It took him some time, but Robert Lewandowski has finally ended his FIFA World Cup hoodoo!
The Barcelona striker captained his nation in their second 2022 FIFA World Cup match, with Poland taking on Saudi Arabia in an action-packed showdown. Despite being outplayed throughout the 90 minutes, it was the European side that came away with the win, beating the Green Falcons 2-0 to temporarily go top of the group.
Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring for the Eagles in the first half against the run of play before a brilliant double save from Wojciech Szszesny prevented the Saudis from equalizing through a penalty just before half-time.
And for much of the second half, the Polish were made to work hard in order to maintain their slim one-goal lead. However, come the 82nd minute, Robert Lewandowski killed off the tie.
The former Bayern Munich ace profited off of a Saudi error and collected the ball to go through on the Middle Eastern nation's goal. After missing a penalty against Mexico in their opening game, Lewandowski made sure not to repeat this mistake and calmly slotted the ball past the rushing goalkeeper to double Poland's lead in the final 10 minutes.
Not only did this secure the European side the three points, but it also earned Robet a lovely milestone. The Polish superstar had never scored a FIFA World Cup goal and can now chalk off that stain on his career.
Additionally, the 34-year-old took his international goals tally to 77, equaling the record set by the iconic Pele for his Brazil side. Check out Lewandowski's strike in the clips below (videos are geo-restricted).
Robert Lewandowski has now scored as many career international goals as Pelé' pic.twitter.com/tFShAWPTgh
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 26, 2022
Goal! @lewy_official gets his World Cup goal! A composed finish! Poland go 2-0 up late on. #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/5k7hJcYuoe
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 26, 2022
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— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 26, 2022
Robert Lewandowski finally has his World Cup goal
Look how much that means to him pic.twitter.com/TTdOLH3ivS
LEWANDOWSKI SCORES HIS FIRST EVER FIFA WORLD CUP GOAL pic.twitter.com/iQbQTDH3Cf
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 26, 2022