Poland national football team

Poland

Nickname(s)	Biało-czerwoni (The White and Reds) Orły (The Eagles)
Association	Polish Football Association (PZPN)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Paulo Sousa
Captain	Robert Lewandowski
Most caps	Robert Lewandowski (128)
Top scorer	Robert Lewandowski (74)
Home stadium	Stadion Narodowy im. Kazimierza Górskiego Stadion Śląski
FIFA code	POL
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	27 (23 December 2021)[1]
Highest	5 (August 2017)
Lowest	78 (November 2013)
First international
Hungary 1–0 Poland  (Budapest, Hungary; 18 December 1921)
Biggest win
Poland 10–0 San Marino  (Kielce, Poland; 1 April 2009)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 8–0 Poland  (Copenhagen, Denmark; 26 June 1948)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1938)
Best result	Third place (1974, 1982)
European Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2008)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2016)
Medal record Men's football FIFA World Cup 1974 West Germany Team 1982 Spain Team

The Poland national football team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland.

Poland has competed at eight FIFA World Cups with their first appearance being in 1938 where they were eliminated by Brazil. The country's best result is a bronze medal which Poland won in 1974 and 1982, with this era being regarded as the golden era of Polish international football. At the UEFA European Championship, Poland's best result was a quarter-finals appearance at the 2016 tournament before losing to eventual champions Portugal. Overall, they have competed in four European Championships with their debut being in 2008. They were co-hosts of the 2012 edition, along with Ukraine. Overall, Poland's best ever result in international football tournaments was the gold medal won at the 1972 Munich Olympics, along with winning the silver medal on two occasions; at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

History[]

Before independence[]

The first Polish football clubs were Lechia Lwów (1903), Czarni Lwów (1903), Pogoń Lwów (1904), KS Cracovia (1906) and Wisła Kraków (1906). The Polish national federation, called the Polish Football Union (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej, PZPN), was founded on 20 December 1919, in Kraków when 31 delegates elected Edward Cetnarowski as the first president. The PZPN joined FIFA in 1923 and UEFA in 1955.

In a similar fashion to other European states, football appeared in Poland in the late 19th century. In 1888 Prof. Henryk Jordan, a court physician of the Habsburgs and the pioneer of sports in Poland, opened a sports park in Kraków's Błonia, a large open space surrounding the demolished city walls of that town. The park, along with the Sokół society founded in 1867, became the main centres to promote sports and healthy living in Poland. It was Jordan who began promoting football as a healthy sport in the open air; some sources also credit him with bringing the first football to Poland from his travels to Brunswick in 1890.^[4] Other sources^[5] mention Dr. as the one to bring the first ball and the one to translate The Cambridge Rules and parts of the International Football Association Board regulations to Polish language.

On 14 July 1894 during the Second Sokół Jamboree in Lwów at the General National Exhibition a short football match was played between the Sokół members of Lwów and those from Kraków. It lasted only six minutes and was seen as a curiosity rather than a potentially popular sport. Nevertheless, it was the first recorded football match in Polish history.^{[note 1]} It was won by the Lwów team after Włodzimierz Chomicki scored the only goal - the first known goal in Polish history.

This match precipitated the popularity of the new sport in Poland. Initially the rules and regulations were very simplified, with the size of the field and the ball varying greatly. Despite being discouraged by many educational societies and the state authorities, the new sport gained extreme popularity among pupils of various gymnasiums in Galicia. The first football teams were formed and in 1903–1904, four Lwów-based gymnasiums formed their own sport clubs: the IV Gymnasium for Boys formed a club later renamed to Pogoń Lwów, while the pupils of the I and II State Schools formed the Sława Lwów club, later renamed to Czarni Lwów. In the same season the Lechia Lwów was also formed. It is uncertain which of the clubs was created first as they were initially poorly organized; however, the Czarni Lwów are usually credited as being the first Polish professional football team. The following year, the popularity of the sport spread to nearby Rzeszów where Resovia Rzeszów was formed, while in the German-held part of Poland, the 1. FC Katowice and Warta Poznań were formed.

On 6 June 1906 a representation of Lwów youth came to Kraków for a repeat match, this time composed of two already organized teams, the Czarni and the team of the IV Gymnasium. Kraków's representation was badly beaten in both meetings (4-0 and 2-0 respectively). The same summer the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show set up camp at Kraków's Błonia, right outside of the traditional playground area and Jordan's garden. On 5 August 1906 the team of the Kraków-based Jan Sobieski Gymnasium played a match against the British and American members of Buffalo Bill's troupe, winning 1–0. The only goal scored by was also the first goal scored by a Polish team in an international meeting. The success led to the popularisation of football in Kraków and to creation of the first Kraków-based professional football team, KS Cracovia - initially composed primarily of students of the Jan Sobieski Gymnasium.^[4] By the autumn of that year there were already 16 teams in Kraków, including Wisła Kraków (It is said that actually Wisła Kraków was the first professional football team and not Cracovia). In 1911, a Kraków-based was formed and entered the Austrian Football Association. The union inspired the creation of a number of teams.

After the outbreak of World War I, most of the Galician football players, many of them members of either Strzelec or Sokół, joined Piłsudski's Polish Legions. The unit, fighting alongside the Austro-Hungarian Army, fought mostly in various parts of Russian-held Poland, which led to popularisation of the new sport in other parts of partitioned Poland. Eventually, Poland regained its independence in 1918 and football of Poland also officially began.

1919–1939: Early years[]

Poland national team, 1924

Poland team that played Brazil at the 1938 FIFA World Cup

The first football federation was established on 25 June 1911 in Lwów as the Polish Football Union (Związek Polski Piłki Nożnej). After I World War members of PFU established on 20 December 1919 in Warsaw the Polish Football Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej). Two years later, they appointed Hungarian-born Jesza Poszony as the first coach of Polish national team. Poland would play its first official international match on 18 December 1921 in Budapest, where the side lost to Hungary 1–0. Their first international win would come on 28 May 1922 where they took on Sweden in Stockholm and beat them 2–1. Józef Klotz scored the first-ever goal for the national football team in that game.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} Poland qualified for their first ever World Cup in 1937 when they beat Yugoslavia 4–0 and lost 1–0 in the two qualifying matches and ensured their place in the 1938 World Cup in France.

During their debut in the World Cup, Poland was set to play Brazil, by then had not been a world football power. The Polish team – which had never before participated on such a level – was expected to lose the game against the South Americans. Thus, the defeat was not a sensation. However, all fans were surprised at the style with which the Poles played their lone game of the tournament. The White and Red got to the extra time, only then losing 5–6. Ernest Wilimowski, who played for Ruch Chorzów at the time, scored four of Poland's five goals, which to date is one of the most impressive individual performances in the history of the World Cup.

Poland played what would be their last international match before the outbreak of World War II against Hungary, the runners-up in the 1938 World Cup. The match stands out as an achievement as Poland defeated the strongly favored Hungarian side 4–2.

1939–1945: Ban on football under the occupation[]

When the Wehrmacht invaded Poland in September 1939, all Polish institutions and associations were dissolved, including the Polish Football Association PZPN. The German occupying forces forbade Poles to organise football matches. Consequently, there was no national team.^[11]

Nine former national players were murdered by the German occupying forces. Three of them were killed in Auschwitz: Marian Einbacher, Adam Knioła (both Warta Poznań) and Antoni Łyko (Wisła Kraków). Stefan Fryc (Cracovia) and Bronisław Makowski (Wisła Kraków), who were both active in the resistance, were killed in mass shootings. Four Jewish players were murdered in Jewish ghettos: Józef Klotz, Zygmunt Krumholz (both Jutrzenka Kraków), Leon Sperling (Cracovia) and Zygmunt Steuermann (Hasmonea Lwów), brother of actress and Hollywood screenwriter Salka Viertel.^[12]

1946–1974: Beginnings of the rise[]

Kazimierz Górski, was Head Coach of the National Team between 1971 and 1976

On 11 June 1946, following the aftermath of World War II, Poland played their first international friendly match, against Norway in Oslo, a 3–1 defeat. The biggest success in the early years after the war was the victory against one of Europe's best at the time, Czechoslovakia. Poland defeated their southern neighbors 3–1.

