|
Rank |
FIFA (18th February 2021)
4th
EFO ranking
Group One (3rd)
ELO rating 9th to 8th |
Colours |
The Nike 2020 home uniform -
White crew-necked jerseys with
navy blue collar and side trim,
blue shorts with pale blue side stripe, white socks. |
Captain |
Harry Kane
|
Manager |
Gareth Southgate, 50 (3 September 1970), appointed caretaker manager on 27 September 2016, appointed as permanent manager on 30 November
2016. |
²⁷
most goals as captain |
31st of 72, W 19 - D 5 - L 7 - F 72 - A 28 |
|
Harry Maguire 88:10 |
P 52nd of 102, W 32 - D
10 - L 10 - F 109 - A 38 |
England
Lineup |
|
one change to the previous match (Chilwell for Shaw) |
league position
(18th March) |
|
|
1 |
Pope, Nicholas D. |
28 356 days |
19 April 1992 |
G |
Burnley
FC
(PL 15th) |
7 |
1ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Walker, Kyle
A. |
30 307 days |
28 May 1990 |
RB |
Manchester City FC
(PL TOP) |
55 |
0 |
3 |
Chilwell, Benjamin
J. |
24 100 days |
21 December 1996 |
LB |
Chelsea FC
(PL 4th) |
14 |
0 |
4 |
Rice, Declan |
22 76 days |
14 January 1999 |
CM |
West Ham United FC
(PL 5th) |
15 |
1 |
5
|
Stones, John |
26 307 days |
28 May 1994 |
RCD |
Manchester City FC
(PL TOP) |
42 |
2 |
6
|
Maguire, J. Harry |
28 26 days |
5 March 1993 |
LCD |
Manchester United FC
(PL 2nd) |
32 |
3 |
7 |
Foden, Philip W., off
86th min. |
20 307 days |
28 May 2000 |
RAM |
Manchester City FC
(PL TOP) |
6 |
2 |
8 |
Phillips, Kalvin M. |
25 119 days |
2 December 1995 |
RM |
Leeds United AFC
(PL 12th) |
7 |
0 |
9 |
Kane, Harry E., off 89th min. |
27 246 days |
28 July 1993 |
CF |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(PL 8th) |
53 |
34 ¹⁰ |
|
95th penalty-kick scored
(129) - top scorer |
|
|
10 |
Sterling, Raheem S., off 90th min. |
26 113 days |
8 December 1994
in Kingston, Jamaica |
LAM |
Manchester City FC
(PL TOP) |
61 |
14 |
11 |
Mount, Mason T. |
22 80 days |
10 January 1999 |
LM |
Chelsea FC
(PL 4th) |
16 |
4 |
England
Substitutes |
scoreline:
England 2 Poland 1 |
16 |
James, Reece
T., on 86th min. (85:54) for Foden |
21 113 days |
8 December 1999 |
RWB |
Chelsea FC
(PL 4th) |
6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
18 |
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic N., on 89th min.
(88:13) for Kane |
24 15 days |
16 March 1997 |
CF |
Everton FC
(PL 7th) |
7 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
Lingard, Jesse E., on 90th min.
(89:04) for Sterling |
28 31 days |
15 December 1996 |
RAM |
West Ham United FC
(PL 5th), on loan from
Manchester United FC |
27 |
15 |
4 |
12 |
result:
England 2 Poland 1 |
unused
substitutes: (five permitted
for the March round of fixtures) |
12-Kieran Trippier,
13-Dean
Henderson, 15-Conor Coady,
17-Eric
Dier, 19-Tyrone Mings, 20-Luke
Shaw, 21-Ollie Watkins, 22-Sam Johnstone,
23-Jude Bellingham. |
goalkeeping
records: |
Nick Pope concedes his first goal for England after a record 498
minutes. |
manager records: |
It is Gareth Southgate's 25th competitive victory in 39 attempts. |
stadium
records: |
This is
a record eleventh consecutive World Cup victory at the Stadium,
starting back in October 2012. |
records: |
England have won the last nineteen home WCP & ECP matches. This is
England's fiftieth
World Cup victory at home. England have played Poland in
World Cup
matches far more than any other country. This is the fourteenth
occasion, which is also a World Cup record. Harry Kane is the
twentieth different England player to have scored against Poland (31
scored). |
Manager Gareth Southgate played against Poland in both matches of the
1996-97 World Cup qualifying campaign, but an unused substitute in the
1998-99 European Championship qualifying campaign. |
|
4-3-3(2-1) |
Pope - Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell - Phillips,
Rice, Mount -
Foden (James), Sterling (Lingard) - Kane
(Calvert-Lewin) |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
25 years 283 days |
Appearances/Goals |
28.0 |
5.3 |
|
|
Rank |
FIFA (18th Feb 2021)
19th
EFO ranking
Group 8
ELO rating
22nd |
Colours |
Made by Nike - Red v-necked jerseys with white collar/cuffs/sidetrim,
white shorts, red
socks with white tops. |
Captain |
Kamil Glik |
Manager |
Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, 50 (30
August 1970 in Viseu, Portugal), appointed 21 January 2021.
