England play host to Poland tomorrow night knowing that a victory would secure their place at next year's World Cup in Brazil.

It will not be the first time that these two countries have met in an important encounter, having gone head-to-head in World Cups and final qualifiers in years gone by.

Below, Sports Mole has picked out five of the most memorable clashes involving the two European nations.

Poland 2-0 England, June 1973

Sir Bobby Moore is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders England have ever produced. However, six years after he had lifted the World Cup, Moore's error in possession shortly after the restart allowed Wlodzimierz Lubanski to put the home side 2-0 up in this World Cup qualifier. Prior to that, Robert Gadocha had given the Poles the lead in the seventh minute. A bad night for Sir Alf Ramsey's men was rounded off when Alan Ball became the second England player to ever be red-carded following a clash with Lewslaw Cmikiewicz.

England 1-1 Poland, October 1973

This was a fixture that marked the end of an era as far as England were concerned. A victory against Poland would have booked their place at the 1974 World Cup, but having lost to the visitors in the reverse match earlier in the campaign, the home side had every reason to be wary. Even so, shortly before the match, Brian Clough had branded Poland goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski "a clown". Cue a man of the match showing from Tomaszeweski, who produced a string of saves after Jan Domarski had put his team in front in the 57th minute. A converted penalty from Allan Clarke soon after brought England level, but there was to be no winning goal. It was a result that saw Ramsey, who had guided England to World Cup success in 1966, sacked.

England 3-0 Poland, June 1986

Having lost to Portugal and been held to a 0-0 draw by Morocco, England needed to defeat Poland to advance to the knockout stages of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Many had written off Sir Bobby Robson's side, but a hat-trick of strikes from close range by Gary Lineker secured England's passage. Lineker went on to score six goals in total before his side's quarter-final exit at the hands of Argentina (literally), earning the tournament's Golden Boot award in the process.

England 3-1 Poland, March 1999

Thirteen years after Lineker's heroics in Monterrey, Paul Scholes repeated that feat at Wembley. The Manchester United midfielder lofted in his first of the afternoon with 11 minutes played and turned in David Beckham's cross 10 minutes later. Jerzy Brzeczek then reduced the arrears, but Scholes made sure of the result by sending a powerful headed effort into the net with 20 minutes left to play.

England 2-1 Poland, October 2005

Just as they do tomorrow, England went into this clash at Old Trafford needing to take all three points to book their place at the 2006 World Cup. They started brightly and made the most of their domination in the 44th minute when Michael Owen diverted Joe Cole's wayward shot into the Poland net. However, just 60 seconds later some poor defending allowed Tomasz Frankowski to equalise with a half-volley at the back post. It resulted in a nervy second half for the home supporters, but the pressure subsided nine minutes from the end when Frank Lampard volleyed in Owen's lofted pass.

Written by
Liam Apicella