Poland suffered the worst defeat in the team's history on 26 April 1948 with a 0–8 loss to the Danish side. Poland would later erase that memory as they posted their second highest ever victory in Szczecin when they took down Norway 9–0 on 4 September 1963. The game marked the debut for Włodzimierz Lubański. He scored one of the goals in the game. Lubański became the all-time top scorer for Poland while playing from 1963 to 1980 scoring 48 goals in 75 appearances. This victory was surpassed on 1 April 2009 in Kielce when Poland defeated San Marino 10–0.

On 1 December 1970, Polish football history would change forever all due to one man. Kazimierz Górski was named head coach of the national team. His success with the team was evident from the start with a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Górski would later lead the team to another medal at the 1976 Olympics where they captured silver. However, nothing matched the two bronze medals at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups — thus became part of Polish football history known to be the first Polish Golden generation.

1974–1986: "Golden Era"[]

Poland was not considered a major power on the international football scene before 1974. In qualifying for the 1974 World Cup in Germany, they surprised observers by eliminating England, quarter-finalists in 1970 and Champions in 1966. The core of the team had already won a gold medal in the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Poland celebrates a victory over Brazil in the 1974 World Cup

In their opening match of the 1974 World Cup, Poland met Argentina, a team that was appearing in their 6th World Cup. Within eight minutes Poland were up 2–0, Grzegorz Lato opened the scoring in the seventh minute and just a minute later Andrzej Szarmach doubled the lead. In the 60th minute, Argentina cut the lead in half when Ramon Heredia scored. Two minutes later, however, Lato scored his second, which turned out to be the winning goal as Carlos Babington gave Argentina their second in the 66th. The match finished 3–2 for Poland.

Poland thrashed Haiti 7–0 in their second game. The goals included a hat-trick from Szarmach and two from Lato. In their final match of the first stage, Poland met Italy, who finished second at the previous World Cup in 1970. Poland were already through to the Second Round but needed at least a draw to win the group. At half-time, Poland was leading 2–0 on goals from Andrzej Szarmach and Kazimierz Deyna. It was not until the 86th minute that Italy managed a consolation goal through Fabio Capello. This gave Poland their third consecutive win, which led them to win the group. In the second round, Poland first won 1–0 against a Swedish side, which had not conceded any goals in their first three matches. Lato scored the only goal of the game. Next was Yugoslavia, who had drawn with Brazil and Scotland and won 9–0 against Zaire in the first round. Poland was awarded a penalty in the 24th minute and took the lead when Deyna converted. Stanislav Karasi tied it up for Yugoslavia in the 43rd. Lato won it for Poland again when he scored in the 62nd, making the final score 2–1 in Poland's favour.

On 3 July 1974 came the game that could have sent Poland into the 1974 World Cup Final. They played against the eventual champions West Germany. It had rained all day long, the field was entirely flooded. Poland wanted the game postponed but the Austrian referee would not agree. The game went ahead. Poland needed a win to be in the final, a draw was enough for the Germans. But in the miserably wet conditions, Poland's speed was of no use since the ball would not roll as it does on a dry field. Gerd Müller scored the winning goal in the 76th minute for Germany. The whole country was crushed. Poland would end the amazing run with a 1–0 victory over Brazil in the third-place game. Lato scored the winning goal his seventh of the tournament crowning him the top scorer of the World Cup.

In qualifying, Poland denied Portugal their second World Cup appearance when in 1966 they had captured third place. Poland opened the World Cup against their rivals from four years prior and the current Champions, West Germany. This time the match ended in a 0–0 draw.

Grzegorz Lato continued his scoring ways with the only goal in the 1–0 win over African side Tunisia in the second game. In the final first-round match Poland met Mexico. Zbigniew Boniek playing in his first World Cup opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. The Mexicans drew level through Víctor Rangel in the 52nd minute, but four minutes later Kazimierz Deyna put Poland ahead once again. Then Boniek scored his second in the 84th to secure the 3–1 win.

In the second round, Poland met three South American teams. In 1974, Poland had played and won against both Argentina and Brazil, both teams would get their revenge this time around. First, Argentina beat the Poles 2–0 with two goals from tournament top scorer Mario Kempes. Poland then defeated Peru 1–0 with a goal from Andrzej Szarmach. In what was Poland's last match of this World Cup, Brazil opened the scoring in the 12th minute on a goal from Nelinho. Even though Lato equalized one minute before half-time, it was not to be for Poland: two goals from Roberto in the 57th and 62nd minutes wrapped up the 3–1 win for Brazil.

Zbigniew Boniek, top scorer for Poland in the 192 World Cup

On 29 November 1980, a dispute between players and technical staff began at a hotel in Warsaw, ending in the Okęcie Airport. Following the incident, several players of the Poland national team were banned from international duty, also leading to the resignation of Ryszard Kulesza as head coach of the team.^[13] At the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Poland were drawn in a group with Italy, Cameroon and Peru.^[14] The first two games were consecutive 0–0 draws with Italy and Cameroon, but the final group game of the first round ended in a 5–1 win for Poland, meaning they would advance to the second round as group winners.^[15][16][17]

In the first game of the second round, Poland beat Belgium 3–0; with a hat-trick from Boniek securing him a classic performance in the match, but the player would also receive a yellow card in the following match.^[18][19] Nevertheless, Poland advanced as group winners to the knockout stage.^[14] However, Poland would eventually be stopped in the semi-finals, losing 0–2 to Italy and ending the dream of playing at the World Cup final once again; but also securing a place in the third place play-off.^[20] In the third place play-off, Poland beat France 3–2, with the game also being regarded as "the end of the golden era of Polish football".^[21]

Poland scoring v River Plate during their tour on Argentina, February 1986

In 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Poland finished top of the qualifying group; with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat.^[22] Poland's biggest win of the qualifying phase was a 4–1 win over Greece, meanwhile Poland's biggest defeat was a 0–2 defeat to Belgium.^[23][24]

At the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Poland were drawn into a group with England, Morocco and Portugal.^[25] The first match was a 0–0 draw, and in the second match, beat Portugal 1–0.^[26][27] In the final group game, they lost 0–3 to England, but Poland still advanced into the knockout stage, as a result of Morocco winning 3–1 over Portugal.^[28][29] In the round of sixteen, Poland were eliminated after suffering a 4–0 defeat to Brazil.^[30]

1986–2001: Decline[]

After the "Golden Era" from the 1970s and 1980s, Poland suffered a severe drought in international football; they didn't qualify for three consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup, failing to qualify in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

In 1990 World Cup qualifying, Poland finished 3rd in the qualifying group, behind Sweden and England, on 5 points with two wins, one draw and three defeats.^[31] They began qualifying for the 1990 edition with a 1–0 win over Albania, before defeats to Sweden (2–1) and England (3–0).^[32][33][34] Poland then drew 0–0 with England, lost to Sweden 0–2 and beat Albania 2–1 in their final game, but were 4 points behind England; thus failing to qualify.^[35][36][37]

In 1994 World Cup qualifying, Poland finished 4th in the qualifying group, behind Norway, the Netherlands and England.^[38] Poland began qualifying with 1–0 win over Turkey; followed by a 2–2 draw with the Netherlands, a 1–0 win over San Marino and a 3–0 win in the reverse fixture.^{[39][40][41][42]} Afterwards, Poland drew 1–1 with England, before a 0–3 defeat in the reverse fixture.^[43][44] Afterwards, Poland would then go on to suffer consecutive defeats, losing 1–0 and 3–0 to Norway, followed by a 2–1 defeat to Turkey and a 1–3 defeat to the Netherlands in the final fixture.^{[45][46][47][48]}

Andrzej Juskowiak; top goalscorer for Poland in Euro 1996 qualifying (7 goals) and 1998 World Cup qualifying. (3 goals).

