Poland national football team

1919–1939: Early years

The Polish Football Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej) was established on 20 December 1919 in Warsaw. 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. 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 would play Brazil in a match which would become one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history. Despite Brazil not being regarded as the world's top team in the 1930s, it was still believed to be a hard-to-beat side. Under these circumstances, 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 reds 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.

1946–1972

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, which would eventually be one of many. 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.

1974 World Cup, 3rd place

Poland being mostly unknown on the international football scene before 1974 shook up the football world during the World Cup in Germany. However, this was no huge surprise as the core of the team successfully achieved a gold medal place in the Munich Olympics in 1972. The Olympics were not considered a major tournament by most Western nations, but Eastern European countries bypassed the amateur rules by fielding their full national teams, as most players also had employment with national industries or within the army. With their lightning speed and incredible team chemistry they were almost unstoppable. In qualifying they surprised everyone by eliminating England, quarter-finalists in 1970 and Champions in 1966.

In their opening match of Germany '74 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 easily beat 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. 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 like 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.

1978 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.

1982 World Cup 3rd place

The Okęcie Airport incident of 1980 unsettled the team, and caused four of its members to be temporarily banned by the PZPN, including Stanislaw Terlecki, who never played for Poland again. The presence of Kazimierz Górski's Eagles was slowly dissolving by 1982, and only Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Marek Kusto and Władysław Żmuda remained from the 1974 World Cup squad. The white and reds, however, were an exciting mix of veterans and upstart youngsters. This was soon to be Zbigniew Boniek's team and the Cup time to shine. Poland was in fact a pre-tourney favorite to go far. The 1982 World Cup also featured a new format for the tournament, with both an expansion to the overall pool to 24 and of the second group round to 12.

Poland won a spot in Group A, placing them with Italy, Cameroon and Peru. As often appears to be the case historically, Poland started slowly. On day two of the tournament, Poland opened with a respectable 0–0 draw against the Italians. Nevertheless, the defense played a great game holding Paolo Rossi scoreless, the only time the eventual champion Italians were to be shut out during the entire tournament. The Italy game was followed by an inexplicable 0–0 draw with Cameroon.

Everyone either awaited a Poland goal explosion or was ready to write the squad off as too dependent on their aging stars. The former came. A torrent of goals rained on Peru to close out Polish group play with a 5–1 onslaught. Five different Poles scored, including Włodzimierz Smolarek, Boniek and Lato, in what would be his final World Cup goal. Lato also had one assist and Boniek added two. Due to Italy's first round results, which consisted of three draws, Poland won the group.

Then came one for the ages. In one of the most impressive one-man shows in Cup history, Boniek netted a hat-trick against Belgium in the first game of Group 1 play, accounting for all three goals in the 3–0 victory. Boniek would be key in the following match as well against the Soviet Union, but not in positive fashion. In the midst of the tense scoreless draw, Boniek was yellow carded for the second time and thus had to sit and watch the following match. The Poles would eventually be stopped in the semi-finals. The opponent was once again Italy, winners of Group 3 and eliminators of Brazil. This would be no rematch of the first meeting, though, as the adaptable Italians were not to be stymied. Rossi ran the shagged-out Poland ragged, scoring in the 22nd and 72nd minute in a reportedly easy 2–0 win.

Poland saved some face in the third-place game, feeling freewheeling enough to beat France 3–2 in a game that featured about ten minutes of absolute dominance by the Poles surrounding the halftime break. This game along with the World Cup would be remembered as an end to the golden era of Polish football.

1986 World Cup

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico would mark Poland's last appearance on the World's greatest stage in the 20th century. Poland qualified to the tournament by finishing in first place over Belgium on goal differential and qualified for their fourth consecutive World Cup.

Poland's opponents in Group F would be Morocco, Portugal and England. During the first game the fans spotted that the magic of the earlier years was gone as they only managed a scoreless draw against a surprising Morocco team that would finish top of the group. In the second game hope was restored with an impressive 1–0 victory over Portugal in which Włodzimierz Smolarek scored the winning goal. In the last match of the group stages Poland took on England. England won the match 3–0, with all three goals scored by Gary Lineker, however, Poland still managed to reach the knockout stages after Morocco surprised Portugal with a 3–1 victory.

