As Poland’s all-time leading scorer, Robert Lewandowski is still missing something from his collection: A goal at the World Cup.

That could change on Tuesday against Mexico, Poland’s opening opponent in Group C.

A prolific scorer who moved to Barcelona after a successful stint with Bayern Munich, the 34-year-old Lewandowski has 18 goals in all competitions this season. For Poland, he’s scored 76 goals from 134 appearances.

Poland managed only two goals in Russia and they were eliminated from the group stage. Ranked No. 26, Poland didn’t even make the 2010 or 2014 World Cups and haven’t advanced to the knockouts since 1986.

Their best finish was third place in West Germany in 1974 and in Spain in 1982.

Poland are coming off a 1-0 victory over Chile last week in a final warm-up match before the opener against Mexico at Stadium 974. While thirdranked Argentina are the favourite to win Group C, Tuesday’s match could be a good indication who will be the second team to move on to the knockout stage.

“This is an important game for us. It’s important that we show confidence. We know Mexico play high-quality soccer, we know their potential. We’ll fight to win,” Lewandowski said in Doha last week.

“They have a lot of quality and pace, and are dynamic. We’ll have to be ready to stop them causing us problems.”

Mexico has been beset by uncertainty and injuries. Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino included Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez, who has been dogged by a groin injury but came off the bench in a 2-1 loss to Sweden last week. It was his first game since August. Although there were hopes Sevilla forward Jesus Corona could recover from a fractured fibula before the World Cup, he was ultimately left off Mexico’s final roster.

Martino has faced criticism for both the team’s recent results and his roster decisions. “The only thing that can change people’s opinion are the results and that’s what we’re going to play for,” he said following the loss to Sweden.