 1991 and 2000, were draws and Poland have won all since.

That included a friendly win in Spain in 2009 when Roger Guerreiro notched the only goal.

The most recent clash was in the Nations League in June when Jakub Kamiński and Karol Swiderski goals sealed a 2-1 win after Jonny Williams had put the Welsh in front.