Although we’ve seen our fair share of upsets already, Poland will try to achieve their most impressive result at the 2022 World Cup so far when they take on France in the round of 16.
Seriously, the Polish team haven’t set the world on fire during the group stage, only scoring two goals in their three outings. Nonetheless, it turned out to be enough to outshine Mexico in a close battle for second place.
Despite their shortcomings in goal creation, the Poles reached the knockout stage because they have done a significantly better job on the opposite side of the pitch, mainly thanks to one man’s heroics.
After getting two clean sheets in his first two games and saving two penalties (the most recent against Lionel Messi), Wojciech Szczesny has to be the best goalkeeper in the group stage.
However, the Juventus goalkeeper rarely receives the plaudits he deserves, despite his great feats for both club and country in recent seasons.
Aside from a slow start to the previous campaign, Tek has always been an extremely reliable goalkeeper, but for one reason or another, he’s never part of the discussion when it comes to the best goalkeepers in the world.
While we’re not suggesting our man is the absolute best in the world, the honor will likely go to one of Manuel Neuer, Jan Oblak or Thibaut Courtois, but he surely deserves a spot in the Top 10.
You won’t see the Pole’s name mentioned on the vast majority of lists, though, which makes us wonder if he’s the most underrated goalkeeper in European football.
Regardless, the former Arsenal and Roma man will be in action this weekend in another bid to win long overdue recognition and perhaps even delay Poland’s highly anticipated exit from the tournament.
As always, all eyes will be on Robert Lewandowski, but if Poland were to surprise Kylian Mbappé and co, they will undoubtedly need Szczesny to pull off another couple of miracles.
