Poland national football team

Poland

Nickname(s)	Biało-czerwoni (The white and reds) Orły (The Eagles)
Association	Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej (PZPN)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Adam Nawałka
Captain	Robert Lewandowski
Most caps	Michał Żewłakow (102)
Top scorer	Włodzimierz Lubański (48)
Home stadium	PGE Narodowy
FIFA code	POL
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	15 (24 November 2016)
Highest	15 (October-November 2016)
Lowest	78 (November 2013)
Elo ranking
Current	18 2 (1 December 2016)
Highest	2 (October 1975)
Lowest	55 (August 1956, April 1998)
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	7 (first in 1938)
Best result	Third place, 1974 and 1982
European Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 2008)
Best result	Quarterfinals, 2016

Medal record
Men's football
Olympic Games
	1972 Munich	Team
	1976 Montreal	Team
	1992 Barcelona	Team

The Poland national football team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland. Poland's home ground is the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw and their current head coach is Adam Nawałka.

The most renowned Polish team was the one of the mid-1970s that held England to a draw at Wembley to qualify for the World Cup in 1974. They defeated Brazil 1–0 to claim third place in the tournament, with striker Grzegorz Lato winning the Golden Boot for his seven goals. Poland also finished 3rd in the 1982 tournament beating France 3–2 in the third-place play-off.

Poland also won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich; the silver medal in 1976 in Montreal; and a silver medal in 1992 in Barcelona. Their Olympic success was helped by a wholly amateur squad, similar to other nations behind the Iron Curtain.

Poland first qualified for the UEFA European Championship in 2008. They also qualified automatically for Euro 2012 by virtue of being joint hosts with Ukraine. They finished bottom of their group on both occasions. Their first win in the Euros was on 12 June 2016 in a group stage match of Euro 2016 against Northern Ireland.^[1] They went on to reach the quarterfinals.

History

1919–1939: Early years

The Polish Football Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej) was established on 20 December 1919 in Warsaw, Poland. Poland would play their first official international match on 18 December 1921 in Budapest where they 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 face off against Brazil which would become one of the most memorable matches in the history of the World Cup. Even though Brazil was not regarded as the world's top team in the 1930s, it was still believed to be a very good, 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 out of five goals for Poland, 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 1938 World Cup runners-up. The match stands out as an achievement as Poland defeated the strongly favored Hungarian side 4–2.

Poland national team, 1924  Poland 5–6 Brazil, 1938

1946–1972

On 11 June 1946, following the aftermath of World War II, Poland played their first international friendly match against Norway in Oslo. The game ended with a defeat as Norway won by the score of 3–1. The biggest success in the early years after the war was the victory against one of Europe's best at the time, the Czechoslovakian team. 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 elected as the head coach of the 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 7th 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. But two minutes later Lato got 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 were 2nd 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 let in 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 FIFA 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 7th 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 3rd 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 Victor 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 minute 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.^[2] The presence of Górski's Eagles was slowly dissolving by 1982, and only Lato, Szarmach, Kusto and Żmuda remained from the '74 squad. However, the white and reds were an exciting mix of veterans and upstart youngsters. This was soon to be Boniek's team and the Cup time to shine. Poland was in fact a pre-tourney favorite to go far. World Cup España also featured a new format for the tournament, with both an expansion to the overall pool to twenty-four and of the second group round to twelve.

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 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 got 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 USA 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. However, in the first game 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 the 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 USA, but, in the light of two previous defeats, the 3–1 victory was too little, too late.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
South Korea	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
United States	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4
Portugal	3	1	0	2	6	4	+2	3
Poland	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3

4 June 2002
South Korea	2–0	Poland	Asiad Main Stadium, Busan
10 June 2002
Portugal	4–0	Poland	Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju
14 June 2002
Poland	3–1	United States	Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon

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 Agustin 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. Ebi Smolarek finished with 9 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 the 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 victory for Germany with the final score being 2–0. Lukas Podolski the Polish-born German striker scored the two goals for Germany in the game. In the second game Poland would take on the co-hosts Austria in Vienna. Roger Guerreiro opened the scoring for Poland in the 30th minute. Austria equalized in stoppage time in the 93rd minute after a very controversial penalty, which the Austrian striker Ivica Vastic converted making the final score 1–1. In any hopes of qualifying Poland would need a large victory in their last game against Croatia. However, Croatia went on to beat Poland 1–0 and eliminated them from the tournament.

