Vying for a place in the Euro Under-17 Championship final, Poland Under-17s tackle Germany Under-17s in Tuesday evening's semi-final at the Pancho Arena in Felcsut.
Either Spain Under-17s or holders France Under-17s will await the victors in next month's showpiece match, with the other semi-final taking place a few hours beforehand in Hungary.
Match preview
Finding the back of the net for fun at the current continental championships, Poland scored no fewer than 10 goals in their opening two Group A matches, putting five past both the Republic of Ireland and host nation Hungary to seal a quarter-final berth with a game to spare.
Marcin Wlodarski's subsequently rang the changes for their final group game, which ended in an inconsequential 3-0 loss to Wales, before reverting to type for their last-eight showdown versus Group B runners-up Serbia, who felt the full force of Poland's penalty-box potency.
Twice Poland took the lead through Jakub Krzyzanowski and Daniel Mikolajewski, and twice they were pegged back by Veljko Vukojevic and Andrej Subotic, but Filip Rejczyk's free kick with 89 minutes on the clock proved decisive in an enthralling 3-2 success for the White Eagles on Saturday.
Quickly becoming one of the most exciting teams to watch at the Championships as a neutral, Poland have averaged over three goals per game while conceding over two per game, and their exploits in Hungary have booked them a ticket to the Under-17 World Cup for the first time since 1999.
Beaten semi-finalists in 2012, Poland have only been present at four editions of the Under-17 Euros in total - going out in the groups in 2002 and 2022 - whereas Germany's pedigree at this level is not up for debate.
Three-time continental champions at Under-17 level - most recently in 2009 - Germany were the sole team to progress to the quarters with a 100% record to their name, strolling to successes over France, Portugal and Scotland in Group C with 10 goals scored and just the one conceded.
A quarter-final date with Switzerland was the reward for Christian Wuck's side, but their task became all the more strenuous when Maxim Dal was shown a 15th-minute red card for a last-man foul on Winsley Boteli, who proceeded to dust himself down and convert the resulting penalty.
Despite being forced to see out the rest of the match with 10 men, Germany levelled just four minutes after the break through Paris Brunner's third goal of the tournament - forcing a penalty-shootout after a 1-1 draw in normal time - where Boteli soon went from hero to zero for Switzerland with his side's third and final missed attempt.
Aiming to reach the final for the first time since 2015 - where they lost to France - Germany have three wins to show from their three previous Under-17 meetings with Poland, including an astonishing 10-1 friendly victory in August 2021, and the White Eagles appear to have learned a few lessons from that attacking masterclass.
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Team News
With no new injury or suspension concerns to worry about, Poland boss Wlodarski ought to name an almost identical XI from their success over Serbia, but he is facing quite the dilemma in the final third.
Mike Huras was chosen to partner Mateusz Skoczylas up top in the White Eagles' 3-5-2 shape, but with Mikolajewski coming off the bench to score his side's second from the penalty spot at the weekend, the Parma youngster may have done enough to force his way in.
Meanwhile, Germany centre-back Dal will be forced to sit out the semi-final through suspension following his red card in the quarters, opening the door for David Odogu to start in the heart of defence.
Schalke midfielder Assan Ouedraogo also picked up an unspecified injury in the win over Switzerland, so Winners Osawe and Kjell Watjen could go head-to-head for a place in the engine room.
Fresh from saving two penalties in the quarter-final shootout, Bayern Munich's Max Schmitt will act as the last line of defence for Wuck's crop.
Poland Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Piekutowski; Krzyzanowski, Szala, Orlikowski; Kolanko, Rejczyk, Borys, Sznaucner, Wolski; Skoczylas, Mikolajewski
Germany Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Schmitt; Da Silva Moreira, Jeltsch, Odogu, Kabar; Osawe, Harchaoui; Herrmann, Darvich, Brunner; Moerstedt
We say: Poland Under-17s 2-3 Germany Under-17s
A free-scoring Poland attack coming up against a resolute Germany defence is an intriguing battle to say the least, and with Wuck's side working around the absence of Dal, the White Eagles ought to feel confident of notching up at least a couple of goals.
However, the three-time champions have proven adept in the final third themselves, and with Poland's gung-ho approach leaving them vulnerable at the back, we expect Germany to edge a tantalising contest and move one step closer to glory.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Poland Under-17s win with a probability of 55.06%. A win for Germany Under-17s had a probability of 24.69% and a draw had a probability of 20.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Poland Under-17s win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-1 (6.74%) and 2-0 (6.29%). The likeliest Germany Under-17s win was 1-2 (5.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (8.21%). The actual scoreline of 3-5 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Germany Under-17s would win this match.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