Due to Poland finishing in third place in the group they were drawn against a strong Brazilian side in the knock-out stages. The Brazilians gave Poland no chance after defeating them 4–0, sending them home.

1987–2002

After the golden era in the 1970s and 1980s Poland would encounter a period of drought being unable to qualify for any major tournament. During the late 1980s to the late 1990s Poland's biggest achievement would be capturing the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. There were high hopes for the young team who narrowly missed out on the gold medal (losing the final 3–2 to the hosts Spain after conceding a goal in injury time), and the two star strikers Wojciech Kowalczyk and Andrzej Juskowiak in particular, but ultimately this generation achieved nothing in international football.

2002 World Cup

Poland's qualification to the 2002 World Cup marked their first appearance in the tournament since 1986. During the qualifications Poland finished top of their group and qualified for the World Cup in Korea and Japan as the first team out of Europe.

Although nobody expected Poland to repeat their feats of 1974 and 1982 most fans and the press did expect at least the second round. Both South Korea and the United States were viewed as teams easily within Poland's reach, particularly after the excellent qualifying campaign. Portugal was another matter but many did not dismiss the possibility of a draw. In the first game, however, the South Koreans stunned Poland with a 2–0 win. The poor performance led to calls for wholesale changes to the team that was to face Portugal in the second game. In the end, manager Jerzy Engel only made one change and the Poles were duly hammered 4–0 and eliminated from the tournament. In the last game, Engel fielded a completely overhauled team and Poland outclassed the United States, but, in the light of two previous defeats, the 3–1 victory was too little, too late.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 World Cup, Poland came in with high hopes of qualifying out of the group stages for the first time since 1986 after a solid qualifying campaign. Being drawn to the group A, which consisted of the hosts Germany, Ecuador and Costa Rica, Poland was looked upon as a favorite with Germany to progress through the knockout stages. However, just like four years earlier, the campaign was a massive disappointment. Again, Poland lost their first game, this time to Ecuador. The final score was 2–0 with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustín Delgado. Poland did have two major chances to score against Ecuador though; with first Ireneusz Jeleń's and then Paweł Brożek's left foot strikes hitting the woodwork (crossbar and then post). Poland lost to group leader Germany on 14 June, in an epic game, where goalkeeper Artur Boruc made numerous critical saves. The final score was 1–0 though, with a goal scored by Oliver Neuville in the 91st minute, thus ensuring their exit from the World Cup. In the last match Poland eliminated Costa Rica 2–1 with both Polish goals headed in by center back Bartosz Bosacki.

2008 European Championship

Under the new manager Leo Beenhakker, who replaced Paweł Janas in 2006, Poland began its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in a distinctly unimpressive fashion, losing 1–3 to Finland at Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz. They followed that up with a 1–1 draw against Serbia at Legia Stadium in Warsaw on 6 September 2006. Their first win came against Kazakhstan on 7 October 2006 (final score 0–1). Just four points from three relatively easy games put the Poles on the brink of early elimination.

However, in the next five games Poland notched five straight victories. Poland faced Portugal on 11 October 2006, winning 2–1 in Chorzów, after an excellent performance. Next they headed to Brussels where they defeated Belgium 1–0. They recorded wins against Azerbaijan (5–0) and Armenia (1–0) at home in Poland, and away to Azerbaijan (1–3), however they failed to pick up any points in Armenia on 6 June 2007 (0–1).

Poland then traveled to Lisbon to face Portugal, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. They returned from Helsinki with another point (0–0). A power outage briefly marred the rematch against Kazakhstan but Poland collected three points (3–1). Poland clinched its Euro 2008 berth with a 2–0 victory against Belgium in Chorzów and followed that up with a draw (2–2) against Serbia in Belgrade. Poland finished its qualifying campaign as group leaders. Euzebiusz Smolarek finished with nine goals under his tally for Poland and was the third overall top scorer in the qualifications only behind David Healy of Northern Ireland (13 goals) and Eduardo of Croatia (10 goals).

