Ukraine War: Polish Soccer Team Was Escorted By Qatari Fighter Jets

Robert Lewandowski and his teammates were escorted to the World Cup. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Poland’s national team were escorted by F-16 fighter jets as they headed to Qatar for the World Cup.

The global showcase begins on Sunday as the host nation takes on Ecuador in the opening game, The Sun reported.

On Thursday, two F-16 aircraft flanked superstar Robert Lewandowski and his teammates, who are looking to guide Poland to the knockout stages for the first time since 1986.

The reason for the top-class escort was the death of two Polish citizens on a farm four miles from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday.

An emergency NATO meeting followed the passing of the two farmers.

But Poland’s president Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that a Ukrainian air defence missile had most likely caused the “unfortunate accident”.

NATO’s secretary-general also hinted that there was no indication of a deliberate attack from Russia.

Quite the escort for the Polish team. Photo: Twitter
Quite the escort for the Polish team. Photo: Twitter

But that didn’t stop the impressive defensive escort to the Polish border on route to the Middle East.

The Twitter account for the national team posted: “We were escorted to the southern border of Poland by F16 planes!

“Thank you and greetings to the pilots!”

The Twitter account for the national team posted: “We were escorted to the southern border of Poland by F16 planes!

“Thank you and greetings to the pilots!”

The Poles finished comfortably behind England in qualifying but then received a bye in their playoff semi-final, ironically due to Russia being disqualified following the invasion of Ukraine.

That left them with just a home tie against Sweden to make it to the World Cup, and they duly triumphed 2-0 over Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Co.

They take on Mexico on Tuesday in their first Group C clash.

Saudi Arabia lie in wait after that on Saturday, November 26.

Then things get really tricky as Czeslaw Michniewicz’s team takes on tournament favourites Argentina.

© 2022, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.