Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Poland
Match Time & Date:
24/03/2025
20:45
Prediction: 3-0
Malta
After surviving Lithuania in their opener, Poland will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they face Malta in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, round 2. Robert Lewandowski was once again Poland’s hero and, no doubt, the Barcelona striker will prove a handful for Malta back-line as well. Lewa picked up a knock against Lithuania, but the former Bayern Munich striker should be fit for Monday’s qualifier.
Malta, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 1-0 loss to Finland and we do not believe that they are capable of spoiling Poland’s party at PGE Narodowy. To make things even worse for the away team, defender Kurt Shaw is banned for the match following his sending-off in the Group G opener. In their last meeting in a competitive match, back in 1981, Poland crushed Malta 6-0 and we predict that history is going to repeat.
Highlighted Player (Robert Lewandowski):
After scoring 36 goals in 59 league games for Znicz Pruskow, Robert Lewandowski joined Lech Poznan in June, 2008. The 184-cm-tall attacker scored 18 goals in 28 appearances for the club in the 2009/2010 Ekstraklasa campaign and during the season he was on Borussia Dortmund’s radar.
The Polish forward signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga side in June, 2010 and he quickly established himself as the team’s key attacker. Lewandowski was producing excellent performances with the Millionaires between 2010 and 2014 and it has to be noted that he won two Bundesliga trophies with the club (2010/2011, 2011/2012). He participated in the 2012/2013 Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, but the Millionaires were beaten by fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in the title game.
However, he betrayed Borussia Dortmund fans in 2014 as he signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga giants. Lewandowski impressed in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign as he scored 30 goals in 32 league games for Pep Guardiola’s troops. The Polish footballer represented his homeland at Euro 2016 in France and he scored one goal at the showpiece tournament in France.
Highlighted Team (Malta):
Back in 1957 Malta played their first international match. The Falcons faced Austria in their debut on the international stage and they suffered a 3-2 loss to Das Team in front of home fans in Gzira. The Malta Football Association joined FIFA in 1959, while joining UEFA the following year and they have been competing in the qualifiers for the major tournaments since 1962.
The Knights of Malta have yet to participate at the finals of the showpiece tournaments, but they often claim major scalps in the qualifying matches. Malta recorded their biggest win (7-1) against Liechtenstein on March 26, 2008, but a win over Hungary in the Euro 2008 qualifiers is considered their biggest achievement.
Speaking of friendly games, it has to be noted that Malta did remarkably well to beat star-studded Ukraine in Graz on June 6, 2017, with Zach Muscat scoring the winner for the minnows. In December 1983 the Maltese suffered their heaviest loss as they were crushed by Spain 12-1 in Seville.
Bayer Leverkusen 
Bochum
Fulham 
Crystal Palace
Espanyol 
Atletico Madrid 
Juventus 
Genoa 
Brighton
Nottingham Forest 
Real Madrid 
Leganes 
