Pietuszewski on his Poland debut: “I’m living my dreams” | OneFootball

The Polish national team secured a place in the final of the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-off after coming from behind to beat Albania 2-1. The match, held at the National Stadium in Warsaw, also marked Oskar Pietuszewski’s debut for the senior team.

After finishing second in Group G during the qualifying stage, Poland, coached by Jan Urban, were forced into the play-offs. In the semi-final against Albania, the task proved demanding, with the visitors taking the lead before half-time through Arber Hoxha.

The home side only turned the score around in the second half, relying mainly on the experience of their more seasoned players. At 37, Robert Lewandowski equalised with a header from a Sebastian Szymanski corner. Shortly afterwards, Piotr Zielinski made it 2-1 with a long-range strike.

The match was also notable for the debut of FC Porto player Oskar Pietuszewski, who came on at half-time to replace Filip Rózga. Speaking to TVP Sport after the game, the 17-year-old expressed his satisfaction.

“First of all, I’m very happy that my debut happened today. I’m making my dreams come true once again. As for the match, from the bench it certainly looked like a difficult game. The importance of the occasion may also have contributed to that,” he said.

The midfielder acknowledged that the goal conceded affected the team, but highlighted their response in the second half. “That goal definitely took a bit of the wind out of our sails. But in the second half, I’m happy that we managed to come back from behind and take the lead,” he added.

Pietuszewski also reflected on coming on when the team was behind. “It was important to score as quickly as possible. We thought too much about attacking and forgot a bit about defending. I myself tried to provide some security, because their counter-attacks were dangerous. Fortunately, we didn’t concede a second goal and managed to take the lead,” he explained, assuring that he was physically fine despite a few heavy challenges.

With Sweden next up in the play-off final, the FC Porto player showed confidence. “Above all, we focus on ourselves. That’s the most important thing, because we really do have a great team, with a lot of quality. The important thing is to carry that into the next match. We’re going there for one thing only: to win,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.