Malta vs Poland prediction: EUROPE: World Cup – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-11-16 19:45.
[p]Malta’s hopes of reaching next summer’s FIFA World Cup are long gone, but they will at least be in a buoyant mood ahead of this game against Poland, who need a miracle to finish top of Group G.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Malta had endured a miserable campaign up until Friday, losing four of their six matches (D2) and scoring just one goal. They produced a huge shock on Friday though, hauling themselves off the bottom of Group G with a shock 1-0 win in Finland – their first away success in World Cup qualification (WCQ) since 2014 (D3, L11). It will not be enough to help the Reds reach a maiden major tournament, but a draw here would secure their best-ever points tally in WCQ. They could also register back-to-back competitive victories for only the second time in five years, and should draw further confidence from three clean sheets in their last five competitive home games (W1, D2, L2).[/p]
[p]Mathematically, Poland can still top Group G, but the fact they require a victory and a likely 14-goal swing with the Netherlands, who would also have to lose, makes that somewhat unlikely. It has still been a strong campaign for a country looking to reach three successive World Cups for the first time since the 1980s though, as a 1-1 draw against the Oranje in their last outing means they have still lost just once in seven qualifiers (W4, D2). Jan Urban’s men have also seen three of those victories accompanied by a clean sheet, while the five goals they have conceded is their lowest since the Eagles’ attempts to reach Spain ‘82, when they played only four qualifiers![/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Malta’s record against Poland makes for bleak reading, losing each of the five previous H2Hs without scoring a single goal![/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Malta have only scored one goal across their last six home WCQ games (D1, L5).[/p]
[p]There has been a red card in five of Malta’s last ten internationals. [/p]
[p]Only two of Poland’s last nine matches have featured over 2.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Poland have only conceded two first-half goals in their nine matches in 2025.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Malta goalkeeper Henry Bonello made six stops in the win over Finland, taking his tally to 30 saves in just seven matches in WCQ. He’ll be looking to thwart Piotr Zieliński, who has seen only one of his 15 goals for Poland come in a losing cause (W8, D5).[/p]
[p]Malta don’t appear to have any fresh injury concerns. Sebastian Szymański was substituted with an injury during Poland’s draw with the Netherlands.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]The form book makes this a tough match to call, but recent results suggest Poland to win and under 2.5 goals could prove profitable. [/p]
[p][i]Author: Matt Jones[/i][/p]