Poles come to Aviva in December with aim of qualifying for Brazil 2027, their first time on football’s biggest stage

Woman’s football in Poland is experiencing its breakthrough moment. Having reached their first major tournament at last year’s Euros, Nina Patalon’s side can qualify for the Women’s World Cup next summer by beating the Republic of Ireland over a two-legged playoff in December.

Only one global star will make it to Brazil: will it be Ewa Pajor or Katie McCabe?

Gdansk is to host the first leg on December 1st before a return to the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on December 5th – the scene of Ireland’s deflating loss to Wales two years ago in a Euros playoff.

“Forget Wales,” Ireland manager Carla Ward said following the 12-0 aggregate defeat of Kazakhstan on Tuesday. “Honestly, forget Wales. We have come a long way since then.”

So have Poland. Anything seems possible after they outlasted Belgium this week, when a penalty shoot-out was settled by Spanish-born striker Natalia Padilla-Bidas.

The higher ranked Belgians had been expected to hold on to a 1-0 first-leg lead and give their record goalscorer, Tessa Wullaert, the international stage that her outstanding career deserves.

But Pajor had other ideas. The Barcelona striker is giving Robert Lewandowski a run for his money as the most impactful Polish footballer. Pajor netted twice in the Champions League final defeat of Lyons last May, and she hit another brace to force penalties against Belgium.

The 29-year-old has scored 79 times since signing for Barcelona in June 2024, displaying the lightest of touches in front of goal.

Pajor’s dramatic second on Tuesday, in the 116th minute, would have Brian Kerr describing her as a “barreller”. She willed the ball into the net after bumping off two Belgian defenders and rounding goalkeeper Lowiese Seynhaeve.

“Ewa is a top, top player, but they have a lot of those,” Ward said before the two World Cup qualifiers in April. “It would be naive to concentrate on one player.”

Sure enough, Poland only saw off Belgium after Pajor’s poorly struck spot-kick was saved by Seynhaeve.

Afterwards a relieved Patalon said: “It was the most exciting match of my coaching career. I’ve never had to go to extra-time or penalties before. It’s not like me, but my emotions were certainly visible – and they’ll stay with me for another week.”

The Polish coach has seven weeks to recover before her well-rounded squad face Ireland at home. This moment has been promised since Paris Saint-Germain defender Paulina Dudek and AC Milan midfielder Ewelina Kamczyk were team-mates with Pajor on the under-17 team who beat Sweden in the 2013 Euros final.

Dudek and Kamczyk remain key figures alongside Bayer Leverkusen winger Paulina Tomasiak and Bristol City defender Oliwia Wos.

Kinga Seweryn was an unlikely hero over the two Belgium games as the reserve goalkeeper replaced the injured Kinga Szemik to guess correctly in the shoot-out – twice saving to her left – and she denied Wullaert from the spot in the first leg.

Ward said: “I’ll be honest, I watched it.” Which was some achievement considering the shoot-out only finished in the 12th minute of Ireland’s 4-0 defeat of Kazakhstan.

“I watched it out there [on the pitch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh]. I watched the whole game,” she said.

“They were very good, Poland were, but we’ve played them. We know what to expect. They played a similar way to when we played them first time [in April]. I’m not so sure what they’re going to take away from our two games.”

Ireland were involved in a 3-2 thriller in Gdansk six months ago when there was also a missed penalty by McCabe. Indeed, early goals by Emily Murphy and a sublime McCabe volley had Ward’s side in control throughout.

A brilliant header by Tanja Pawollek made it 2-1 before Marissa Sheva secured all three points for Ireland, although Pajor’s late lobbed finish over Courtney Brosnan kept it interesting.

Another excellent strike from Sheva proved the difference four days later at the Aviva. There were some aggressive exchanges in Dublin as McCabe was smothered whenever she tried to attack down the left and Denise O’Sullivan was kicked from minute one. “I’m used to it, I like to get on the ball,” the Gotham FC midfielder said.

Ward said: “They’re going to want revenge. They’ll look at it as an opportunity to put right what they got wrong.

“What I would say is if you have a look across both games [in April], I think we were dominant. I think we were very unlucky not to walk away with a bigger scoreline away. At home, Denise hit the bar. [Emily Murphy] hit the post.

“I actually think we’re a better team now as well. We’re getting better all the time. We’ve got depth now.”

So have Poland.

World Cup playoffs

Ukraine v England

Finland v Italy

Portugal v Iceland

Wales v Norway

Switzerland v Austria

Scotland v Sweden

Poland v Republic of Ireland

Slovenia v The Netherlands

(Uefa countries already qualified are Spain, Germany, France and Denmark.)