|
third match, W 1 - D 1 - L 1 - F 7 - A 5 |
Poland Lineup |
1 |
Szczęsny, Wojciech
T. |
30 347 days |
18 April 1990 |
G |
Juventus FC, Italy |
52 |
0 |
18 |
Bereszyński, Bartosz |
28 262 days |
12 July 1992 |
RWB |
UC Sampdoria, Italy |
31 |
0 |
14 |
Helik, Michał S. |
25 203 days |
9 September 1995 |
RCD |
Barnsley FC, England |
2 |
0 |
15 |
Glik, Kamil J. |
33 56 days |
3 February 1988 |
CD |
Benevento Calcio, Italy |
82 |
6 |
5 |
Bednarek, Jan K. |
24 353 days |
12 April 1996 |
LCD |
Southampton FC, England |
29 |
1 |
13 |
Rybus, Maciej, off 86th min. |
31 225 days |
18 August 1989 |
LWB |
FC Lokomotiv Moskva, Russia |
61 |
2 |
20 |
Zieliński, Piotr S., off 86th min. |
26 315 days |
20 May 1994 |
RM |
SSC Napoli, Italy |
59 |
6 |
10 |
Krychowiak, Grzegorz |
31 61 days |
29 January 1990 |
CM |
FC Lokomotiv Moskva, Russia |
78 |
4 |
16
|
Moder, Jakub P. |
21 358 days |
7 April 1999 |
LM |
Brighton & Hove Albion FC, England |
8 |
2 |
23 |
Piątek, Krzysztof, off 76th min. |
25 273 days |
1 July 1995 |
RF |
Hertha, Berliner SC, Germany |
18 |
8 |
9 |
Świderski, Karol, off half time |
24 67 days |
23 January 1997 |
LF |
Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinopolitón FC, Greece |
2 |
1 |
Poland
Substitutes |
scoreline:
England 1 Poland 0 |
7
|
Milik, Arkadiusz K., on half time for Świderski |
27 31 days |
28 February 1994 |
RF
|
Olympique de Marseille, France, on loan from SSC Napoli, Italy |
59 |
15 |
|
44 seconds into the second half after he tripped Harry Kane from behind |
|
|
scoreline:
England 1 Poland 1 |
21 |
Jóźwiak, Kamil, on 54th min. for Helik |
25 343 days |
22 April 1998 |
M |
Derby County FC, England |
12 |
2 |
6 |
Augustyniak, Rafał, on 76th min. for Piątek |
27
168 days |
14 October 1993 |
DM |
FC Ural Yekaterinburg, Russia |
1 |
0 |
scoreline:
England 2 Poland 1 |
3 |
Reca, Arkadiusz, on 86th min. for Rybus |
25 287 days |
17 June 1995 |
D |
FC Crotone, Italy, on loan from Atalanta BC, Italy |
14 |
0 |
11 |
Grosicki, Kamil P., on 86th min. for Zieliński |
32 296 days |
8 June 1988 |
M |
West Bromwich Albion FC, England |
83 |
17 |
result:
England 2 Poland 1 |
unused
substitutes: |
2-Sebastian Kowalczyk, 4-Paul Dawidowicz, 8-Kacper Kozłowski, 12-Karol Niemczycki, 17-Przemyslaw Płacheta, 19-Sebastian Szymański, 22-Łukasz Fabiański, |
records: |
This is Poland's third loss in 26 WC/EC qualification matches. |
Manager Paulo Sousa played for Portugal in friendly matches against England
in December 1995 and
April 1998. |
|
5-3-2 |
Szczęsny - Bereszyński, Helik (Jóźwiak), Glik, Bednarek, Rybus
(Reca) -
Zieliński (Grosicki), Krychowiak, Moder -
Piątek
(Augustyniak), Świderski (Milik), |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
27 years 264 days |
Appearances/Goals |
38.4 |
2.6 |
|
The punishing
schedule for England continued with this match at Wembley against Poland,
their third game in a week.
Gareth Southgate made just one change from the win
in Albania, bringing in Ben
Chilwell for Luke Shaw at
left-back.
The game started with England trying to retain
possession, but with Poland hunting them down at every opportunity.
England kept their cool though, and
with Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Mason Mount taking a firm grip on
midfield, the dominance of the home team grew.
It was soon obvious that Poland had
earmarked Raheem Sterling for particular attention, realising that he
posed a large threat down the left.
Each time the winger received the ball
he was closed down by two, three and even four defenders.
The first real chance came on seven minutes when a fine pass from Mount
sent Chilwell away down the left and as he reached the bye-line he pulled
the ball back, but just a little too high for the inrushing Phil Foden.
His header went over but it was also a case of the wrong man on the
end of the cross.
Poland then
broke quickly but that attack was quickly snuffed out by the England
defenders.
John Stones and
Harry Maguire looked in good form and Kyle Walker and Chilwell also gave
good protection to Nick Pope.
On ten minutes, Foden cut inside from
the right, and had his ankle clipped to bring him down in the box.
It looked a penalty but the referee was having none of it.
