Rebellion in the Polish national team. Shocking reports straight from Finland

Monday's official pre-match conference in Helsinki was supposed to provide answers to key questions. Did it? Quite the opposite, and what's worse, the atmosphere around the national team under the baton of coach Michał Probierz is getting even thicker. The PZPN's rescue and explanatory statement in the middle of the night, from Monday to Tuesday, also did not help at all.

Footballers furious with Michał Probierz. Is this the end of this team?

Let us recall that during the aforementioned Monday conference , the new captain of the national team, Piotr Zieliński, and the coach of the Poles sat down in front of the journalists. The former did not say anything groundbreaking, but coach Probierz began by explaining, or rather rehearsing, the events between him and Robert Lewandowski . "Lewy" lost his status as captain of the national team via phone, and shortly afterwards... he himself resigned from playing in the team led by the current coach of the Poles.

During the explanations from Probierz, among other things, there was an argument related to conversations with some players and members of the staff about "Lewy" and his role in the national team. As it was easy to connect the dots, the coach suggested that he was supported in the rightness of the decision made regarding the national team legend.

What's more, information appeared in the pages of "Przegląd Sportowy" and Onet, proving that it was specifically the so-called team council that had an important say in the context of taking away Lewandowski's captain's armband. Its members at the meeting with Probierz were supposed to include: Piotr Zieliński, Przemysław Frankowski, Jakub Kiwior. Jan Bednarek, however, was exceptionally absent.

How was it really? There is no hard evidence here. However, a statement appeared in the middle of the night from the Polish Football Association.

"In connection with information appearing in the media that the Polish national team team council was the initiator of the change of the player serving as captain of the national team, the Polish Football Association strongly denies these reports. There was no meeting between coach Michał Probierz and the team council, and the decision was made solely by the trainer," it was reported.

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This announcement was supposed to be... the result of pressure from the representatives, who went to see the coach in the middle of the night, before the match of course.

"Michał Probierz, with his impulsive decision to take away Robert Lewandowski's armband, put his players on a mine. They were furious and went to him on Monday evening to ask the Polish Football Association to reverse the confusion caused by one of the articles after the coach's press conference. Few people think about the match. A scandal and embarrassment for the entire country. This is this famous action for the good of the team a day before an important match with Finland," wrote Tomasz Włodarczyk, a journalist from Meczyki.pl, on platform X.

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As you can see, the atmosphere is very heated, and the rebellion caused by subsequent news emerging – either from journalists – or from the parties concerned themselves, can cause a really big headache.

Where is football in all this? It seems that it is far behind the priorities, at least looking at what is happening in the last few dozen hours before the important qualifier in Helsinki.

2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Finland – Poland. Where and when to watch the match?

On Tuesday evening, the leader and runner-up of Group G in the qualifying round for next year's World Cup will face off at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. It is worth noting, however, that the hosts, the Finns, have already played three matches - jointly counting one win, one loss and one draw. Hence, four points in their account. Finland, however, has the Netherlands behind them, who only started playing in the qualifying round last weekend. The great favourites of the group welcomed... the Finns on their own soil 2:0. It is therefore to be expected that the Poles' opponent on Tuesday will soon say goodbye to second place.

In the case of Poland, coach Probierz's team collected a full set of points in two matches. The national team won both matches at the PGE National Stadium, first modestly beating Lithuania (1:0) and then Malta (2:0). The winners of each of the qualifying groups will advance directly to the 2026 World Cup. In the case of the runners-up, the play-off zone will most likely decide the matter, i.e. the path that Poland took... during the last World Cup. At that time, the Poles went to the 2022 World Cup after defeating Sweden (2:0).

What time will the Finland-Poland match start? The first whistle is scheduled for 20:45. The match will be broadcast on TVP1 and TVP Sport. Additionally, the online broadcast will be available through the dedicated TVP Sport application or via the station's website.

Read also: Foreign media loudly about the conflict in Poland. "The fight for power is ongoing" Read also: Lewandowski vs. Probierz. Poles have made the matter clear