Poland beat Sweden to qualify for World Cup finals

Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski fired second-half goals as Poland booked their place in the World Cup finals in Qatar with a 2-0 win over Sweden in an electrifying playoff match on Tuesday.

Polish captain Lewandowski scored from the spot five minutes into the second half after Jesper Karlstroem’s clumsy challenge on substitute Grzegorz Krychowiak led to the penalty, and he sent Robin Olsen the wrong way while slotting home.

Sweden had a slew of excellent chances saved by Wojciech Szczesny before a mix-up between Kristoffer Olsson and Marcus Danielson allowed Zielinski to score as he curled the ball into the net at the near post in the 73rd minute.

The Swedes brought record goal-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic off the bench for the final 10 minutes but the Polish defence held firm in front of the capacity crowd to book their spot in the World Cup finals.

ARR