– We don't have a team. Nothing looks as it should. (…) This is sick – Jacek Bąk thundered after Poland's match against Scotland in the Nations League. The White and Reds quite surprisingly lost to their rivals 1:2. They performed poorly, the midfield did not function, but the biggest problem was defense. The mistakes resulted in the loss of the decisive goal in the 93rd minute of the match. This goal resulted in Michał Probierz's team being relegated to Division B of the Nations League. The November matches deprived us not only of our place in the elite, but also in the first group. 2026 World Cup. This may have a painful meaning in the future.
Poland in the second electric basket. World Cup 2026. It's not good. He can play against the powers that be
The last Nations League matches were played on Tuesday. We know who will play in the quarterfinals, who was relegated to a lower Division, and who was promoted to a higher level of the competition. These decisions also determined the final division of the 2026 World Cup qualifying baskets.
It is worth recalling that 16 teams from Europe will get to the event in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Only group winners will advance directly. The second-placed teams, as well as the four highest-seeded teams from the Nations League, will also compete for participation in the World Championships, but the second-placed teams will also compete in two-stage play-offs.
Therefore, the Touchstone team must do everything to do their best in the qualifying rounds and take first or second place in the group. However, the task can be extremely difficult. Why? Due to their poor performance in the Nations League, the White and Reds were placed in the second basket. Therefore, they can hit the big shots.
The first basket included France, Spain, England and even Portugal, with whom Poland lost 1:5 a few days ago. Italy, Germany and Austria also found their way into this basket. All these teams are inconvenient rivals for the White and Reds.
We also know who the Poles will definitely not face in the qualifying rounds. The speech includes: about Wales, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Ukraine. These teams were in the same basket as our team. There are five baskets and the remaining ones also include teams that Poland has had a lot of trouble winning against recently. This includes: o Scotland, which was in the third basket, or Moldova, which was in the fifth basket.
El. 2026 World Cup. Division into baskets:
- Cart 1: France, England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria.
- Basket 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Wales, Türkiye, Poland, Serbia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia.
- Basket 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Ireland, Georgia, Finland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro.
- Basket 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Armenia, Kosovo, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.
- Basket 5: Moldova, Malta, Gibraltar, Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
The group draw will take place on December 13. There will be 12 teams in total. Six of them will have five teams, and the rest will have four teams each. Therefore, the Poles will not return to the competition until March. Touchstone has a lot of work ahead of him to improve the team's play. Experts are quite critical of the effects of the coach's work, although the player himself does not intend to deviate from the chosen path. – There are definitely elements to improve, but I think we are going in the right direction – assured the trainer.