Poland Leads Saudi Arabia 1-0 at Half with Zielinski's Early Goal

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Saudi Arabia showed excellent performance against Poland but fell short in goal finishing, ending the first half 1-0.

On the 26th (Korean time), Poland played against Saudi Arabia in the second match of Group C in the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. Poland took the lead in the 39th minute of the first half with a goal by Piotr Zieli?ski and maintained the lead thanks to Wojciech Szcz?sny's penalty kick save, finishing the first half 1-0.

Poland started with Wojciech Szcz?sny (GK), Bartosz Bereszy?ski, Jakub Kiwior, Kamil Glik, Matty Cash, Piotr Zieli?ski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Krystian Bielik, Przemysław Frankowski, Arkadiusz Milik, and Robert Lewandowski as the starting lineup.

Saudi Arabia fielded Mohammed Al-Owais (GK), Abdulrahman Al-Amri, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Mohammed Al-Breik, Saud Abdulhamid, Abdullah Al-Malki, Sami Al-Najei, Mohammed Kanno, Feras Al-Buraikan, Salem Al-Dawsari, and Saleh Al-Shehri.

Saudi Arabia launched a fierce offensive from the first half. In the 12th minute, Kanno took a shot from the right side of the penalty box, but the opposing goalkeeper made a save, preventing a goal.

Poland also began to counterattack. There were moments of crisis. In the first half, Kiwior, Cash, and Milik received consecutive yellow cards, seemingly disrupting the game flow. In the 26th minute, Bielik made a powerful header shot but was blocked by the Saudi defense.

In the 32nd minute, Saudi Arabia missed a scoring opportunity as Al-Shehri failed to connect a cross from the right flank with his head.

Amid the crisis, Poland scored the opening goal. In the 39th minute, Lewandowski passed the ball backward inside the penalty box, and Zieli?ski received it and struck a right-footed non-stop shot that shook the Saudi goal net.

Saudi Arabia immediately launched an attack and earned a penalty kick. However, Dawsari's shot as the kicker was calmly saved by Szcz?sny, maintaining Poland's lead.

Following this, 10 minutes of added time in the first half passed without any chance to equalize.

Previously, Poland earned 1 point with a 0-0 draw in their first match against Mexico. Saudi Arabia emerged as the biggest dark horse of this tournament by securing a 2-1 victory against the strong Argentina team.