Sweden 3-2 Poland: Gyokeres the hero as Potter´s team win thrilling World Cup play-off

Viktor Gyokeres scored an 88th-minute winner to send Sweden to the World Cup, as they beat Poland 3-2 in a back-and-forth qualification play-off in Stockholm.

The Arsenal striker – who scored a hat-trick against Ukraine in Sweden’s semi-final victory last week – was in the right place to finish off a goalmouth scramble with extra time looming, after Poland had come back from behind on two occasions in a thrilling encounter.

Daniel Svensson failed to make the most of an early headed chance, but Sweden still struck first in the 19th minute as Yasin Ayari’s glorious backheel found Anthony Elanga, who sent a rasping, left-footed effort off the underside of the crossbar and in.

Kristoffer Nordfeldt denied Karol Swiderski with a wonderful save, but the Sweden goalkeeper was unable to keep out Nicola Zalewski’s curler after 33 minutes, despite getting a hand to the ball low down to his left.

Sweden restored their advantage on the stroke of half-time as Gustaf Lagerbielke beat Poland keeper Kamil Grabara to Benjamin Nygren’s in-swinging free-kick and nodded home, but the visitors fought back once more.

Ten minutes into the second half, Jakub Kaminski flicked Matty Cash’s centre towards the far post, and Zalewski knocked it into the path of Swiderski for a simple finish.

Poland pushed hard for a winner and only Victor Lindelof’s last-ditch clearance prevented a Sebastian Szymanski corner from curling all the way in and giving the visitors the lead for the first time, and Sweden made that reprieve count.

Lucas Bergvall’s effort was saved by Grabara and Besfort Zeneli’s follow-up bounced off the inside of the post, but it was third time lucky for the hosts as Gyokeres pounced to book their spot in Group F at the World Cup, alongside the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia.

Data Debrief: Sweden earn revenge as Gyokeres comes up clutch

Sweden only made it to one of the last four World Cups, but they booked their ticket to North America by overcoming the foe that denied them a trip to Qatar.

They were play-off losers against Poland ahead of the 2022 tournament, but Sweden would not be denied this time around as Gyokeres stepped up when it mattered.

Gyokeres failed to score in four appearances in Sweden’s World Cup qualifying group, as they failed to win a game and finished bottom of Group B.

However, he scored four times across two play-off matches to propel Sweden – and their former Chelsea head coach Graham Potter – to the World Cup.

And on the balance of play, it was a victory that Potter’s team will feel they just about deserved.

Sweden only had nine shots to Poland’s 15, hitting the target five times while their visitors did so on seven occasions. But the chances Sweden created were of a higher quality, as they won the expected goals (xG) battle by 1.71 to 0.97.

Gyokeres only had one shot all game, but his equaliser had an xG value of 0.71 as he outmuscled Przemyslaw Wisniewski before prodding in to spark wild celebrations, with Sweden able to achieve qualification even without injured stars Alexander Isak and Dejan Kulusevski.