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Croatia	3	3	0	0	4	1	+3	9
Germany	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6
Austria	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1
Poland	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

8 June 2008
Germany	2–0	Poland	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt
12 June 2008
Austria	1–1	Poland	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
16 June 2008
Poland	0–1	Croatia	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt

Notes on the tie-breaking situation

• Austria and Poland are ranked by goal difference in all of their group games as their head-to-head result was a 1–1 draw.

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 5th place only ahead of San Marino, with a record of 3 victories 2 draws and 5 losses. The campaign started off well enough with a total of 7 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 3 games. The match against Slovakia in Bratislava 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 got his second making the final score 2–1 in Slovakia's favor. 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. However, in the last three matches 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, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by UEFA's Executive Committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. It was the 14th European Championship. 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, Ukraine, 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.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Czech Republic	3	2	0	1	4	5	−1	6
Greece	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Russia	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	4
Poland	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2

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2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Poland was drawn in Group H of the European FIFA World Cup qualifying along with England, Montenegro, co-hosts for Euro 2012 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 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. However, due to heavy rain 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 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. {{2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H |expanded =yes |fixtures =yes }}

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 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 UEFA Euro 2016 when they beat 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	7	1	2	24	9	+15	22	Qualify for final tournament		—	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–0
2	Poland	10	6	3	1	33	10	+23	21			2–0	—	2–1	2–2	4–0	8–1
3	Republic of Ireland	10	5	3	2	19	7	+12	18	Advance to play-offs		1–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–0	7–0
4	Scotland	10	4	3	3	22	12	+10	15			2–3	2–2	1–0	—	1–0	6–1
5	Georgia	10	3	0	7	10	16	−6	9			0–2	0–4	1–2	1–0	—	4–0
6	Gibraltar	10	0	0	10	2	56	−54	0			0–7	0–7	0–4	0–6	0–3	—

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 one goal to nil. Arkadiusz Milik scored the winning goal. They 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 losing out on goal difference. The team advanced on to the next stage of the tournament for the first time ever,^[3] where they faced Switzerland on 25 June, winning 1(5)-1(4) after penalty kicks and advancing to the quarter finals. On 30 June they faced Portugal in the quarter finals, losing 1(5)-1(3) after another penalty shootout, and exited the tournament. 2016's European Championship was their best performance at a European Championship.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3	7	Advance to knockout phase
2	Poland	3	2	1	0	2	0	+2	7
3	Northern Ireland	3	1	0	2	2	2	0	3
4	Ukraine	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Host nation(s) – Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934
1938	Round 1	11th	1	0	0	1	5	6
1950	Did not enter
1954
1958	Did not qualify
1962
1966
1970
1974	Third place	3rd	7	6	0	1	16	5
1978	Round 2	5th	6	3	1	2	6	6
1982	Third place	3rd	7	3	3	1	11	5
1986	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	1	7
1990	Did not qualify
1994
1998
2002	Group stage	25th	3	1	0	2	3	7
2006	Group stage	21st	3	1	0	2	2	4
2010	Did not qualify
2014
2018	To be determined
2022
Total	Third place	7/20	31	15	5	11	44	40

UEFA European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Did not qualify
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	1	4
2012	Group stage	14th	3	0	2	1	2	3
2016	Quarter-finals	5th	5	2	3	0	4	2
Total	Quarter-finals	3/15	11	2	6	3	7	9

Olympic Games record

Host nation(s) – Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1896	Did not enter (Poland wasn't independent)
1900
1904
1906
1908
1912
1920	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1924	Round 1	1	0	0	1	0	5
1928	Did not qualify
1932
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	Champions	7	6	1	0	21	5
1976	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	12	5
1980	Did not qualify
1984
1988
1992	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	17	6
Total	7/23	28	17	3	8	70	39

Football at the summer Olympics has been an U-23 tournament since 1992.

FIFA ranking history

Source:^[4]

1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
28	29	33	53	48	31	32	43	33	34	25	25	22	24	22	34	58	73	66	55	76	41	34	15

Honours

• FIFA World Cup

• Third place (2) 1974 1982

• Football at the Summer Olympics

• Gold medal (1) 1972
• Silver medal (2) 1976 1992

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 "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.

