Poland secured a valuable late 1-1 draw against hosts Netherlands in the fifth round of the first stage of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Thursday, in Group 7.

After Inter Milan player Denzel Dumfries opened the scoring for the Dutch (28′), Aston Villa’s Matty Cash responded with a brilliant strike to equalize ten minutes before the end of regular time (80′).

Despite the draw, the Netherlands remained top of the group with 7 points from three matches, ahead on goal difference of Poland in second place (4 matches) and Finland (4 matches).

The match started intensely, but the home team gradually took control of the game atmosphere. Tijjani Reijnders nearly opened the scoring but his shot hit the post (12′).

Polish goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski denied Dumfries an early lead with a header attempt (20′).

However, Dumfries succeeded on his second attempt to give his team the lead with another header from a Memphis Depay corner (28′).

Despite being behind, Poland remained competitive as Piotr Zieliński almost equalized but his shot went wide (40′).

Poland pressed early in the second half but lacked the final touch despite dominating possession.

The Dutch had two consecutive chances through Xavi Simons and Reijnders, but both attempts were saved by the Polish goalkeeper (58′ and 69′).

The Dutch paid the price for missed chances when Cash scored a brilliant equalizer from the edge of the penalty area, leaving goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen no chance (80′).

In the same group, Lithuania and hosts Malta drew 1-1.