Poland's Playoff Prowess Takes on Albania Test

Coach Kacper downplays strong playoff record

Poland faces Albania in World Cup playoff semi-final; coach Kacper Pempel warns past successes mean little.

Poland faces Albania in World Cup playoff semi-final; winner meets Ukraine or Sweden in final...

Poland's strong playoff record isn't giving head coach Kacper Pempel much comfort as they prep for the World Cup playoff semi-final against Albania. Despite reaching the last World Cup and Euro 2024 through playoffs, Pempel knows past successes won't count for much against a familiar opponent.

The current squad has experience in high-pressure games, having gone through similar situations before. But Pempel's focus is on Albania, and he's not banking on past wins.

“Yes, they have experience, of course they ‌do,” Urban told reporters ahead of Thursday's game in Warsaw.

“If that's the card they want to play, I think that when they ‌go out on the pitch, that experience ⁠is in them.

“But they ‌won't be thinking about having played such matches before, they'll be thinking about what we've planned, how we want to play against this team.

“You're in the match, analysing what's happening on the pitch. There's responsibility, stress, fatigue, there's no time for such things. You don't think about things ⁠like that.”

Poland dominates Albania's head-to-head record, with 10 wins and just 2 losses. But Albania gave them a reality check in 2023, beating Poland and topping their Euro qualifying group.

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“In each of the recent matches we've played against them, they've caused us more problems,” Urban said.

“That's also ‌because they have a very stable squad and have been working with the same coach for three years.

“I ‌expect quite an open game. Even though Albania are a team with a defensive emphasis, they also know that there has to be a result here. They're a team capable of surprising, I just hope it won't ⁠be tomorrow.”

The winner of Thursday's Poland-Albania game will face either Ukraine or Sweden in the playoff final on Tuesday.