In Euro 1996 qualifying, Poland drew a qualifying group with Romania, France, Slovakia, Israel and Azerbaijan.^[49] Poland lost 2–1 to Israel in the first game, and would later record a 1–0 win over Azerbaijan and a 0–0 draw with France.^[50][51][52] Later, Poland lost 2–1 to Romania, beat Israel 4–3 and Slovakia 5–0, before consecutive draws with France (1–1) and Romania (0–0).^{[53][54][55][56]} Poland lost 4–1 to Slovakia in the penultimate qualifying game, and drew 0–0 with Azerbaijan in the final group game.^[57][58]

In 1998 World Cup qualifying, Poland finished 3rd behind England and Italy.^[59] They began qualifying with a 2–1 loss to England before a win over Moldova (2–1) and a 0–0 draw with Italy.^[60][61][62] Afterwards, they suffered successive defeats to Italy (3–0) and England (0–2).^[63][64] They won the next two games; 4–1 over Georgia and 3–0 over Moldova, with Andrzej Juskowiak scoring a hat-trick against the latter.^[65][66] The final game was against Georgia, with Poland losing 0–3.^[67]

During the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. Poland was in a group with England, Sweden, Bulgaria and Luxemburg. Despite Poland being an underdog in the group, they surprised by finishing above favourited Bulgarians and winning two games against them. Poland was third and was tied in points with England but failed to qualify by goal differences.

2001–2006: Rebuild[]

Poland qualifying for the 2002 World Cup was significant, as it was Poland's first appearance at the World Cup finals since 1986.^[68] Poland's biggest win overall in the qualifying phase was a 4–0 win over Armenia, while Poland's biggest defeat was a 1–4 defeat to Belarus.^[69][70]

The Polish drew a group featuring South Korea, the United States and Portugal.^[71] The first match was played with South Korea on 4 June; with Poland losing 2–0.^[72] The second game was with Portugal on 10 June; which Poland lost 4–0, confirming its early elimination.^[73] Poland then played the United States in the final group game on 14 June; winning 3–1 with goals from Olisadebe, Kryszałowicz and Żewłakow.^[74] Despite the win, Poland finished last in the group, with a goal difference of –4 and 3 points.^[6]

Tomasz Frankowski; top goalscorer during Poland's 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, with 7 goals, including a hat-trick against Azerbaijan.

Poland's qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup was overall successful; as they won eight and lost two, without a single draw.^[75] They finished behind England in the qualifying group; but as a result of being the second best second-placed team in the play-offs, they qualified automatically for the finals in Germany.^[75] The biggest win of the qualifying phase for Poland was an 8–0 victory over Azerbaijan, in which Tomasz Frankowski scored a hat-trick.^[76][77] The biggest defeat of the qualifying phase for Poland were two defeats against England, losing both home and away games by a scoreline of 1–2.^[78][79]

At the 2006 World Cup, Poland drew Germany, Ecuador and Costa Rica in Group A.^[80] Despite high hopes from the Polish press, media and fans, Poland's campaign at the World Cup was seen as an underachievement; as Poland lost two and won one game, finishing third in the group.^[81] Poland's first match was a 2–0 defeat to Ecuador,^[82] followed by a 1–0 defeat to Germany, with Oliver Neuville scoring a stoppage time winning goal;^[83] with the defeat to Germany, and following Ecuador's 3–0 win over Costa Rica, officially ending Poland's chances of advancing further than the group.^[84] The third and final group game saw Poland defeat Costa Rica 2–1; with Bartosz Bosacki getting on the scoresheet twice.^[85][86]

2008: Debut at the Euros[]

Ebi Smolarek, who scored 9 goals during the qualifying phase.

In Euro 2008 qualifying, Poland were drawn into a group with Portugal, Serbia, Finland, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.^[87] Poland's campaign began in uncomfortable fashion; suffering a 1–3 defeat to Finland on 2 September 2006 and then drawing 1–1 with Serbia on 6 September.^[88][89] In the third match, on 7 October, Poland won 1–0 over Kazakhstan, with Euzebiusz Smolarek scoring the goal.^[90] On 11 October, Poland beat Portugal 2–1 with Smolarek scoring the two goals.^[91] On 15 November, they beat Belgium 1–0.^[92] On 24 March 2007, Poland beat Azerbaijan 5–0, and on 28 March beat Armenia 1–0.^[93][94] On 2 June, they beat Azerbaijan 3–1 with Smolarek and Krzynówek (2) scoring.^[95] On 6 June, Poland lost 1–0 to Armenia, on 8 September drew 2–2 with Portugal, and on 12 September drew 0–0 with Finland.^[96][97][98] On 13 October, Poland beat Kazakhstan 3–1 with a hat-trick from Smolarek.^[99] On 17 November, they beat Belgium 2–0 with two goals from Smolarek, and on 21 November drew 2–2 with Serbia in the final qualifying game; thus qualifying for the tournament as the 1st place team in the qualifying group following Portugal's 0–0 draw with Finland, Poland's first ever Euro appearance.^{[100][101][102]}

At UEFA Euro 2008, they were drawn in Group B; with Germany, Austria and Croatia.^[103] The opening match was against Germany on 8 June at the Hypo-Arena in Klagenfurt, a match that Poland lost 2–0 with two goals from Lukas Podolski.^[104] In the second game, Poland drew 1–1 with Austria; taking the lead through Brazil-born Roger Guerreiro, before conceding in the third minute of stoppage time following a controversial penalty.^[105][106] The final group game was against Croatia, which Poland lost 1–0, finishing bottom of the group.^[107]

2010: Disaster in World Cup qualifying[]

In 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Poland were drawn in a group with Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and San Marino, and this has been Poland's worst qualifying campaign to date. Poland finished 5th in the group; just above San Marino, with 11 points.^[108] Poland began the campaign with a 1–1 draw against Slovenia on 6 September 2008.^[109] On 10 October, Poland beat San Marino 2–0.^[110] On 11 October, they won 2–1 against the Czech Republic.^[111] After these two wins, Poland lost consecutive matches against Slovakia (15 October, losing 1–2) and Northern Ireland (28 March 2009, losing 2–3).^[112][113] After these defeats, Poland recorded their biggest ever win, winning 10–0 against San Marino in which six different players scored, with Euzebiusz Smolarek scoring four goals, on 1 April 2009.^[114][115] On 5 September, Poland drew 1–1 with Northern Ireland and on 9 September, lost 3–0 to Slovenia.^[116][117] On 10 October, Poland lost 2–0 to the Czech Republic and on 14 October, lost 1–0 to Slovakia.^[118][119]

2012: Host of the Euros[]

On 18 April 2007, in Cardiff, Poland and Ukraine were selected to host UEFA Euro 2012 by the UEFA Executive Committee. The bid defeated other bids made, including one from Italy and joint bids by Croatia and Hungary and Greece and Turkey; thus becoming the third successful joint-bid made to host the UEFA European Championship, after the Netherlands and Belgium in 2000, and Austria and Switzerland in 2008.

