Poland needed at least a draw to stand any real chance of reaching the last 16 for the first time since 1986 and with Argentina left to play, few would fancy their chances.
It seemed that Saturday’s Group C match was not going in Poland’s favor, with their opponents riding the wave of their historic defeat to Argentina earlier this week as well as the gift of a series of favorable refereeing decisions. Was also given
Poland was playing in front of a deafening, exuberant Saudi crowd that was upbeat, euphoric and hostile, hooting and jeering almost every Polish move.
Lewandowski could have scored after 11 minutes when Matty Cash won the ball with a spectacular sliding tackle and cleared it on goal, only for referee Wilton Sampaio to be called for a foul.
The first half was dominated by clever Saudi counter-attacking and an almost comical amount of sportsmanship from the Gulf side, with Poland receiving three yellow cards in the space of four minutes and being on the wrong end of a VAR penalty decision, harshing the Poles. Will be considered.