Lewandowski 'not afraid' to play 2026 World Cup after Poland exit

Robert Lewandowski is 'not afraid' of playing in another World Cup, but the Polish captain has admitted his side would need a change in tactics.

The striker saw his side beaten 3-1 by France in the round of 16, withdrawing from Qatar 2022 after a frustrating campaign that also saw him struggle in the group stage.

Having come to this tournament without a World Cup goal in his career, Lewandowski added his second goal of the tournament from a late penalty against the Blues.

But when asked if he would still be in line to compete in the 2026 edition in just under four years - when he will be 37 - the Barcelona front veteran didn't not engaged.

"Physically, I'm not afraid of it," he said. “But there are so many things to deal with first. It's hard to say now. Sportingly, it doesn't scare me, but there are still a lot of uncertainties."

Lewandowski hinted there might be a need to move away from the defence-focused performance that Poland displayed in Qatar.

“There is still a long way to go and obviously you have to enjoy the game,” he said. “If we attack, let's try to attack, it's a bit different. But if we play defensively, there is no joy."

Poland have always been the underdog against a France side who, even with several key stars absent through injury, have emerged as favorites to clinch the title they won four years ago years.

Lewandowski admits his side were always going to struggle on their hands, adding: "It's a tough game to play against France.

"We fought hard and tried to do our best. We played very, very well in the first half, with a few chances. Maybe if we had scored the first goal, it would have been a different game.

"Unfortunately, we conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half. It's always difficult to recover from that. We reacted well, we pushed to come back. We can be proud because we we tried everything.”