It’s the big day. Roony Bardghji and Robert Lewandowski face off tonight in Solna (Sweden) in a one-off match for one of the final tickets to this summer’s World Cup.

For Sweden, a win would mean a return to the World Cup for the first time since 2018. Playing for a country that missed out on the 2022 edition, Roony could make his World Cup debut at just 20 years of age. Sweden actually finished bottom of their qualifying group without a win, but reached the playoffs by virtue of their Nations League ranking and last Thursday beat Ukraine to get within one game of the finals.

A very different situation for Lewandowski, who could be playing in his third World Cup after featuring in Russia in 2018 and most recently in Qatar in 2022.

In Russia, the Polish striker failed to reach the round of 16, something he did manage in Qatar. Lewy made it to the first even scored against France, although it wasn’t enough to take Poland through to the quarter-finals. He also scored in the 2-1 defeat of Albania last Thursday to set up this enticing decider against the Swedes.

Aside from this clash, there are three more play-off ties that will grant access to the 2026 World Cup. Kosovo v Turkey, Czech Republic v Denmark (who are without the injured Andreas Christensen), and Bosnia and Herzegovina v Italy.

All four games will be played on Tuesday 31 March at 8.45pm CET.

Força Barça