Preview: Poland vs Ukraine - prediction, team news, lineups

Poland and Ukraine square off in an international friendly at the Worclaw Stadium on Sunday.

With these two nations having failed to qualify for the World Cup, this game is in preparation for the next UEFA Nations League campaign which begins in September.

Match preview

After successive World Cup Finals appearances and qualifying for five European Championships in a row, Poland had high expectations of an appearance at the upcoming World Cup.

However, despite being presented with a favourable playoff quarter, a 2-1 victory over Albania was followed by a disastrous 3-2 defeat to Graham Potter's previously out-of-form Sweden side.

Poland's seven-game unbeaten run came to an end courtesy of Viktor Gyokeres's 88th-minute winner, and it prevented Robert Lewandowski from enjoying an international swansong on the biggest stage.

Despite hinting at international retirement, Lewandowski remains in the squad for this contest, but head coach Jan Urban will already be trying to identify the 37-year-old's long-term successor.

As well as recording five wins during the aforementioned recent seven-game unbeaten run, Poland also earned two 1-1 draws with World Cup participants Netherlands.

© Imago

Meanwhile, Ukraine were the team that Sweden beat to set up a World Cup playoff final with Poland, a 3-1 defeat resulting in the departure of manager Sergei Rebrov.

Andrea Maldera - a former assistant manager of Ukraine and chief deputy to Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton & Hove Albion and Marseille - has been appointed as Rebrov's replacement.

Since June 10, Ukraine have recorded five wins, one draw and three defeats from nine games, with two of the losses coming at the hands of France.

Their most notable victories have been against Iceland and, most recently, Albania, who they defeated by a 1-0 scoreline in what was effectively a meaningless friendly in March.

These two nations last met in June 2024 when Poland prevailed by a 3-1 scoreline, while they are also on a three-match winning streak against Ukraine that started in 2016.

Poland form (all competitions):

W W D W W L

Ukraine form (all competitions):

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Team News

© Imago

With Matty Cash not included in the Poland squad, Arkadiusz Pyrka could be handed just his third cap as his replacement at right wing-back.

Tomasz Kedziora is an alternative to Przemyslaw Wisniewski in the back three, while Michal Skoras and Filip Rozga are also in contention for recalls having been dropped for the Sweden game.

The expectation is that Lewandowski will start this contest and Karol Czubak, who has just enjoyed an 18-goal season with Motor Lublin, be handed his international debut in the second half.

How Maldera will choose to line up for his first Ukraine game is unclear at this stage, but five of the players who started the 3-1 defeat to Sweden in March are absent.

Mykola Matviyenko could return at centre-back, with Valeriy Bondar moving to right-back, while Mykola Shaparenko and Ruslan Malinovskyi may also return.

Andriy Yarmolenko is in contention for his 125th cap, and Artem Dovbyk could get the nod over Roman Yaremchuk down the middle of the attack.

Poland possible starting lineup:

Grabara; Kiwior, Bednarek, Wisniewski; Pyrka, Szymanski, Zielinski, Zalewski; Swiderski, Kaminski; Lewandowski

Ukraine possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Bondar, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Mykolenko; Sudakov, Shaparenko; Tsygankov, Malinovskyi, Yarmolenko; Dovbyk

We say: Poland 1-1 Ukraine

Although both managers are expected to name strong starting lineups, mass substitutions and international debuts could occur during the second half.

With that in mind, we are backing a contest between two evenly-matched sides to end in a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.