Poland were drawn into Group A; with Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic.^[120] On 8 June, the opening match played between Poland and Greece at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, ended 1–1, with Poland taking the lead in the 17th minute through Robert Lewandowski before Greece equalized in the second half through Dimitris Salpingidis in the 51st minute, and in the game, both teams went down to 10 men.^[121][122] Poland's next game was on 12 June, again played at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, with the game against Russia finishing 1–1, with Russia taking the lead through Alan Dzagoev in the 37th minute before Poland equalized through Błaszczykowski in the 57th minute.^[123][124] Poland's final game was against the Czech Republic, played on 16 June, at the Stadion Miejski, in Wrocław, where Poland lost 1–0 following a goal from Petr Jiráček.^[125][126] Poland finished bottom of the group, with just two points, prompted coach Franciszek Smuda to resign following the humiliating elimination.^[120]

2014: World Cup qualifying[]

Poland was drawn in Group H of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying; with England, Ukraine, Montenegro, Moldova and San Marino.^[127]

On 7 September, Poland's first qualifying match ended in a 2–2 draw with Montenegro, with goals from Błaszczykowski and Mierzejewski.^[128] On 11 September, they beat Moldova 2–0 with goals from Błaszczykowski and Wawrzyniak.^[129] On 17 October, Poland drew 1–1 with England, with Glik scoring the equalizing goal.^[130] On 22 March 2013, Poland lost 3–1 to Ukraine, conceding two goals in the first seven minutes alone, with Piszczek scoring Poland's only goal.^[131] On 26 March, Poland beat San Marino 5–0, with a brace from Lewandowski, and goals from Piszczek, Teodorczyk and Kosecki.^[132] On 6 September, Poland drew 1–1 with Montenegro; with Lewandowski scoring the equalizing goal only five minutes after Poland initially conceded.^[133] On 10 September, they beat San Marino 5–1, with a brace from Zieliński, and goals from Błaszczykowski, Sobota and Mierzejewski.^[134] However, Poland lost the last two games against Ukraine and England; losing 1–0 and 2–0, respectively.^{[135][136][137]}

2016–2018: "New Era" 2016 Euro Quarterfinal and 2018 World Cup qualifying[]

In UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Poland were drawn in Group D; with Germany, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar.^[138]

On 7 September 2014, Poland beat Gibraltar 7–0, with Robert Lewandowski scoring four goals, Kamil Grosicki scoring two goals and Łukasz Szukała scoring one goal.^{[139][140][141]} On 11 October, Poland beat Germany 2–0, with Germany having won the 2014 FIFA World Cup less than three months prior, with goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Mila.^[142] On 14 October, Poland drew 2–2 with Scotland, with goals from Krzysztof Mączyński and Milik not being enough to secure the three points.^[143] On 14 November, they beat Georgia 4–0, with goals from Kamil Glik, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Mila and Milik.^[144] On 29 March 2015, they drew 1–1 with the Republic of Ireland, with Sławomir Peszko; but conceded a goal from Shane Long in stoppage time.^[145] On 13 June, they beat Georgia 4–0; with a goal from Milik and a hat-trick from Lewandowski.^[146] On 7 September, they beat Gibraltar 8–1; with Grosicki, Lewandowski and Milik all scoring twice, and Jakub Błaszczykowski and Bartosz Kapustka.^[147] On 8 October, they drew 2–2 with Scotland, with Lewandowski scoring a brace.^[148] On 11 October, they beat the Republic of Ireland 2–1 with goals from Krychowiak and Lewandowski, securing automatic qualification for the Euros.^[149]

(Left): Jakub Błaszczykowski playing for Poland during the Euro 2016 quarter-finals match with Portugal, on 30 June 2016; (right): Robert Lewandowski, who finished the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with 16 goals; breaking the European qualifying record for goals scored, as well as becoming all-time top goalscorer for Poland.^[150]

At the UEFA Euro 2016 finals, Poland were drawn in Group C; with Germany, Northern Ireland and Ukraine.^[151]

Poland's first match was with Northern Ireland, on 12 June at the Stade de Nice in Nice; a game they won 1–0 with a goal from Arkadiusz Milik in the 51st minute.^[152] The next match was with Germany at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on 16 June; with the finishing 0–0.^[153] Poland's final group game was with Ukraine on 21 June, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, a game they won 1–0 with a goal from Jakub Błaszczykowski.^[154] In the round of sixteen, Poland were drawn to play Switzerland on 25 June at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne. Poland took the lead through a goal from Błaszczykowski, but conceded a bicycle kick from Xherdan Shaqiri in the 82nd minute, finishing the game 1–1 in regular time. After even extra-time could not break the tie; Poland beat Switzerland in a penalty shootout, winning 5–4 on penalties.^[155][156] On 30 June, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille played with Portugal in the quarter-finals of the tournament; a game in which Poland took the lead in the 2nd minute through a goal from Robert Lewandowski before conceding a goal from Renato Sanches in the 33rd minute. The match was 1–1 even after regular time and extra-time ended; thus taking the game to penalties. Poland lost the penalty shootout, losing 5–3 with Błaszczykowski having the crucial penalty saved.^[157]

The Poland national team line-up before the third and final group game against Japan; on 28 June 2018. Poland won the game 1–0.^[158]

In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Poland were drawn in Group E; with Denmark, Montenegro, Romania, Armenia and Kazakhstan.^[159]

The opening match for Poland was against Kazakhstan on 4 September 2016, which Poland drew 2–2, taking a 2–0 lead through goals from Bartosz Kapustka and Robert Lewandowski, but they conceded two goals from Sergei Khizhnichenko in the second half.^[160] On 8 October, Poland beat Denmark 3–2 with Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick.^[161] Three days later, on 11 October, they beat Armenia 2–1, with goals from Lewandowski and an own goal from Hrayr Mkoyan.^[162] On 11 November, Poland beat Romania 3–0 with Kamil Grosicki and Lewandowski (2) scoring the goals.^[163] On 26 March 2017, Poland beat Montenegro 2–1 with Lewandowski and Łukasz Piszczek scoring the goals.^[164] On 10 June, Poland beat Romania 3–1 with a hat-trick from Lewandowski.^[165] However, on 1 September, they suffered a 4–0 defeat to Denmark, their first loss of their qualifying campaign.^[166] Three days later, they beat Kazakhstan 3–0 with goals from Arkadiusz Milik, Kamil Glik and Lewandowski.^[167] On 5 October, they trashed Armenia 6–1, with goals from Grosicki, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Rafał Wolski and a hat-trick from Lewandowski, who became Poland's record goalscorer in the match.^[168] Three days later, on 8 October, Poland officially qualified for the tournament with a 4–2 win over Montenegro; with goals from Krzysztof Mączyński, Grosicki, Lewandowski and an own goal from Filip Stojković.^[169]

Lewandowski scored 16 goals during qualifying; breaking the European qualifying scoring record, as well as becoming the all-time top goalscorer of Poland.^[170]

2018 World Cup[]

Poland played at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their first World Cup since 2006, in Group H; against Senegal, Colombia and Japan.^[171] Despite the group being considered close, Poland were tipped as favorites to advance.^{[172][173][174]} In May 2018, Poland named the preliminary 34-man squad, and on 4 June, they named the final 23-man squad.^[175][176] The squad featured several notable players; such as elite striker Robert Lewandowski (playing at his first World Cup), VfL Wolfsburg's veteran midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski, Monaco defender Kamil Glik (who suffered an injury two weeks prior to the start of the tournament), Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.^[177]

However, despite all of this and despite being ranked 8th in the FIFA Ranking prior to the tournament,^[178] Poland's tournament was disappointing overall; they lost to Senegal in the opening match, losing 1–2 on 19 June in Moscow.^[179] Five days later, on 24 June, they lost to Colombia in Kazan, losing 0–3,^[180] which mathematically ended their hopes of qualifying from the group and on 28 June, beat Japan 1–0 in their final group game in Volgograd.^[181] Poland finished bottom of their group, and like their two previous performances in 2002 and 2006, got two losses and only won the last match.^[182]

2018–2019 UEFA Nations League and UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying[]

The qualifying group stage draw was held on 2 December 2018 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The 55 teams were drawn into 10 groups: five groups of five teams (Groups A–E) and five groups of six teams (Groups F–J). Ranked at No. 10 in Pot 1, Poland was drawn into UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group G. Group G consists of six teams: Austria, Israel, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland and Slovenia,^[183] where they will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.^[184]

The top two teams will qualify directly for the finals. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play-offs will not be decided based on results from the qualifying group stage, but instead based on their performance in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. In 2018, Poland was drawn into Group 3 in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A, along with Portugal and Italy. Poland, which had not gotten out from the shocking 2018 World Cup nightmare, was relegated to League B with two home defeats and two away draws, only to be allowed to remain on League A following UEFA rule changes.