Kit history

1974 World Cup Home

1978 World Cup Home

1982 World Cup Home

1986 World Cup Home

1990 Home Kit

2002 World Cup Home

2006 World Cup Home

UEFA Euro 2008

2009 Home Kit

UEFA Euro 2012

2014 Home Kit

Euro 2016 Home

Kit providers

Kit provider	Period
Polsport	−1973
Adidas	1973–1991
Lotto	1992–1993
Puma	1994–1996
Nike	1997–1999
Puma	2000–2009
Nike	2009–present

Stadiums

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 achieving a 2–1 victory. 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 Polish national football team.

A new Stadion Narodowy 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 Polish national team.

Other stadiums

Poland national football team plays selected matches on other polish stadiums like:

• Stadion Energa Gdańsk
• Wrocław City Stadium
• INEA Stadion

Results and fixtures

  Win

  Draw

  Loss

Date	Venue	Opponent		Competition	Score	Goalscorer(s)	Attendance
17 November 2015	Stadion Miejski, Wrocław	Czech Republic		Friendly	3–1	Arkadiusz Milik, Tomasz Jodłowiec, Kamil Grosicki	40,793
23 March 2016	INEA Stadion, Poznań	Serbia		Friendly	1–0	Jakub Błaszczykowski	38,271
26 March 2016	Stadion Miejski, Wrocław	Finland		Friendly	5–0	Kamil Grosicki (2), Paweł Wszołek (2), Filip Starzyński	42,068
1 June 2016	Stadion Energa Gdańsk, Gdańsk	Netherlands		Friendly	1–2	Artur Jędrzejczyk	40,392
6 June 2016	Stadion Miejski, Kraków	Lithuania		Friendly	0–0		33,027
12 June 2016	Allianz Riviera, Nice	Northern Ireland		UEFA Euro 2016	1–0	Arkadiusz Milik	33,742
16 June 2016	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	Germany		UEFA Euro 2016	0–0		73,648
21 June 2016	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	Ukraine		UEFA Euro 2016	1–0	Jakub Błaszczykowski	58,874
25 June 2016	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne	Switzerland		UEFA Euro 2016	1–1 5–4 (p)	Jakub Błaszczykowski	38,842
30 June 2016	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	Portugal		UEFA Euro 2016	1–1 3–5 (p)	Robert Lewandowski	62,940
4 September 2016	Astana Arena, Astana	Kazakhstan		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier	2–2	Bartosz Kapustka, Robert Lewandowski	19,905
8 October 2016	PGE Narodowy, Warsaw	Denmark		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier	3–2	Robert Lewandowski (3)	56,811
11 October 2016	PGE Narodowy, Warsaw	Armenia		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier	2–1	Hrayr Mkoyan (o.g.), Robert Lewandowski	44,786
11 November 2016	Arena Națională, Bucharest	Romania		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier	3–0	Kamil Grosicki, Robert Lewandowski (2)	48,531
14 November 2016	Stadion Miejski, Wrocław	Slovenia		Friendly	1–1	Łukasz Teodorczyk	40,119
26 March 2017	Stadion pod Goricom, Podgorica	Montenegro		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier
10 June 2017	PGE Narodowy, Warsaw	Romania		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier
1 September 2017	Telia Parken, Copenhagen	Denmark		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier
4 September 2017	PGE Narodowy, Warsaw	Kazakhstan		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier
5 October 2017	Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan	Armenia		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier
8 October 2017	PGE Narodowy, Warsaw	Montenegro		FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania on 11 November 2016 and friendly match against Slovenia on 14 November 2016.
Caps and goals updated as of 14 November 2016 after the match against Slovenia.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
12	1GK	Artur Boruc	(1980-02-20) 20 February 1980	64	0	Bournemouth
22	1GK	Łukasz Fabiański	(1985-04-18) 18 April 1985	38	0	Swansea City
1	1GK	Wojciech Szczęsny	(1990-04-18) 18 April 1990	28	0	Roma
	1GK	Łukasz Skorupski	(1991-05-05) 5 May 1991	1	0	Empoli
3	2DF	Artur Jędrzejczyk	(1987-11-04) 4 November 1987	28	3	Krasnodar
2	2DF	Michał Pazdan	(1987-09-21) 21 September 1987	24	0	Legia Warsaw
14	2DF	Maciej Sadlok	(1989-06-29) 29 June 1989	15	0	Wisła Kraków
	2DF	Thiago Cionek	(1986-04-21) 21 April 1986	10	0	Palermo
4	2DF	Bartosz Bereszyński	(1992-07-12) 12 July 1992	3	0	Legia Warsaw
21	2DF	Igor Lewczuk	(1985-05-30) 30 May 1985	2	0	Bordeaux
16	3MF	Jakub Błaszczykowski	(1985-12-14) 14 December 1985	89	18	Wolfsburg
6	3MF	Tomasz Jodłowiec	(1985-09-08) 8 September 1985	49	1	Legia Warsaw
11	3MF	Kamil Grosicki	(1988-06-08) 8 June 1988	48	9	Rennes
10	3MF	Grzegorz Krychowiak	(1990-01-29) 29 January 1990	44	2	Paris Saint-Germain
17	3MF	Sławomir Peszko	(1985-02-19) 19 February 1985	42	2	Lechia Gdańsk
5	3MF	Krzysztof Mączyński	(1987-05-23) 23 May 1987	22	1	Wisła Kraków
19	3MF	Piotr Zieliński	(1994-05-20) 20 May 1994	21	3	Napoli
	3MF	Bartosz Kapustka	(1996-12-23) 23 December 1996	14	3	Leicester City
8	3MF	Karol Linetty	(1995-02-02) 2 February 1995	13	1	Sampdoria
18	3MF	Paweł Wszołek	(1992-04-30) 30 April 1992	10	2	Queens Park Rangers
13	3MF	Jacek Góralski	(1992-09-21) 21 September 1992	1	0	Jagiellonia Białystok
	3MF	Damian Dąbrowski	(1992-08-27) 27 August 1992	1	0	Cracovia
7	4FW	Łukasz Teodorczyk	(1991-06-03) 3 June 1991	11	4	Anderlecht
23	4FW	Kamil Wilczek	(1988-01-14) 14 January 1988	2	0	Brøndby

