Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic in fight to reach World Cup

Two of world football’s most feted and prolific strikers – Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – are battling this week for what is probably a last chance to play on the game’s biggest stage. What’s certain is that there isn’t room for both at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The World Cup playoff final between Poland and Sweden on Tuesday doubles as a head-to-head between two of the leading centre-forwards of this century.

For the 40-year-old Ibrahimovic, it could even be the final game of his international career, should Sweden lose in Chorzow. He came out of international retirement in early 2021with the aim of playing at the European Championship — which he ultimately missed because of injury — and then this year’s World Cup.

As for Lewandowski, he is 33 and scoring as freely as ever for Bayern Munich. Playing at a World Cup in four years’ time isn’t beyond the realms of possibility for him – although Poland have only featured in one such tournament since 2006.

The stakes could hardly be higher for both men as they line up at the Silesian Stadium. Frustratingly for Ibrahimovic, though, he’s not fit to start the game, having only recently returned from an Achilles tendon injury to play a handful of matches off the bench for AC Milan this month.

When asked on Monday, Sweden’s coach – Janne Andersson – wasn’t sure about how many minutes Ibrahimovic could play in a match that could well go go to extra-time.

“It’s a great question,” Andersson said. “We’ll evaluate that together. He was in full training now and we’ll talk to the medical team to set a plan. It’s partly about how the match will be. It is difficult to predict a match.

“You always have a basic plan, but you have to be flexible. What happens in the match? It is completely impossible to predict everything. Zlatan is a weapon for us, but he cannot play the whole match.”

There are some concerns about Lewandowski’s fitness, too. He missed the friendly match against Scotland on Thursday, although that appeared to be on the basis of preserving him for Tuesday’s game rather than any serious worries about a potential knee injury.

Lewandowski played the full 90 minutes for Bayern in their 4-0 win over Union Berlin before the international break, and trained with Poland on Sunday.

“I have a hard time seeing that he would not play now, considering that he played before the internationals,” Andersson said. “But we’ll see.”

Definitely missing for Poland, though, is Lewandowski’s strike partner, Arkadiusz Milik, while another forward in Krzysztof Piatek is a doubt after needing stitches in a leg wound during the Scotland game in Glasgow.

A late decision will be taken on Piatek’s fitness.

Sweden’s main injury concerns centre around midfielder Albin Ekdal and defender Joakim Nilsson, who weren’t in full training on Monday. (AP)