Despite this poor performance in the Nations League however, Poland opened their UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying by a single-margin 1–0 win against Austria in Vienna thanked for Krzysztof Piątek.^[185] Three days later, Poland followed up their suit by beating Latvia 2–0 at home.^[186]

On Friday June 7, 2019, Poland defeated North Macedonia with an unimpressive 1–0 win by a lone goal from Piątek which made the team suffered criticism for its poor form in that win.^[187] On June 10, 2019, Poland put its best performance up to date in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification, overpowering Israel 4–0 in Warsaw three days later with goal from Krzysztof Piątek, Robert Lewandowski, Kamil Grosicki and Damian Kądzior.^[188]

Poland continued its quest for UEFA Euro 2020 by a visiting game against minor Slovenia and was expected to grab total three points in Ljubljana due to Slovenia's unimpressive performance. Despite this, Poland's trip to Slovenia turned to be a complete nightmare, with the team suffered a humiliating 0–2 away defeat.^[189] A following 0–0 home draw to Austria meant that Poland's top spot had been under bank with Slovenia approached very quickly.^[190]

In October, Poland embattled two opponents, Latvia and North Macedonia, for its UEFA Euro 2020 quest. Poland managed a convincing 3–0 away win over minnows Latvia, eliminated the Latvians from the competition.^[191] Surprisingly, Slovenia's shock away defeat to North Macedonia relieved pressure for Poland, with Slovenia fell from second to fourth place, gave the Poles an upper hand to qualify.^[192] Eventually, Poland beat North Macedonia 2–0 at home,^[193] and with Slovenia fell hurdle to the Austrians at Slovenian soil,^[194] Poland qualified to the competition for the fourth consecutive participation history.

2020–2021 UEFA Nations League and 2022 World Cup qualifying[]

Being allowed to remain in League A, Poland was drawn against Italy, Netherlands and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The performance of this tournament would be doubled as part of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification as playoff campaigns. Poland was also seeking its first win and a possible best finish in order to obtain a possible playoff position in case they could not directly qualify for 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Poland started their League games without Lewandowski. In their first match, an away game against the Dutch, the Poles disappointed with a 0–1 loss.^[195] Then, Poland had to make another away trip, this time against the tough Bosnian rival, which held Italy 1–1 away before and was better prepared with the arrival of Edin Džeko. However, Poland managed a comeback, from being a goal down, Kamil Glik and Kamil Grosicki turned the deficit to beat Bosnia 2–1, which was Poland's historic win in the Nations League.^[196] In October, Poland hosted Italy and Bosnia at home, and the Poles obtained four points, a goalless draw with Italy before an important 3–0 win over Bosnia with Lewandowski scoring 2 and Karol Linetty scoring 1, temporarily occupying top spot of the group.^[197][198] However, when matches resumed in November, Poland had to deal with more difficulties when they headed up against Italy away, and bowed down with a 0–2 defeat despite Italy had already been depleted by COVID-19 plague, thus Poland lost any chance to determine in their quest for the Final of the Nations League.^[199] With very slim opportunity, Poland gave up and lost to the Netherlands 1–2 at home, ending in third place and will stay in the same league for the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League season.^[200]

2021: UEFA Euro 2020[]

Poland played in June 2021 in Sevilla's Estadio de La Cartuja and St. Petersburg's Gazprom Arena, replacing the original Aviva Stadium in Dublin.^[201] The draw put Poland into against two very strong and difficult opponents, the hosts Spain and Sweden, alongside the winner of the Play-off Path B, Slovakia. The top two teams from each group would progress to the round of 16, along with the four best runners-up chosen among the third-placed teams. The tournament ended in yet another catastrophe for the Polish side — Poland started with a shock 1–2 loss to Slovakia, with Wojciech Szczęsny registered to the history in an unfabulous way as the first goalkeeper to score an own goal in the UEFA European Championship.^[202] Despite Robert Lewandowski's valiant efforts in the two other games, scoring three goals, including the one that gave Poland a famous 1–1 away draw to Spain, but a 2–3 defeat to Sweden marked the end of Poland in the tournament.^[203][204]

Team image[]

Names[]

The official FIFA country code for Poland is POL. This abbreviation is used to identify the team in FIFA, UEFA, and other matches. The same abbreviation is also used under the International Organization for Standardization. "Polish national football team" can be translated into Polish as "Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej". The team's nicknames include "Biało-czerwoni" which means "The white-reds" and "Orły" which translates into "The Eagles". These are the most common names given to the Polish national football team. In English, the team is also widely known as "The White Eagles", based on Poland's national coats of arms.

National kits[]

Scarf of Poland

The national kits of Poland reflect the colors of the national flag which are white and red. Apart from minor details (in the 1920s the socks in the home kit were striped), the design remains unchanged since 1921. The home kit consists of a white shirt, red shorts and white socks; the away kit is all red (though sometimes worn with white shorts). On the rare occasions when both home and away kits clash with the opponent's, a colours third kit is available, usually in either black or blue (currently navy blue with white-red sleeves).

The kit has traditionally been adorned with the coat of arms of Poland, i.e. the crowned white eagle. Until 2006, the coat of arms featured only the inscription "POLSKA" in capital letters above the eagle, and not, as with many other national teams, the national football federation logo. The Euro 2012 kits were the first to feature the logo of the PZPN. When the kit was first launched it did not include the coat of arms but it was restored shortly thereafter. Since 2009, the kits have been provided by Nike.

Supporters[]

Association football supporters of Polish national football team

The Polish team enjoys widespread support in Poland and among Polish diaspora worldwide. Some fans of the team are reportedly fanatic and often violent, with connections to Polish organized crime syndicates.^[205] Supporters of the team have been involved in a number of incidents, such as during UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland, when Polish and Russian supporters clashed prior to the encounter between the two countries' teams.^{[citation needed]}

The notable chant among Polish fans is "Polska, biało-czerwoni" ("Poland, the White-Reds").^[206] Styrmir Gislason, the head of the Association of Icelandic Football Fans stated that the Icelandic Viking thunder clap chant was inspired by Polish football chants.^[207]

Kit suppliers[]

Kit supplier	Period
	1974
Adidas	1974–1992
Admiral	1992–1993
Lotto	1993–1994
Puma	1994–1996
Nike	1996–1998
Adidas	1999
Puma	1999–2000
Tico	2000
Puma	2001–2009
Nike	2009–

Kit history[]

First colours

World Cup 1974

World Cup 1978

World Cup 1982

World Cup 1986

1990–1991

1992

1994–1995

1996

1998

World Cup 2002

2004–2005

World Cup 2006

Euro 2008

2009

2010–2011

Euro 2012

2014–2015

Euro 2016

World Cup 2018

Euro 2020

Second colours

World Cup 1974

World Cup 1978

World Cup 1982

World Cup 1986

1990–1991

1992

1994–1997

1998

World Cup 2002

2004

World Cup 2006

Euro 2008

2009

2010–2011

Euro 2012

2014–2015

Euro 2016

World Cup 2018

Euro 2020

Stadiums[]

Stadion Narodowy

Main stadiums[]

Stadion Śląski in Chorzów was built in 1956 and seats 47,246 people. The record attendance came on 20 October 1956, when 100,000 fans witnessed a game between Poland and the Soviet Union, with Poland winning 2–1. This holds the record for the most spectators to watch Poland. The stadium was renovated to seat 55,211 and was reopen in October 2017. In 1993, the stadium was designated as the official home stadium of the Poland national team.

Over 100,000 fans witnessed a game at old stadium in Warsaw. A new Stadion Narodowy was constructed in Warsaw with an expected capacity of 58,580 seats. Following UEFA Euro 2012, it has been used as the venue for all qualifying matches and some friendly matches of the Poland national team.

