Bednarek's Poland miss out on automatic EURO qualification
Southampton defender Jan Bednarek was back in Poland’s starting line-up tonight, but a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic ended the Poles’ hopes of automatic qualification for EURO 2024.
It was a must-win game in Warsaw for Poland, who were playing in their final qualifier, and took a half-time lead through Jakub Piotrowski.
But West Ham’s Tomáš Souček equalised shortly after the interval to ensure Czech Republic remain in second place behind Albania, whose qualification is already assured, and can’t be caught by Poland.
Saints centre-back Bednarek played the full 90 minutes on his return to the national team after being left out of the last squad in October.
There is still a chance of Poland qualifying through the play-offs by virtue of their Nations League performances.
Elsewhere, Bednarek’s club teammate Shea Charles was not involved due to suspension, as Northern Ireland suffered a 4-0 defeat to Finland in their penultimate qualifier of a disappointing campaign.
