Lewandowski fires Poland to brink of World Cup

Kamil Grosicki struck after just two minutes in Yerevan before Lewandowski curled in a brilliant free-kick to draw level with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, who represented Poland from 1963 to 1980, on 48 international goals.

The Bayern Munich star claimed the outright record when he blasted home an indirect free-kick on 25 minutes and completed his treble in the second half as Jakub Blaszczykowski and Rafal Wolski also scored for the visitors.

Lewandowski also broke a record set in August by Cristiano Ronaldo by increasing his tally in 2018 World Cup qualifiers to 15 goals, one more than the Portugal captain.

Ronaldo is level with former Yugoslavia forward Predrag Mijatovic, who scored 14 goals during qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, but could establish a new mark on Saturday when Portugal visit lowly Andorra.

Poland require just a point from their final qualifier at home to Montenegro on Sunday to clinch their place in the finals, although they would also seal top spot in Group E if Montenegro draw with Denmark in Podgorica later.