Stadion Śląski

Other stadiums[]

Poland national football team plays selected matches at other major Polish stadiums, including:

• 

  Arena Gdańsk

• 

  Wrocław Stadium

• 

  Lech Stadium in Poznań

• 

  Henryk Reyman Stadium in Kraków

• 

  Polish Army Stadium in Warsaw

Results and fixtures[]

2021[]

Hungary  v  Poland

25 March 2021 (2021-03-25) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Hungary	3–3	Poland	Budapest, Hungary
	Sallai 6' Szalai 53' Orbán 78'	Report	Piątek 60' Jóźwiak 61' Lewandowski 83'	Stadium: Puskás Aréna Attendance: 0 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Poland  v  Andorra

28 March 2021 (2021-03-28) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	3–0	Andorra	Warsaw, Poland
20:45 UTC+2	Lewandowski 30', 55' Świderski 88'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Wojska Polskiego Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)

England  v  Poland

31 March 2021 (2021-03-31) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	England	2–1	Poland	London, England
20:45 UTC+2	Kane 19' (pen.) Maguire 85'	Report	Moder 58'	Stadium: Wembley Stadium Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Poland  v  Russia

1 June 2021 (2021-06-01) Friendly	Poland	1–1	Russia	Wrocław, Poland
20:45 UTC+2	Świerczok 4'	Report	Karavayev 21'	Stadium: Stadion Wrocław Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)

Poland  v  Iceland

8 June 2021 (2021-06-08) Friendly	Poland	2–2	Iceland	Poznań, Poland
18:00 UTC+2	Zieliński 34' Świderski 88'	Report	Guðmundsson 24' Br. Bjarnason 47'	Stadium: Lech Stadium Referee: Balazs Berke (Hungary)

Poland  v  Slovakia

14 June 2021 (2021-06-14) UEFA Euro 2020	Poland	1–2	Slovakia	Saint Petersburg, Russia
18:00 UTC+2	Linetty 46'	Report	Szczęsny 18' (o.g.) Škriniar 69'	Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium Attendance: 12,862 Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

Spain  v  Poland

19 June 2021 (2021-06-19) UEFA Euro 2020	Spain	1–1	Poland	Seville, Spain
21:00 UTC+2	Morata 25'	Report	Lewandowski 54'	Stadium: La Cartuja Attendance: 11,732 Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Sweden  v  Poland

23 June 2021 (2021-06-23) UEFA Euro 2020	Sweden	3–2	Poland	Saint Petersburg, Russia
18:00 UTC+2	Forsberg 2', 59' Claesson 90+4'	Report	Lewandowski 61', 84'	Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium Attendance: 14,252 Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

Poland  v  Albania

2 September 2021 (2021-09-02) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	4–1	Albania	Warsaw, Poland
20:45	Lewandowski 12' Buksa 44' Krychowiak 54' Linetty 89'	Report	Cikalleshi 25'	Stadium: PGE Narodowy Referee: (Italy)

San Marino  v  Poland

5 September 2021 (2021-09-05) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	San Marino	1–7	Poland	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45	Nanni 48'	Report	Lewandowski 5', 21' Świderski 16' Linetty 44' Buksa 67', 90+2', 90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico de Serravalle Referee: Mattias Gestranius (Finland)

Poland  v  England

8 September 2021 (2021-09-08) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	1–1	England	Warsaw, Poland
20:45	Szymański 90+2'	Report	Kane 72'	Stadium: PGE Narodowy Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Poland  v  San Marino

9 October 2021 (2021-10-09) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	5–0	San Marino	Warsaw, Poland
20:45	Świderski 10' Brolli 20' (o.g.) Kędziora 50' Buksa 84' Piątek 90+1'	Report		Stadium: PGE Narodowy Referee: (Croatia)

Albania  v  Poland

12 October 2021 (2021-10-12) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Albania	0–1	Poland	Tirana, Albania
20:45		Report	Świderski 77'	Stadium: Arena Kombëtare Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Andorra  v  Poland

12 November 2021 (2021-11-12) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Andorra	1–4	Poland	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
20:45	Vales 45'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Lewandowski 5', 73' Jóźwiak 11' Milik 45+2'	Stadium: Estadi Nacional Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)

Poland  v  Hungary

15 November 2021 (2021-11-15) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	1–2	Hungary	Warsaw, Poland
20:45	Świderski 61'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Schäfer 37' Gazdag 80'	Stadium: PGE Narodowy Referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal)

2022[]

Russia  v  Poland

24 March 2022 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying	Russia	v	Poland	Moscow, Russia
		Report		Stadium: Luzhniki Stadium

Poland  v  Sweden or  Czech Republic

29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying or friendly	Poland	v	Sweden or  Czech Republic	Poland
		Report		Stadium: TBD

Poland  v  Wales

3 June 2022 (2022-06-03) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Poland	v	Wales	Poland
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Belgium  v  Poland

6 June 2022 (2022-06-06) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Belgium	v	Poland	Belgium
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Netherlands  v  Poland

10 June 2022 (2022-06-10) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Netherlands	v	Poland	Netherlands
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Poland  v  Belgium

13 June 2022 (2022-06-13) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Poland	v	Belgium	Poland
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Poland  v  Netherlands

22 September 2022 (2022-09-22) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Poland	v	Netherlands	Poland
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Wales  v  Poland

25 September 2022 (2022-09-25) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Wales	v	Poland	Wales
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)

Coaching staff[]

• 28 January 2021^[208]

Position	Name
Head coach	Paulo Sousa
Assistant coach	Manuel Cordeiro
Assistant	Víctor Sánchez Lladò
Goalkeeping coach
Fitness coach	Lluis Sala and Antonio José Gómez
Analyst	Cosimo Cappagli and Hubert Małowiejski

Coaching history[]

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The table below contains errors, not including many national team managers, and confuses managers and coaches-assistants. The table needs to be improved based on the article in Polish Wiki ("Selekcjonerzy reprezentacji Polski w piłce nożnej mężczyzn"), which was created on the basis of the Polish team's monograph signed by the Polish football federation. Please help if you can. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Note: Kurt Otto (1936), Andor Hájdu (1954), Leo Beenhakker (2006-09) and Paulo Sousa (since 2021) are the only foreign coaches to have coached the Poland national football team.

Name[209]	From	Until
	1921-03-12	1922-05-14
Józef Lustgarten	1922-05-14	1922-09-03
	1923-06-03	1923-11-01
Adam Obrubański	1924-08-10	1924-08-31
Tadeusz Kuchar	1925-07-19	1925-07-19
Tadeusz Synowiec	1925-08-30	1927-06-19
Tadeusz Kuchar	1928-06-10	1928-06-10
Stefan Loth	1928-07-01	1931-10-25
Józef Kałuża	1932-05-29	1939-08-27
(as a replacement for Kałuża)	1936-09-06
Henryk Reyman	1947-06-11	1947-08-31
Andrzej Przeworski	1947-09-14	1947-10-26
	1948-04-04	1948-09-19
Andrzej Przeworski	1948-10-10	1948-10-17
	1949-05-08	1949-11-06
	1950-05-01	1950-10-22
Ryszard Koncewicz	1953-05-10	1956-07-22
& Edward Cebula	1954-08-08
	1956-08-26	1956-08-26
	1956-10-28	1956-11-16
Henryk Reyman	1957-05-19	1958-10-05
	1959-05-20	1962-11-28
	1963-05-15	1965-11-01
Ryszard Koncewicz	1966-01-05	1966-01-05
Antoni Brzeżańczyk	1966-05-03	1966-07-05
	1966-09-11	1966-10-22
Michał Matyas	1966-11-17	1967-10-29
Ryszard Koncewicz	1968-04-24	1970-10-25
Kazimierz Górski	1971-05-05	1976-07-31
Jacek Gmoch	1976-10-16	1978-09-06
Ryszard Kulesza	1978-10-11	1980-12-07
Antoni Piechniczek	1981-01-25	1986-06-16
Wojciech Łazarek	1986-10-07	1989-06-03
Andrzej Strejlau	1989-08-23	1993-09-22
Lesław Ćmikiewicz	1993-10-13	1993-11-17
Henryk Apostel	1994-02-09	1995-11-15
Władysław Stachurski	1996-02-19	1996-05-01
Antoni Piechniczek	1996-06-02	1997-05-31
Krzysztof Pawlak	1997-06-14	1997-06-14
Janusz Wójcik	1997-09-06	1999-10-09
Jerzy Engel	2000-01-26	2002-06-14
Zbigniew Boniek	2002-07-15	2002-11-20
Paweł Janas	2003-02-12	2006-06-20
Leo Beenhakker	2006-07-11	2009-09-10
Stefan Majewski	2009-09-17	2009-10-28
Franciszek Smuda	2009-10-29	2012-06-16
Waldemar Fornalik	2012-07-10	2013-10-16
Adam Nawałka	2013-10-26	2018-07-30
Jerzy Brzęczek	2018-08-01	2021-01-18
Paulo Sousa	2021-01-21

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following 26 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Andorra on 12 November 2021 and against Hungary on 15 November 2021.^[210]
Caps and goals updated as of 15 November 2021 after the match against Hungary.
Caps and goals including all matches officially recognized by the Polish Football Association (also those not recognized by FIFA).