Poland's qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 marked their first appearance in the tournament. The team's success meants that almost 50 years of Poland's consecutive failures to qualify for the European Championship (the last major European country to do so, save for Ukraine who did not start qualifying under their own flag until the 1990s) came to an end, all the more welcoming in the light of Poland having been recently awarded the organization of the tournament's next edition, prompting many to expect a new golden era of Polish football, this time under Beenhaker's leadership. And yet, in spite of an impressing campaign edging Portugal to first place in their qualifying group, the tournament would be a disappointing debut.

Poland was drawn in the group that consisted of Germany, co-hosts Austria and Croatia. In a rematch from the 2006 World Cup, Poland took on Germany in the first game. Although the Poles were far from dominated in the game and created many chances, the match ended with a 2–0 victory for Germany; Lukas Podolski, the Polish-born German striker, scored both goals for Germany. In the second match, Poland would take on the co-hosts Austria in Vienna. Roger Guerreiro opened the scoring for Poland in the 30th minute, however Austria equalized in stoppage time in the 93rd minute after a very controversial penalty which Austrian striker Ivica Vastić convert to make the final score 1–1. In any hopes of qualifying, Poland would need a large victory in their last game against Croatia. Croatia, however, beat Poland 1–0 to eliminate them from the tournament.

Group B

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Poland's qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup has been their worst to date. Despite being drawn in a seemingly easy group with Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and San Marino, Poland finished in fifth place only ahead of San Marino with a record of three victories two draws and five losses. The campaign started off well enough with a total of seven points in the first three matches. A respectable 1–1 draw against future world cup qualifiers Slovenia was seen as an undesirable result at start. A routine victory over San Marino, and an impressive win over the Czech Republic left Poland at the top of the table after three games.

The match against Slovakia in Bratislava, however, was seen as the turning point in qualifying. Poland was leading 1–0 until the 85th minute when Stanislav Šesták scored an equalizer after an error by Artur Boruc. Then just a minute later, Šesták scored a second, making the final score 2–1 in Slovakia's favour. The next opponent was Northern Ireland; the match, which was played at Windsor Park in Belfast, was seen as a crucial match for Poland, as their hopes of qualification hung in the balance. The ground was not in the best condition, which allowed for a horrific mistake in the 61st minute when Michał Żewłakow passed the ball back to Boruc, who miskicked the ball while it hopped over his foot on a bumpy pitch. Northern Ireland went on to win the game 3–2. Following that crucial loss, Poland recorded their largest victory ever, defeating San Marino 10–0. In the last three matches, however, Poland managed just a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland and two losses to the eventual two World Cup qualifiers Slovenia and Slovakia.

Euro 2012

On 18 April 2007 in Cardiff, Poland and Ukraine were elected by UEFA's Executive Committee to co-host Euro 2012. Poland's and Ukraine's bid defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia/Hungary, becoming the third successful joint-bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium/Netherlands, for Euro 2000, and Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008.

The Polish-Ukrainian hosting is seen as a way of shifting the focus towards regions and nations of central and eastern Europe, whose population demonstrates a strong feeling for football, but are less developed in terms of the quality of the local leagues and football infrastructure, when compared with western Europe. The final tournament draw was held in Kiev, and the groups were decided: Poland, automatically seeded in Group A, were drawn with Russia, Greece and Czech Republic. The host team were eliminated without earning a single win after a 1–0 loss against the Czech Republic.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Poland was drawn in Group H of the European FIFA World Cup qualifying along with England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova and San Marino.

Poland started their campaign on 7 September 2012 away at Montenegro. Captain Jakub Błaszczykowski gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, but two strikes before half-time put the hosts in front. Adrian Mierzejewski, however, headed in a 55th-minute equaliser as the game finished in a 2–2 draw. Poland won their first game of the group four days later as they defeated Moldova 2–0 in Wrocław. Błaszczykowski's first-half penalty and Jakub Wawrzyniak's late header was enough for victory. Poland's next scheduled qualifier was against England on 16 October 2012. Due to heavy rain, however, the pitch was deemed unplayable by the referee and it was decided that the game would take place the following day. When the match finally took place, Kamil Glik's second-half header cancelled out Wayne Rooney's first half header in a 1–1 draw.

