Gyokeres the hero as Sweden beat Poland in thriller to reach World Cup finals

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/poland/2HzmcynI/"]Poland[/a] showed the early intent, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cash-matty/hfxPh7Kn/"]Matty Cash[/a] saw his ambitious shot blocked but, with so much at stake, both sides struggled to create as Cash completely missed the ball with his next attempt.[/p][p]However, Blagult carved out the game’s first major opportunity in the 20th minute and made it count, [b]with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ayari-yasin/vTrnQI0N/"]Yasin Ayari[/a] flicking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gudmundsson-gabriel/0zzTdK1T/"]Gabriel Gudmundsson[/a]’s pass into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/elanga-anthony/dOlRWlZ6/"]Anthony Elanga[/a]’s path for the winger to emphatically hit his first-time strike in off the crossbar.[/b][/p][p]Cash’s cross found [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiderski-karol/zkCQVwVh/"]Karol Swiderski[/a] in the box as the visitors looked to respond, although [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nordfeldt-kristoffer/zidYDVKR/"]Kristoffer Nordfeldt[/a] got down brilliantly to palm his volley away.[/p][p][b]However, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/OQyqbHWB/"]Sweden[/a] goalkeeper was beaten by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zalewski-nicola/Slt8hI4R/"]Nicola Zalewski[/a] in the 33rd minute, as the wideman cut inside and hit a shot that bounced past Nordfeldt despite him getting a hand to it.[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="bc43ed76-bcb7-4f14-ab54-064f54882751" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="521e4b7c-06f6-43f1-a0a2-d9c167db242f" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Nevertheless, the goalscorer lost his concentration before the break and conceded a needless foul for his challenge on Elanga, [b]and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nygren-benjamin/WCHWGOvf/"]Benjamin Nygren[/a] delivered an inviting cross from the ensuing free-kick that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lagerbielke-gustaf/UwOm1wvF/"]Gustaf Lagerbielke[/a] headed past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grabara-kamil/0MhuM4YL/"]Kamil Grabara[/a] for his second international goal.[/b][/p][p]Poland did have one more chance before the break when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kaminski-jakub/hbhnybaa/"]Jakub Kaminski[/a] was released by a ball behind, but his shot was saved by Nordfeldt’s outstretched boot.[/p][p]Lagerbielke went agonisingly close with another header after the restart, but Poland had equalised again within 10 second-half minutes. [b]Cash’s initial cross was flicked on by Kaminski, and Zalewski poked it back across goal to give Swiderski the simplest of finishes.[/b][/p][embed guid="9304372c-f4ca-444d-b425-65b114ccfd28" url="https://x.com/svenskfotboll/status/2039086378286252052" social-type="twitter" /][p]Then, there was almost a mix-up between Nordfeldt and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/starfelt-carl/ptNHGRiJ/"]Carl Starfelt[/a], although the goalkeeper got his foot to the ball to make sure there was no consequence.[/p][p]Kaminski then saw a shot blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyokeres-viktor/zaBZ1xIk/"]Gyokeres[/a] and the subsequent corner was awkwardly cleared by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindelof-victor/OIp0Le1f/"]Victor Lindelof[/a] as Poland continued to threaten.[/p][p]Ultimately, it was Sweden who burst into raucous celebrations in the 88th minute after a late push for the winner. [/p][p][b]Graba made saves to deny Ayari and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bergvall-lucas/th3mAHj9/"]Lucas Bergvall[/a], but there was nothing he could do when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zeneli-besfort/hbgshYpl/"]Besfort Zeneli[/a]’s shot bounced off the post and Gyokeres reached the loose ball ahead of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wisniewski-przemyslaw/AaYOi9YT/"]Przemysław Wisniewski[/a] to finish.[/b][/p][image alt="Sweden celebrate qualifying" id="edb071df-4902-4505-a4d6-fd028e572308" credit-line="REUTERS/Kacper Pempel" guid="6c6ec318-2386-471d-bc69-d9a67ab5d065" original-width="3490" original-height="2326" /][p]That proved to be the difference as Sweden saw out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/poland-2HzmcynI/sweden-OQyqbHWB/?mid=pEpXAtm1"]the 3-2 win[/a], making the most of the play-off place they earned through the UEFA Nations League in the process, returning to World Cup finals for the first time since 2018 despite having failed to win a single match in their qualification group. [/p][p]In contrast, Poland’s first defeat in eight means they won’t make the finals having appeared in the last two. Sweden will play in Group F at the World Cup, facing the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/world/world-cup/"]Review tonight's World Cup playoff finals on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]