It was a wholly positive day for the national teams featuring FC Porto players in the European qualifying play-off for the 2026 World Cup. Poland, Denmark and Turkey won their respective matches and secured places in the decisive finals for a spot in the final tournament.
Poland beat Albania 2-1 and moved on after coming from behind. The Polish side will now face Sweden in the play-off final. All three FC Porto players took part in the match: Kiwior and Bednarek started, while Pietuszewski came on in the second half.
Denmark were the most convincing of the three teams, thrashing North Macedonia 4-0 to seal qualification for the final match of this stage. Czechia are up next. Viktor Froholdt played the full 90 minutes.
Turkey, meanwhile, beat Romania 1-0 in Istanbul and remain in the fight for a place at the 2026 World Cup. FC Porto striker Deniz Gül was included in the Turkey squad for this match but stayed on the bench. In the final, the Turks will face Kosovo.
As a result, all of Porto’s internationals still involved in this stage of qualifying ended the day with reasons to smile. The three national teams advance to the play-off final, now just one match away from confirming their place at the World Cup.
The decisive fixtures are now set: Sweden-Poland, Kosovo-Turkey and Czechia-Denmark.