Poland vs Albania: prediction & betting odds 26 March 2026

Poland National Football Team Form

Poland performed well in the qualifying campaign, but were unable to finish above the Netherlands in the Group G standings. The national team ended up second, picking up five wins and two draws (both against the group leaders) and suffering just one defeat, which came away to Finland. Poland have previously played at the World Cup finals nine times, with four of those tournaments coming in this century. At the 2022 World Cup, the team reached the last 16 and, incidentally, that was the only tournament Poland qualified for via the play-offs – beating Sweden 2:0.

• Poland have avoided defeat in 14 of their last 16 World Cup qualifiers (11 wins and three draws).
• Both teams scored in five of the last six matches involving the national team in this qualifying campaign.
• Exactly two or three goals were scored in five of Poland’s last seven matches in this qualification.

Potential Poland Lineup (4-4-2)

Kamil Grabara – Jakub Kiwior, Matty Cash, Jan Bednarek, Jan Ziolkowski – Piotr Zielinski, Kamil Grosicki, Sebastian Szymanski, Michal Skoras – Robert Lewandowski, Karol Swiderski.

For various reasons, the following players will not feature for the national team: forward Adam Buksa, goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, defender Pawel Dawidowicz, and midfielders Bartosz Kapustka, Przemyslaw Frankowski and Jakub Piotrowski. Midfielder Nicola Zalewski is also unavailable due to suspension.

Albania National Football Team Form

The Balkan side will feature in the upcoming match thanks to the second place they took in their group, finishing only behind England, who beat them in both meetings. In the remaining six qualifiers, the national team recorded four wins and two draws, finishing above a strong Serbia side in the process. It is also worth noting that Albania’s matches were the lowest-scoring in European qualifying – an average of 1.5 goals per game. Interestingly, Albania have never previously reached a World Cup finals nor played in the play-offs.

• The national team have not lost in six of their last seven World Cup qualifiers (four wins and two draws).
• A maximum of two goals were scored in Albania’s last six World Cup qualifiers.
• One of the sides failed to score in 13 of the last 14 matches involving the Balkan team in this qualifying campaign.

Potential Albania Lineup (4-3-3)

Thomas Strakosha – Elseid Hysaj, Berat Djimsiti, Ardian Ismajli, Mario Mitaj – Kristjan Asllani, Ylber Ramadani, Qazim Laci – Myrto Uzuni, Jasir Asani, Arber Hoxha.

The following players will not feature for the national team: defenders Enea Mihaj and Marash Kumbulla, and forwards Mirlind Daku and Rey Manaj.

Referee

Anthony Taylor (England)

Matches – 8 (International matches, 2025/26);

Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 34;

Yellow cards per match on average – 4.3;

Red cards shown – 1;

Fouls per match on average – 22;

Penalties – 26%.