National team schedule – who, when and where?

And the intense match schedule continues… The Polish National Team has three international games scheduled over the upcoming week. A friendly match against Ukraine is scheduled for 11.11 – i.e. the Polish Independence Day. Then, the Poles are going to face Italy and the Netherlands – their main competitors in Nations League. Brzęczyk’s team is currently ranked first in group A, however, they ought to remain careful as their two rivals are, respectively, only one and two points behind. The called-up squad includes Jakub Moder who, back in October, made a great impression competing for the white-and-red. Jakub Kamiński has also been included on the list, however, he won’t be joining his teammates due to an injury.

Nika Kacharava’s very good performances have also been noticed by his national team coach. The Georgians have three international games scheduled for November, all of which have high stakes – qualification to EURO 2021 and Nations League points. The Georgian squad is going to fight with North Macedonia for a spot in next year’s European Championships.

“It is the most important match in the history of our national team. Over the past few months, we faced North Macedonia twice and both games ended with a draw, hence I think we have a 50/50 chance of qualifying. Whoever is in better form in the two games will get to compete on EURO 2021. The upside is that we get to play on our home ground, in Tbilisi,” explained Lech’s striker Kacharava.

Before Nika returns to Poznań, he and his teammates are going to play against Armenia and Estonia, i.e. the teams occupying two bottom ranks in Group J of Nations League. Armenia is just one point behind Georgia that has the same points as North Macedonia which is the leader of the group ranks. Therefore, the two matches will be key in the context of who gets to be the winner of Group J.

Lech’s defender Lubomir Šatka has also been asked to join his national team. The Slovakians will first compete in European Championship playoffs against Northern Ireland. Interestingly, whichever side wins the clash, is going to face Poland during next year’s tournament. Next, Slovakia will play two Nations League games. However, Slovakia’s chance of winning Group F is very slim as they are currently ranked last in the group, with just one point on their account.

Meanwhile, Poland U-21 team is about to finish the intense qualifications for next year’s European Championships in their age category. However, the match against Latvia – the last team in group table – won’t have any impact on the final ranks since the results of games between the second and sixth teams are not included in the final classification. Hence, unlike other teams from the group who can improve their ranks, Poland’s clash with Latvia won’t help the squad catch up to Russia, i.e. the current leader of their group. The Poles will have to observe closely their opponents' matches and count for favourable results. Nonetheless, the U-21 team needs to maintain their advantage over Bulgaria and a few Lech Poznań players are meant to help with the task, including Tymoteusz Puchacz, and two debutants in this age category – Filip Marchwiński, Michał Skóraś and Krzysztof Bąkowski.

NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULE

Jakub Moder

Poland - Ukraine: 11.11 (Wednesday), 8:45 PM (Chorzów)
Italy - Poland: 15.11 (Sunday), 8:45 PM (Reggio nell'Emilia)
Poland - Netherlands: 18.11 (Wednesday), 8:45 PM (Chorzów)

Nika Kacharava

Georgia – North Macedonia: 12.11 (Thursday), 6:00 PM (Tbilisi)
Georgia - Armenia: 15.11 (Sunday), 6:00 PM (Tbilisi)
Georgia - Estonia: 18.11 (Wednesday), 6:00 PM (Tbilisi)

Lubomír Šatka

Northern Ireland – Slovakia: 12.11 (Thursday), 8:45 PM (Belfast)
Slovakia - Scotland: 15.11 (Sunday), 3:00 PM (Trnava)
Czech Republic - Slovakia: 18.11 (Wednesday), 8:45 PM (Plzen)

Filip Marchwiński, Tymoteusz Puchacz, Michał Skóraś, Krzysztof Bąkowski

Poland U-21 - Latvia U-21: 17.11 (Tuesday), 5:30 PM (Łódź)