Nations League: What can Scotland expect from Poland?

This was a team that had reached the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup, beating Mexico by a single goal.

And although they lost in the round of 16 to a Kylian Mbappé-inspired France, it was their first appearance at that stage of the World Cup since 1986.

The last time Scotland faced Poland in a competitive match was for a place at the 2016 European Championship in France, with both sides drawing four goals in one of the most frustrating campaigns for the Tartan Army in years.

Despite dropping four points in the entire group to Gordon Strachan’s men, Poland qualified automatically behind Germany and reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, their best performance in a major final since finishing third at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

They ran into eventual winners Portugal, although it took penalties to stop them in Marseille. They were an excellent Polish team who finished fifth in the FIFA world rankings. The current squad is not on the same level.

Yes, captain Robert Lewandowski continues to lead the attacking line and will be a clear and present threat to Scotland on Thursday night.

The 36-year-old striker has already scored four goals in four games for Barcelona this season, but he is now in the autumn of his career and may have played his last major tournament, 16 years after making his debut for his country.

Probierz will be without Wojciech Szczesny after the former Arsenal goalkeeper surprisingly retired from international football. He will also be without another of Lewandowski’s colleagues, winger Kamil Grosicki, who retired from international football after the Euros.

The move to Poland is imminent, but for now there is a replacement in goal in the person of Lewis Ferguson, Bologna teammate Lukasz Skorupski.

Meanwhile, Piotr Zielinski was one of the driving forces behind Napoli’s long-awaited Serie A title in 2023 – the midfielder has now moved to current champions Internazionale.

Although Lewandowski dominates, Poland usually play with two strikers up front and all the strikers in the squad have impressive stats.

In Krzysztof Piatek they have a player who has already scored at Hampden Park, when he converted a controversial penalty in the 1-1 friendly in Glasgow in 2022.

This season he has already scored eight goals in nine games for club Istanbul Basaksehir.

Defensively, Poland, like Scotland recently, may be more suspect, although Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior and Southampton’s Jan Bednarek are playing at the top level despite the former not having played yet this season.

“We shouldn’t be sad,” Probierz said after they left the European Championship. “It’s just a basis for the future to be able to compete with any opponent we face.

“We’ve built something here. I see the potential in this team. I see a lot of young players coming up.”

Optimistic noises amid disappointment for what is a huge fixture on the south side of Glasgow. Sound familiar?