Poland-Qatar 18:30, Lusail Multipurpose Hall

The fact that these two sides are meeting in the semi-final is a little more of a surprise than the teams contesting the second match. 

Entering the tournament as a relative unknown after finishing 20th in Spain in 2013, Qatar have taken it one win at a time to find themselves playing a semi-final in front of what is expected to be a big home crowd.

Qatar have improved substantially recent years, but no one could have predicted they would record defeats against so many big teams at this World Championship. 

Their quarter-final match against Germany was one of their best – and the fact that Germany were far from their best only helped their cause.

Qatar led by four goals at half-time and easily held on to finish the match two up. Goalkeeper Daniel Saric was key to the victory, playing a spectacular game that mirrored the performance of his German counterpart Carsten Lichtlein in Germany’s previous match. 

Qatar’s qualification for the semi-final represents the first non-European side to compete at this stage of the tournament since hosts Tunisia did the same in 2005. 

Qatar are undeniably on a roll, but will the form of Saric and Zarko Markovic’s shooting (55 goals so far in the championship) be enough to take them to the final?

Poland are not as much of a surprise as Qatar, but they did not put on as strong of a show during the preliminary round as they have in the big matches over the last few days. 

Also led by a superb performance from their goalkeeper, Slawomir Szmal, in their quarter-final, Poland defeated Croatia in a tense, physical match that was decided only in the last couple of minutes.

Eliminating Croatia is no mean feat, but Poland’s win was well-deserved, with patient, consistently strong play that took them through the entire sixty minutes against a somewhat up-and-down Croatian side. 

“They are a very strong team and had the opportunity to prove it in an impressive way here, especially in the knock-out stage. Although they have not won a medal since the 2009 World Championship, it is a great team. I have a lot of respect for Poland and I don’t consider their success as a surprise,” Rivera said.

Poland’s backcourt presents an intimidating line-up, with tall backs such as Michal Jurecki, the side’s top scorer,  that are capable of fast breakthroughs, unpredictable outside shots and, at the other end, strong defence. 

Poland coach Michael Biegler says it is goalkeepers and defence that will decide the match:

“The Qatar team is not entirely about their back court players as some people have indicated. For instance, they score a lot of goals from counter attacks or in second phase due to their defence and not least their goalkeepers.

“Therefore there is no doubt that our semi-final against Qatar will be decided in defence and by the goalkeepers.”

Rivera says the key to the win for his side will be concentration and keeping control of the game pace.

“They are good in every position and every aspect. They have good pivots, wings, shooters, goalkeepers, almost everything. We have to keep our concentration for sixty minutes and not allow them to find their tempo. There is not a specific issue that we have to pay attention to. In a game like that, everything has to be taken under consideration, especially the small details which are always decisive.”

Poland have more experience at this level than Qatar, with four World Championship semi-finals under their belt and a small collection of medals. 

The side have never won gold at a major tournament – will they give themselves the chance to try for it on Sunday with a win on Friday?

Photos: Qatar 2015