After surprising the entire soccer world by defeating previous world champions Argentina in their opening match, Saudi Arabia entered Match 22 with increased confidence. Their next opponent was Poland, who drew their opening game against Mexico and needed a victory desperately to have any hope of advancing to the round of 16. Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring for Poland in the 39th minute, and Robert Lewandowski doubled the advantage in the 82nd minute with his first World Cup goal. Ultimately, Poland defeated the Saudi team 2-0.
As soon as the first half started, it was an end-to-end battle as both teams tried to score first. Krychowiak could have scored for Poland just 12 minutes into the first half, but Kanno sprinted across the field to tackle him. Then, Kanno himself charged into the Polish half and made an exquisite attempt to score the game’s first goal, but Szczesny saved it at the other end.
The game then becomes quite physical, resulting in a string of yellow cards. Al Dawsari is defeated by Cash (Poland), resulting in the first yellow. Al Malki makes a foul, and Saudi Arabia receives the subsequent caution. A good corner is curled in from the right by Zielinski at 30 minutes into the first half. Bielik heads it toward goal, but Al-Shehri clears it off the line. Poland’s first goal was scored in the 39th minute when Lewandowski intercepted a pass from Saudi Arabia and squared it to Zielinski. Later, the latter quickly slips past the Saudi goalkeeper. Poland now leads 1-0.
After 10 minutes of added time, Saud Arabia were given a penalty after Bielek fouled Al-Shehri, giving them an opportunity to tie the score. Szczesny advances to receive the kick. He makes his second shot after the Polish goalkeepers save his first one, which ricochets back to him and goes past the crossbar. Saudi Arabia lost a wonderful chance to catch up, which could wind up costing them dearly. Poland leads 1-0 at the break thanks to a goal by Zielinski that was assisted by Lewandowski.
To prevent Saudi Arabia from having a chance to equalize, Poland keeps possession of the ball as the second half begins. They continue to play it safe while hunting for chances to score another goal and increase their lead. However, Saudi Arabia manages to sneak in with a significant lead in the 56th minute. Al Dawsari takes a beautiful close-range shot, but Szczesny saves it, causing complete commotion in the Polish box. Milik successfully connects a quality cross from the left flank with a diving header that hits the crossbar after 64 minutes.
After 80 minutes, Saudi Arabia is frantically attempting to tie. After 83 minutes, Poland scores again thanks to a Lewandowski goal after Al Malki mishandles the ball at the edge of the Saudi penalty area. As the game draws to a close, Poland and Saudi Arabia are not paired up. In the eight minutes of additional time, Saudi Arabia made one last adrenaline-fueled attempt to at least score one goal when Kanno fired at the Polish goal at the 96-minute mark but was cleared away. With a final score of 2-0 in Poland’s favor, the referee announces the conclusion of the second half.
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