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Wojciech Szczęsny	(1990-04-18) 18 April 1990 (age 31)	62	0	Juventus
12	1GK	Łukasz Skorupski	(1991-05-05) 5 May 1991 (age 30)	5	0	Bologna
22	1GK	Kamil Grabara	(1999-01-08) 8 January 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Copenhagen
2	2DF	Matty Cash	(1997-08-07) 7 August 1997 (age 24)	2	0	Aston Villa
3	2DF	Paweł Dawidowicz	(1995-05-20) 20 May 1995 (age 26)	8	0	Verona
4	2DF	Tomasz Kędziora	(1994-06-11) 11 June 1994 (age 27)	26	1	Dynamo Kyiv
5	2DF	Jan Bednarek	(1996-04-12) 12 April 1996 (age 25)	37	1	Southampton
6	2DF	Michał Helik	(1995-09-09) 9 September 1995 (age 26)	7	0	Barnsley
13	2DF	Maciej Rybus	(1989-08-19) 19 August 1989 (age 32)	66	2	Lokomotiv Moscow
14	2DF	Robert Gumny	(1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 23)	2	0	FC Augsburg
15	2DF	Tymoteusz Puchacz	(1999-01-23) 23 January 1999 (age 22)	10	0	Union Berlin
18	2DF	Bartosz Bereszyński	(1992-07-12) 12 July 1992 (age 29)	39	0	Sampdoria
	2DF	Kamil Glik (vice-captain)	(1988-02-03) 3 February 1988 (age 33)	90	6	Benevento
8	3MF	Karol Linetty	(1995-02-02) 2 February 1995 (age 26)	40	5	Torino
9	3MF	Przemysław Płacheta	(1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 (age 23)	7	0	Norwich City
10	3MF	Mateusz Klich	(1990-06-13) 13 June 1990 (age 31)	38	2	Leeds United
16	3MF	Jakub Moder	(1999-04-07) 7 April 1999 (age 22)	18	2	Brighton & Hove Albion
17	3MF	Damian Szymański	(1995-06-16) 16 June 1995 (age 26)	7	1	AEK Athens
19	3MF	Przemysław Frankowski	(1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 26)	22	1	Lens
20	3MF	Piotr Zieliński	(1994-05-20) 20 May 1994 (age 27)	66	7	Napoli
21	3MF	Kamil Jóźwiak	(1998-04-22) 22 April 1998 (age 23)	22	3	Derby County
	3MF	Grzegorz Krychowiak	(1990-01-29) 29 January 1990 (age 31)	86	5	Krasnodar
7	4FW	Arkadiusz Milik	(1994-02-28) 28 February 1994 (age 27)	61	16	Marseille
11	4FW	Karol Świderski	(1997-01-23) 23 January 1997 (age 24)	14	6	PAOK
23	4FW	Krzysztof Piątek	(1995-07-01) 1 July 1995 (age 26)	21	9	Hertha BSC
	4FW	Robert Lewandowski (captain)	(1988-08-21) 21 August 1988 (age 33)	128	74	Bayern Munich

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up for the national team in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Radosław Majecki	(1999-11-16) 16 November 1999 (age 22)	1	0	Monaco	v.  Albania, 12 October 2021
GK	Łukasz Fabiański	(1985-04-18) 18 April 1985 (age 36)	57	0	West Ham United	v.  San Marino, 9 October 2021 RET
GK	Bartłomiej Drągowski	(1997-08-19) 19 August 1997 (age 24)	1	0	Fiorentina	v.  San Marino, 9 October 2021 INJ
GK	Karol Niemczycki	(1999-07-05) 5 July 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Cracovia	v.  England, 31 March 2021
DF	Arkadiusz Reca	(1995-06-17) 17 June 1995 (age 26)	14	0	Spezia	v.  San Marino, 9 October 2021
DF	Kamil Piątkowski	(2000-06-21) 21 June 2000 (age 21)	3	0	Red Bull Salzburg	v.  England, 8 September 2021
DF	Sebastian Walukiewicz	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000 (age 21)	3	0	Cagliari	v.  Hungary, 25 March 2021 INJ
MF	Kacper Kozłowski	(2003-10-16) 16 October 2003 (age 18)	6	0	Pogoń Szczecin	v.  Albania, 12 October 2021
MF	Nicola Zalewski	(2002-01-23) 23 January 2002 (age 19)	1	0	Roma	v.  San Marino, 9 October 2021
MF	Jakub Kamiński	(2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 (age 19)	1	0	Lech Poznań	v.  England, 8 September 2021
MF	Bartosz Slisz	(1999-03-29) 29 March 1999 (age 22)	1	0	Legia Warsaw	v.  England, 8 September 2021
MF	Sebastian Szymański	(1999-05-10) 10 May 1999 (age 22)	11	1	Dynamo Moscow	v.  Albania, 2 September 2021
MF	Kamil Grosicki	(1988-06-08) 8 June 1988 (age 33)	83	17	Pogoń Szczecin	UEFA Euro 2020, 17 May 2021
MF	Rafał Augustyniak	(1993-10-14) 14 October 1993 (age 28)	1	0	Ural Yekaterinburg	UEFA Euro 2020, 17 May 2021
MF	Sebastian Kowalczyk	(1998-08-22) 22 August 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Pogoń Szczecin	v.  England, 31 March 2021
MF	Bartosz Kapustka	(1996-12-23) 23 December 1996 (age 25)	14	3	Legia Warsaw	v.  Hungary, 25 March 2021 INJ
MF	Michał Karbownik	(2001-03-13) 13 March 2001 (age 20)	3	0	Olympiacos	v.  Hungary, 25 March 2021
FW	Adam Buksa	(1996-07-12) 12 July 1996 (age 25)	5	5	New England Revolution	v.  Andorra, 12 November 2021
FW	Dawid Kownacki	(1997-03-14) 14 March 1997 (age 24)	7	1	Fortuna Düsseldorf	v.  Albania, 2 September 2021 INJ
FW	Jakub Świerczok	(1992-12-28) 28 December 1992 (age 28)	6	1	Nagoya Grampus	UEFA Euro 2020
INJ Withdrew from the squad due to an injury. OTH Withdrew from the squad due to other reasons. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team.

Previous squads[]

Player records[]

As of 12 October 2021^[211]

Players in bold are still active with Poland.

Most capped players[]

Robert Lewandowski is Poland's top goalscorer and their most capped player.

Top goalscorers[]

Competitive record[]

Jan Tomaszewski (left) and Henryk Kasperczak after 3rd place match Poland-Brazil, 1974 FIFA World Cup

UEFA Euro 2012 in Warsaw

Polish anthem during Czech Republic - Poland, UEFA Euro 2012

Krzysztof Mączyński playing for national team in 2013

Portugal against Poland in the UEFA Euro 2016 Quarterfinal match

World Cup 2018 Team including Grzegorz Krychowiak (10), Artur Jędrzejczyk (3), Rafał Kurzawa (21), Kamil Glik (15), Jan Bednarek (5), Łukasz Fabiański (22), Bartosz Bereszyński (18), Jacek Góralski (6), Piotr Zieliński (19), Robert Lewandowski (9), Kamil Grosicki (11).