Meanwhile, Sterling was fouled again as defenders swooped on him,
and as the minutes ticked by the Manchester City winger was just starting
to have a little more joy.
One
run into the area saw him put a good ball inside, but a defender cleared
the danger away.
In fact, in
the first 15 minutes Poland dealt efficiently with the crosses coming in
from England.
In the 18th minute England took the lead.
For the first time in the match, Sterling had some space and set
off on a run at the Polish defence.
As he reached the bye-line a challenge came in from
Michal Helik
and clattered Sterling to the ground.
This time the referee did give the penalty and up stepped Harry
Kane to smash the ball down the middle with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny diving to his right.
It was Kane’s 34th England goal and his tenth penalty,
which is a new England record.
Poland came back for a short while and Maguire was
harshly penalised as he gave away a free-kick.
That was not the first poor decision given by the Dutch referee,
who made some irritating stoppages against both sides at times.
Two chances then came for Sterling in two minutes of
action as first he was crowded out after bursting into the box onto a
great pass from Mount.
At the
other end Pope was a little lucky with a mishit clearance which was
thankfully intercepted by the busy Foden, and from the following
breakaway, Sterling dribbled into the box again and almost scored the goal
of the season.
He beat several
players before he was just edged out from making the final shot.
What a goal that might have been!
On 31 minutes lovely interplay by Foden and Mount set
up Kane for a shot.
He hit the
target but Szcesny dived to his right to touch the ball away from danger.
That was a good save.
England were stretching the Poland defenders at every opportunity, and
with Rice, Phillips and Mount combining well, it looked only a matter of
time before England sealed the win.
One turn and pass by Phillips showed the Leeds United player was
growing into this team with increasing confidence.
Rice made many great interceptions, taking the ball from Polish
players with ease at times with his clever reading of the play.
In the 43rd minute another run by Sterling
was stopped only by desperate defending and every time Sterling took
possession and ran at Poland he caused danger.
The only annoying feature of England’s first-half performance was
in just two shots on target and one was the penalty goal. Other than that it was a good half.
Poland made some changes in the second-half and
certainly upped their game.
Suddenly the little nicks gaining possession by Rice were not coming off,
and Mount’s runs were stifled as was the workrate of Phillips. Poland really harried and pushed England in this half, although it
must be said that Pope was rarely called into action.
Mount was fouled in one attack to earn a free-kick in
a good position, but that was wasted by Foden.
Then a cross was cut out by Pope as Poland hit back and the
visitors next attack was cleared by Maguire.
He and Stones were playing well, as were the full-backs, but the
increasing dominance of Poland was a worry.
Poland made more changes from their bench, but nothing was
forthcoming from Southgate regarding substitutions, which was rather
surprising.
The England
players were showing visible signs of fatigue as the action became more
frenetic.
One of the England manager’s ploys is to build out
from the back, but several times over this and the previous two games the
pfaffing around at the back has almost brought disaster.
In the 58th minute of this game England’s luck ran out.
Pope passed out to Stones and the obvious thing would have been to
pass back to the keeper.
But Stones took a touch too many, was closed down by Jakub Moder, the ball ran
away but came back to Moder who finished with aplomb.
Stones held his hand up to apologise to his teammates, but the
damage was done.
There is no
need to criticise Stones too much as he and Maguire had played well, and
he plays for Manchester City.
They play that game too, and quite a few times players, not just Stones,
have been caught out.
It’s the
nature of the beast.
For a while Poland were in the ascendency, whilst a
few England players were obviously stunned.
However, to their credit they gradually recovered, and they still
looked more likely to score than the visitors.
England won a few corners but there was little threat
from those set pieces throughout the match.
More subs came on for Poland but still nothing from Southgate.
One Polish substitute Arkadiusz Milik came on and was booked in
less than a minute.
Later on
though he had a free header which he put tamely wide.
Then Mount gave Foden a chance with a good pass, but the youngster
could not fine the power with his weaker right foot, and the goalkeeper
easily saved.
It was a little
worrying to find players in crossing positions looking up to find no
England player in the box, something we need to work on.
As the match entered the last ten minutes there was still no signs
of changes from the bench but on 84 minutes Mount shot as he cut in, won a
corner for England.
This time,
something did happen from the set piece.
Foden’s corner went very deep, too far it seemed, but
Stones got round the back and headed the ball down and back into the
danger area.
The ball bounced
to Maguire and he lashed home a terrific shot from 12 yards.
All the players rushed to Stones who had certainly atoned for his
earlier error.
Some say the
goal came against the run of play, but I don’t agree, as England created
more than Poland throughout.
Strangely, with just a few minutes left, Southgate
then made three substitutions, with Reece James, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and
Jesse Lingard coming on for Foden, Kane and Sterling.
Still, the game was won, and you can’t say fairer than that.
And talking of fair, in one daily newspaper, the score ratings for
players gave Stones ‘4’.
What
a ridiculous mark that was, obviously judged on that one blemish in an
otherwise excellent match for the big defender.
England are now in pole position in the group, if you will pardon
the pun.
|