Poland suffered their first defeat of the qualifying campaign at home to Ukraine. The visitors were two goals up inside seven minutes before Łukasz Piszczek pulled a goal back. Ukraine scored again on the stroke of half-time as the game ended 1–3. Poland faced San Marino on 26 March and won 5–0. Poland tied Moldova on 7 June and tied the team 1–1, making their chances of qualifying for the World Cup minuscule. Poland's next qualifier is at home to group leaders Montenegro on 6 September, before they travel to minnows San Marino on 10 September. Poland drew 1–1 with Montenegro in Warsaw, with Robert Lewandowski the scorer for the Poles. They then travelled to San Marino, where they achieved a 5–1 victory. Poland travelled to Ukraine on 11 October where a single goal by Andriy Yarmolenko ensured a 1–0 victory for the home side, and confirmed Poland's elimination in the qualifiers. They faced England in their final group game on 15 October where they were defeated 2–0.

UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Poland were drawn in Group D along with Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland.

Poland played against Gibraltar in later's first ever competitive international match in the first round of qualifying matches on 7 September 2014, and with this game against Gibraltar, Poland became only the second country to play all of UEFA's football associations, after Estonia achieved that record being the first country to do so. Poland beat Gibraltar 7–0 in this match to earn their first points of qualifying.

Poland on 11 October 2014 beat reigning world champions Germany for the first ever time in Warsaw. Second half goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Mila gave the home side victory and put them top of the group.

On 29 March 2015, Poland earned a 1–1 draw away to the Republic of Ireland to remain top of the group. A first half strike from Sławomir Peszko gave the visitors the lead before an injury time equalizer from Shane Long rescued a late point for the hosts. On 11 October 2015, Poland secured a place in Euro 2016 when they beat the Republic of Ireland 2–1 in Warsaw. Robert Lewandowski ended the qualifying campaign with 13 goals, thus tying with Northern Ireland's David Healy for the most number of goals scored in a single European Championship qualifying campaign.

UEFA Euro 2016

Poland were drawn in Group C along with Germany, Ukraine and Northern Ireland. They faced Northern Ireland first, at the Allianz Riviera in Nice, where they won 1–0, with Arkadiusz Milik scoring the winning goal. They then faced Germany at the Stade de France on 16 June, drawing 0–0. Lastly, they played Ukraine at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, winning 1–0. They came in second in their group, earning the same amount of points as Germany but inferior on goal difference. The team advanced on to the next stage of the tournament for the first time ever, where they faced Switzerland on 25 June, drawing 1–1 but progressing 5–4 after penalty kicks to advance to the quarter-finals. On 30 June, they faced eventual champions Portugal in the quarter-finals, drawing 1–1 but falling 5–3 after another penalty shootout to exit the tournament. This was Poland's best ever performance at a European Championship.

FIFA 2018 qualification

Poland were drawn in Group E along with Denmark, Romania, Montenegro, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Olympic Games record

FIFA ranking history

Source:

Honours

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 "Białe Orły" which translates into "The White Eagles". These are the most common names given to the Polish national football team.

National kits

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 white eagle (until 2006, the coat of arms featured the inscription "POLSKA" in capital letters above the eagle), the Polish coat of arms, 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, however, when the kit was first launched it did not include the iconic coat of arms with the white eagle. After only a few matches, the Coat of arms made its return on the national kits.) Since 2009, the current kits are provided by Nike.

Main stadiums

Silesian Stadium 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 is currently being renovated to seat 55,210. In 1993, the stadium was designated as the official home stadium of the Poland national team.

A new National Stadium was constructed in Warsaw with an expected capacity of 58,145 seats. Following Euro 2012, it has been used as the venue for all qualifying matches and some friendly matches of the Poland national team.

Other stadiums

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

Results and fixtures

  Win

  Draw

  Loss

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on 26 March 2017.
Caps and goals updated as of 14 November 2016 after the match against Slovenia.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the national team in the last 12 months.

Notable players

Players who appeared at least 50 times for the national team or scored at least 10 goals.

Managers

Notice: Leo Beenhakker was the only foreign manager to coach Polish team.