FIFA World Cup[]

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Declined participation
1934	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1938	Round of 16	11th	1	0	0	1	5	6		2	1	0	1	4	1
1950	Did not enter									Declined participation
1954	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1958	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1962
1966
1970
1974	Third place	3rd	7	6	0	1	16	5		4	2	1	1	6	3
1978	Group stage	5th	6	3	1	2	6	6		6	5	1	0	17	4
1982	Third place	3rd	7	3	3	1	11	5		4	4	0	0	12	2
1986	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	1	7		6	3	2	1	10	6
1990	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1994
1998
2002	Group stage	25th	3	1	0	2	3	7		10	6	3	1	21	11
2006		21st	3	1	0	2	2	4		10	8	0	2	27	9
2010	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
2014
2018	Group stage	25th	3	1	0	2	2	5		10	8	1	1	28	14
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026
Total	Third place	8/21	34	16	5	13	46	45		126	66	23	37	258	152

Olympic Games[]

Host nation(s) – Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1896	no Olympic football tournament
1900	Did not enter
1904
1908
1912
1920
1924	Round 1	1	0	0	1	0	5
1928	Did not qualify
1932	no Olympic football tournament
1936	Fourth place	4	2	0	2	11	10
1948	Did not qualify
1952	Round 1	2	1	0	1	2	3
1956	Did not qualify
1960	Group stage	3	1	0	2	7	5
1964	Did not qualify
1968
1972	Gold medalists	7	6	1	0	21	5
1976	Silver medalists	5	3	1	1	11	5
1980	Did not qualify
1984
1988
Since 1992	See Poland Olympic football team
Total	6/22	22	13	2	7	52	33

UEFA European Championship[]

UEFA European Championship record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1960	Did not qualify									Did not qualify
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	1	4		14	8	4	2	24	12
2012			3	0	2	1	2	3		Qualified as hosts
2016	Quarter-finals	5th	5	2	3	0	4	2		10	6	3	1	33	10
2020	Group stage	21st	3	0	1	2	4	6		10	8	1	1	18	5
2024	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	4/16	14	2	7	5	11	15		104	47	27	29	171	113

UEFA Nations League[]

UEFA Nations League record
Year	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	Rank
2018–19	A	3	4	0	2	2	4	6		10th
2020–21	A	1	6	2	1	3	6	6		10th
2022–23	A	To be determined
Total			10	2	3	5	10	12	10th

FIFA ranking history[]

Source:^[212]

Head-to-head record[]

Statistics updated as of 15 November 2021. List including all matches officially recognized by the Polish Football Association (also those not recognized by FIFA).

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Confederation
Albania	13	9	3	1	19	8	+11	UEFA
Algeria	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	CAF
Andorra	3	3	0	0	11	1	+10	UEFA
Argentina	11	3	2	6	12	18	−6	CONMEBOL
Armenia	7	5	1	1	15	4	+11	UEFA
Australia	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	AFC
Austria	10	5	2	3	19	17	+2	UEFA
Azerbaijan	6	5	1	0	20	1	+19	UEFA
Belarus	6	2	2	2	9	10	−1	UEFA
Belgium	19	7	6	6	26	20	+6	UEFA
Bolivia	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	CONMEBOL
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5	4	1	0	9	3	+3	UEFA
Brazil	12	1	2	9	19	37	−18	CONMEBOL
Bulgaria	25	12	9	4	47	30	+17	UEFA
Cameroon	3	0	2	1	0	3	−3	CAF
Canada	6	6	0	0	20	4	+16	CONCACAF
Chile	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	CONMEBOL
China PR	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	AFC
Colombia	6	2	0	4	8	10	−2	CONMEBOL
Costa Rica	3	3	0	0	8	3	+5	CONCACAF
Croatia	5	1	1	3	3	7	−4	UEFA
Cuba	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	CONCACAF
Cyprus	7	4	3	0	14	5	+9	UEFA
Czech Republic/ Czechoslovakia	27	7	4	16	33	53	−20	UEFA
Denmark	23	8	2	13	38	49	−11	UEFA
Ecuador	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	CONMEBOL
Egypt	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	CAF
England	21	1	8	12	13	33	−20	UEFA
Estonia	9	7	1	1	18	4	+14	UEFA
Faroe Islands	3	3	0	0	12	1	+11	UEFA
Finland	33	22	8	3	72	26	+42	UEFA
France	16	3	5	8	18	27	−9	UEFA
Georgia	5	4	0	1	13	4	+9	UEFA
East Germany	19	9	4	6	26	27	−1	UEFA
Germany/ West Germany	21	1	7	13	12	34	−22	UEFA
Ghana	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	CAF
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	15	1	+14	UEFA
Greece	17	10	4	3	30	12	+18	UEFA
Guatemala	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	CONCACAF
Haiti	3	2	0	1	11	3	+8	CONCACAF
Hungary	34	8	5	21	43	92	−49	UEFA
Iceland	7	5	2	0	15	7	+8	UEFA
India	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	AFC
Iran	3	3	0	0	6	2	+4	AFC
Iraq	5	2	2	1	7	3	+4	AFC
Republic of Ireland	28	11	11	6	44	30	+14	UEFA
Israel	13	7	4	2	32	15	+17	UEFA
Italy	18	3	8	7	10	23	−13	UEFA
Ivory Coast	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	CAF
Japan	7	5	0	2	14	10	+4	AFC
Kazakhstan	5	4	1	0	12	3	+9	UEFA
North Korea	2	1	1	0	7	2	+5	AFC
South Korea	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	AFC
Kuwait	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	AFC
Latvia	15	11	2	2	40	15	+25	UEFA
Libya	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	CAF
Liechtenstein	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	UEFA
Lithuania	11	5	4	2	17	8	+9	UEFA
Luxembourg	7	6	1	0	26	5	+21	UEFA
North Macedonia	5	4	1	0	11	2	+9	UEFA
Malta	4	4	0	0	13	0	+13	UEFA
Mexico	8	3	2	3	9	13	−4	CONCACAF
Moldova	6	5	1	0	10	2	+8	UEFA
Montenegro	4	2	2	0	9	6	+3	UEFA
Morocco	5	2	2	1	9	3	+6	CAF
Netherlands	17	3	6	8	17	24	−7	UEFA
New Zealand	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	OFC
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	CAF
Northern Ireland	10	4	2	4	14	13	+1	UEFA
Norway	19	12	3	4	58	26	+32	UEFA
Paraguay	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	CONMEBOL
Peru	3	3	0	0	9	2	+7	CONMEBOL
Portugal	13	3	5	5	13	18	−5	UEFA
Romania	36	7	15	14	57	56	+1	UEFA
Russia/ Soviet Union	19	4	6	9	18	34	−16	UEFA
San Marino	10	10	0	0	45	2	+43	UEFA
Saudi Arabia	3	3	0	0	5	2	+3	AFC
Scotland	10	3	5	2	14	13	+1	UEFA
Senegal	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	CAF
Serbia/ Yugoslavia	26	10	7	9	51	54	−3	UEFA
Singapore	1	1	0	0	6	1	+5	AFC
Slovakia	9	3	1	5	14	14	0	UEFA
Slovenia	8	3	3	2	9	9	0	UEFA
South Africa	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	CAF
Spain	11	1	2	8	9	28	−19	UEFA
Sweden	27	8	4	15	39	59	−20	UEFA
Switzerland	11	4	6	1	21	12	+9	UEFA
Thailand	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	AFC
Tunisia	4	3	0	1	9	2	+7	CAF
Turkey	17	11	3	3	39	12	+27	UEFA
Ukraine	9	4	2	3	11	9	+2	UEFA
United Arab Emirates	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	AFC
Uruguay	4	1	2	1	4	5	−1	CONMEBOL
United States	17	7	3	7	36	22	+14	CONCACAF
Wales	8	5	2	1	10	5	+5	UEFA
Total	861	376	212	273	1,482	1,156	+326	FIFA