Finland bounced back from their loss to the Netherlands with a big 2-1 win over Poland, giving their World Cup hopes a much-needed boost. It was only their fourth win ever in 32 matches against Poland, so this was a big deal!
At first, it looked like Poland would dominate. They had most of the ball and created early chances. One of their best moments came when Krzysztof Piatek almost scored, but Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky made an amazing save. Then Jere Uronen blocked another shot on the goal line—what a team effort!
Even though Poland were looking strong, they couldn’t find that final spark in front of goal. Then, they made a huge mistake. Poland’s goalkeeper, Łukasz Skorupski, took too long with the ball in his own box. Joel Pohjanpalo pounced, and when Robin Lod tried to take the ball, Skorupski fouled him. Finland got a penalty, and Pohjanpalo calmly scored it to make it 1-0.
Finland almost made it 2-0 before halftime when Kaan Kairinen took a powerful shot that flew just over the bar. Right after the break, Lod had another big chance but missed by inches. Arttu Hoskonen then hit the crossbar with a strong header.
Finally, Finland got their second goal when Oliver Antman broke away and passed to Benjamin Källman, who easily scored into an open net. It looked like Finland had full control.
But they relaxed a bit too much. Poland took advantage when Jakub Kiwior scored in a messy scramble in front of the goal. Then, a medical emergency in the stands stopped the match for over 30 minutes.
After the break, Poland tried to score again, and Kiwior came close with a powerful shot that went just over the bar. Poland had 11 extra minutes to tie the game, but Finland held on tight.
With this win, Finland jumped to the top of Group G and kept their World Cup dream alive!
