World Cup in numbers: Mathew Leckie’s link to history and Wojciech Szczesny takes centre stage

Poles on the spotPoland are the first team to have completed a group stage at any World Cup having recorded as many penalty saves as goals scored — they have produced two each. That comes as no surprise to followers of English football. In 30 years of the Premier League, Polish players have conjured up a combined 23 penalty saves but only 18 goals.

In successive nights Chesney and Szczesny have taken centre stage mid-game: Chesney Hawkes performed on the pitch at half-time in the England-Wales match on Tuesday and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved Lionel Messi’s spot kick just before the interval last night. There was a penalty save in all three of Poland’s matches in the group phase: Szczesny kept out Salem