World Cup qualifier suspended due to medical emergency in stands with 20 minutes remaining

A WORLD CUP qualifying match was suspended due to a medical emergency in the stands.

Finland led 2-1 against Poland when officials were forced to call a halt to the proceedings.

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Finland took the lead early on when Joel Pohjanpalo converted a penalty.

The lead was then doubled in the second half via a 64th minute strike from Benjamin Kallman.

Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior then bundled the ball over the line to pull a goal back for the Poles.

But they had hardly any time to build momentum before the match was paused.

In the 73rd minute the officials called the players into the locker room after a fan reportedly collapsed in the stand.

Medics then rushed to the scene, which led to a lengthy break.

After a half an hour break, the game was allowed to restart at midnight local time.

The Finnish FA posted: “The patient is being transferred to the hospital. First aid continues.

“The teams have agreed to continue the match. The match will resume after a short warm-up at approximately 00:00.”

And Sport.pl reporter Marcin Jaz posted: “Great respect for the medical services, rescuers, doctors of both teams. They are the real heroes of this evening.”

The match was expected to make the headlines as Poland’s first big test since Robert Lewandowski announced he was boycotting the national team.

The goalscoring legend, 36, announced last week that he would not play for Poland again until manager Michal Probierz left his post.

That came after Probierz made the surprise decision to strip Lewandowski of the captaincy and hand it to Piotr Zielinski.

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