France Hugo Lloris (captain), Jules Conde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Antoine Griezmann, Aurelien Toumeni, Adrien Rabiot, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe poland Wojciech Szczęsny, Matty Cash, Kamil Glick, Jakub Kivier, Bartosz Berezinski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Sebastian Szymanski, Jakub Kaminski, Piotr Zielinski, Robert Lewandowski (C).
Teams: Poland: Wojciech Szczecny, Kamil Glick, Jakub Kievor, Matty Cash, Bartosz Berezinski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Piotr Zielinski, Kristian Bellic, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Karol Swiederski, Robert Lewandowski (C). Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Rodrigo de Paul, Marcos Acuña, Alexis McAllister, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi (captain).
Poland: Wojciech Szczęsny, Kamil Glick, Jakub Kievor, Matty Cash, Bartosz Berezinski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Piotr Zielinski, Kristian Bellic, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Karol Swiedarski, Robert Lewandowski (c) Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Christian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Rodrigo De Paul, Marcos Acuña, Alexis McAllister, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi (C)
But above all, Michniewicz appreciates the experience his players are about to gain. “I’m really happy because I’ve been to Barcelona many times to watch football at the top level and see Messi,” he said. “We should all be excited to play Argentina, and also for a higher stakes. We will respect every result, but…
“This match is not friendly,” said Michniewicz. “It’s going to be a battle between two teams that can both still make progress.” To do this Poland will have to stop one of the world’s greatest players. “It’s a big question, how to stop Lionel Messi,” Michniewicz joked. “I think the whole world has been thinking…
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…