Recent call-ups

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Przemysław Tytoń	(1987-01-04) 4 January 1987	14	0	Deportivo La Coruña	v. UEFA Euro 2016 PRE
DF	Łukasz Piszczek	(1985-06-03) 3 June 1985	53	2	Borussia Dortmund	v.  Romania, 11 November 2016
DF	Kamil Glik (Vice-captain)	(1988-02-03) 3 February 1988	50	3	Monaco	v.  Romania, 11 November 2016
DF	Maciej Rybus	(1989-08-19) 19 August 1989	44	2	Lyon	v.  Romania, 11 November 2016 PRE, INJ
DF	Paweł Dawidowicz	(1995-05-20) 20 May 1995	1	0	Bochum	v.  Romania, 11 November 2016 PRE, INJ
DF	Bartosz Salamon	(1991-05-01) 1 May 1991	9	0	Cagliari	v.  Kazakhstan, 4 September 2016
DF	Jakub Wawrzyniak	(1983-07-07) 7 July 1983	49	1	Lechia Gdańsk	v. UEFA Euro 2016
MF	Filip Starzyński	(1991-05-27) 27 May 1991	4	1	Zagłębie Lubin	v. UEFA Euro 2016
MF	Ariel Borysiuk	(1991-07-29) 29 July 1991	12	0	Queens Park Rangers	v.  Finland, 26 March 2016
FW	Robert Lewandowski (Captain)	(1988-08-21) 21 August 1988	85	42	Bayern Munich	v.  Romania, 11 November 2016
FW	Arkadiusz Milik	(1994-02-28) 28 February 1994	33	11	Napoli	v.  Denmark, 8 October 2016 INJ
FW	Mariusz Stępiński	(1995-05-12) 12 May 1995	3	0	Nantes	v. UEFA Euro 2016
FW	Artur Sobiech	(1990-06-12) 12 June 1990	13	2	Hannover 96	v. UEFA Euro 2016 PRE

• ^INJ Withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
• ^PRE Preliminary squad.
• ^RET Retired from the national team.

