Match Previews

Gilk is in the World Cup squad but looks set to miss the game. Kurzawa is a serious doubt and Wolski is sidelined.

Strolled past Lithuania for a 4:0 win on Tuesday in their last pre-World Cup friendly game. It was barely a game to be remembered as the Poles coasted past a very inferior opponent and mostly gained match fitness, having drawn 2:2 with Chile in their first preparation game.

Adam Nawlka will be looking for a big performance from his side in the opening group game when playing a dangerous and talented side like Senegal as Poland makes a return to the biggest competition in the world for a first time since a group stage exit in 2006.

It is a serious challenge but Poland have genuinely become one of the most solid sides in Europe in the last three or four years and will have the advantage of being in more familiar surroundings in the game compared to their African opponents.

The main talking point around the squad ahead of the start of the World Cup has been the shock inclusion in the final squad of Kamil Gilk. The defensive stalwart suffered a shoulder injured last week that initially ruled him out of the whole tournament but further tests revealed that he stands some chance of playing later on and Nawalka decided to take him on, leaving Marcin Kaminski at home.

Gilk will almost certainly miss the first group game but he has not been officially ruled out yet. Otherwise, one of the fringe squad members in Rafal Kurzawa suffered an ankle injury in the last friendly and is considered a serious doubt. Rafael Wolski is sidelined with a more serious injury.

Poland have played against African opposition just twice in World Cup history, drawing 0:0 against Cameroon and Morocco in 1982 and 1986 respectively.