Previous squads

Notable players

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

1920s Wawrzyniec Staliński (1922–1928) Józef Nawrot (1928–1935) 1930s Ernest Wilimowski (1934–1939) Leonard Piątek (1936–1939) 1940s Gerard Cieślik (1947–1958) 1950s Edward Szymkowiak (1952–1965) Lucjan Brychczy (1954–1969) Ernest Pol (1955–1965) Eugeniusz Faber (1959–1969) 1960s Stanisław Oślizło (1961–1971) Zygfryd Szołtysik (1963–1972) Włodzimierz Lubański (1963–1980) Andrzej Jarosik (1965–1972) Joachim Marx (1966–1975) Robert Gadocha (1967–1975) Kazimierz Deyna (1968–1978)

1970s Jerzy Gorgoń (1970–1978) Lesław Ćmikiewicz (1970–1979) Antoni Szymanowski (1970–1980) Jan Tomaszewski (1971–1981) Grzegorz Lato (1971–1984) Henryk Kasperczak (1973–1978) Andrzej Szarmach (1973–1982) Władysław Żmuda (1973–1986) Paweł Janas (1976–1984) Zbigniew Boniek (1976–1988) Marek Dziuba (1977–1984) Andrzej Iwan (1978–1987) Roman Wójcicki (1978–1989) 1980s Andrzej Buncol (1980–1986) Waldemar Matysik (1980–1989) Włodzimierz Smolarek (1980–1992) Dariusz Dziekanowski (1981–1990) Ryszard Tarasiewicz (1984–1991) Dariusz Wdowczyk (1984–1992) Jan Furtok (1984–1993) Krzysztof Warzycha (1984–1997) Jan Urban (1985–1991) Józef Wandzik (1985–1995) Marek Leśniak (1986–1994) Roman Kosecki (1988–1995)

1990s Wojciech Kowalczyk (1991–1999) Tomasz Wałdoch (1991–2002) Andrzej Juskowiak (1992–2001) Piotr Świerczewski (1992–2003) Jacek Bąk (1993–2008) Jacek Zieliński (1995–2003) Tomasz Hajto (1996–2005) Radosław Kałużny (1997–2006) Jerzy Dudek (1998–2013) Tomasz Kłos (1998–2006) Maciej Żurawski (1998–2008) Jacek Krzynówek (1998–2009) Paweł Kryszałowicz (1999–2004) Tomasz Frankowski (1999–2006) Michał Żewłakow (1999–2011) 2000s Emmanuel Olisadebe (2000–2004) Kamil Kosowski (2001–2009) Mariusz Lewandowski (2002–2013) Ebi Smolarek (2002–2010) Marcin Wasilewski (2002–2013) Artur Boruc (2004–) Dariusz Dudka (2004–2012) Jakub Błaszczykowski (2006–) Łukasz Piszczek (2007–) Robert Lewandowski (2008–) Kamil Glik (2009–) 2010s Arkadiusz Milik (2012–)

• Bold – Indicates player with at least 50 caps and 10 goals.

Managers

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

Poland national team managers since 1922[6]	from	to
Józef Szkolnikowski	1921-03-12	1922-05-14
Józef Lustgarten	1922-05-14	1922-09-03
Kazimierz Glabisz	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
Henryk Reyman	1947-06-11	1947-08-31
Andrzej Przeworski	1947-09-14	1947-10-26
Zygmunt Alfus	1948-04-04	1948-09-19
Andrzej Przeworski	1948-10-10	1948-10-17
Mieczysław Szymkowiak	1949-05-08	1949-11-06
Mieczysław Szymkowiak	1950-05-01	1950-10-22
Ryszard Koncewicz	1953-05-10	1956-07-22
Alfred Nowakowski	1956-08-26	1956-08-26
Czesław Krug	1956-10-28	1956-11-16
Henryk Reyman	1957-05-19	1958-10-05
Czesław Krug	1959-05-20	1962-11-28
Wiesław Motoczyński	1963-05-15	1965-11-01
Ryszard Koncewicz	1966-01-05	1966-01-05
Antoni Brzeżańczyk	1966-05-03	1966-07-05
Alfred Nowakowski	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	present

See also

• Poland national youth football teams
• Poland women's national football team
• Football in Poland
• History of football in Poland
• Polish Championship in Football
• Polish Cup
• Polish SuperCup
• Sports in Poland

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Poland national football team.

• Official website (Polish) (English)
• 90minut.pl – Polish national team at 90minut.pl (Polish)
• Polish national team news at PolishFootballOnline.com (English)
• Poland – Record International Players; most capped players & top goalscorers at RSSSF.com
• RSSSF – Poland men's national football team international matches (English)
• All matches of Poland national football team (English)