Polish national soccer team / European championships
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| European Championship record scorer: | Jakub Blaszczykowski (3) |
| European Championship record players: | Jakub Blaszczykowski, Robert Lewandowski and Łukasz Piszczek (8 each) |
| Rank: | 17th |
| Organizer: | 2012 (together with Ukraine) |
| Balance sheet | |
|---|---|
| 11 European Championship games 2 wins 6 draws 3 defeats 7: 9 goals |
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| statistics | |
First European Championship game Poland 0-2 Germany Klagenfurt ( AUT ); June 8, 2008  |
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Biggest European Championship victories Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland Nice ( FRA ); June 12, 2016 Poland 1-0 Ukraine Marseille ( FRA ); June 21, 2016   |
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Biggest European Championship defeat Poland 0-2 Germany Klagenfurt ( AUT ); June 8, 2008 |
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| successes | |
| European Championship | |
| Participation in the finals | 3 ( first : 2008 ) |
| Best results | Quarter Finals ( 2016 ) |
| Best results in the countries where the UEFA European Football Championships are held | |
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| (As of November 2019) | |
The article contains a detailed description of the Polish national football team at European championships . The Polish team was only able to qualify three times and also took part once as an automatically qualified co-host. In the all-time list of the best, Poland is the best team with three participations so far in 17th place.
Overview
Poland participated in all European Championship qualifications.
| year | Host country | Participation until ... | Last opponent | Result | Trainer | Comments and special features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | France | not qualified | In the second round of Spain failed, which then refused to play in the quarter-finals to eventual winners USSR. | |||
| 1964 | Spain | not qualified | Failed in the preliminary round to Northern Ireland , which could not qualify for the final round. | |||
| 1968 | Italy | not qualified | Failed in the qualification to France , which could not qualify for the finals either. | |||
| 1972 | Belgium | not qualified | In qualifying at the eventual winners Germany failed. | |||
| 1976 | Yugoslavia | not qualified | In the qualifications of vice world champion Netherlands failed. | |||
| 1980 | Italy | not qualified | In the qualification failed again to vice world champion Netherlands . | |||
| 1984 | France | not qualified | In the qualification of Portugal failed. | |||
| 1988 | Germany | not qualified | In qualifying at the eventual winners the Netherlands failed. | |||
| 1992 | Sweden | not qualified | In the qualification of England failed. | |||
| 1996 | England | not qualified | In the qualification of Romania , France failed. | |||
| 2000 | Netherlands and Belgium | not qualified | In the qualification of Sweden and England failed. | |||
| 2004 | Portugal | not qualified | In the qualification of Sweden and Latvia failed. | |||
| 2008 | Austria and Switzerland | Preliminary round | Croatia , Austria , Germany | - |
 Leo Beenhakker
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Eliminated without a win. |
| 2012 | Poland and Ukraine | Preliminary round | Greece , Russia , Czech Republic | - | Franciszek Smuda | Automatically qualifies as a co-host. Eliminated without a win. |
| 2016 | France | Quarter finals | Portugal | - | Adam Nawałka | With victories against Northern Ireland and the Ukraine as well as a draw against world champions Germany , Poland reached the knockout round for the first time in second place. Out in the quarterfinals with a penalty shoot-out against the eventual European champions. |
| 2021 | Europe | qualified | Qualified ahead of schedule as the third team on October 13, 2019. Opponents in the group stage are Sweden, Spain and a playoff winner. | |||
The tournaments
EM 1960
The Poles also wanted to take part in the first European football championship in 1960, which was still called the “European Cup of Nations”. To do this, they had to play against Spain in the round of 16 . On June 28, 1959, trained by Czesław Krug , they played their first European Championship qualifier in Chorzów . Ernest Pohl put Poland in the lead in the 34th minute. Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis Suárez were able to turn the game around with two goals each. Lucjan Brychczy only managed to improve the result. In the second leg they then lost 3-0. Spain then refused to play in the quarter-finals against the USSR, which reached the finals without a fight and became the nations’s first European Cup winner.
EM 1964
Four years later, more teams than 1960 wanted to participate, so the round of 16 was preceded by a preliminary round . Poland faced Northern Ireland and lost 2-0 2 times. Northern Ireland then failed in the quarter-finals against later European champions Spain.
EM 1968
For the European Football Championship in 1968, group games were scheduled for the first time in qualifying . Poland had to against neighbors Belgium , France and Luxembourg qualify . Poland, now trained by Klaus Masseli , won a European Championship qualifier for the first time on October 2, 1966 against Luxembourg (4-0). But then Antoni Brzezanczyk took over the coaching post for one game (1: 2 against France). Under Michal Matyas , they were the only team to surrender a point to the Luxembourgers in the goalless draw in Luxembourg. Although they won both games against Belgium, the two defeats against France only brought third place behind the Belgians with the same number of points because they scored one more goal. Group winners France then failed in the quarter-finals to Yugoslavia, which finished second in the finals in Italy.
European Championship 1972
For the European Championship finals in 1972, the Poles, who have been trained by Kazimierz Górski since 1971 , could not qualify . In a group with the Federal Republic of Germany , Turkey and Albania they lost the home game against Germany and Turkey, won only the other two home games and only reached a draw in the other two away games. They were eliminated in second place. Group winners Germany reached the finals in Belgium and won the title for the first time. Poland was then able to win the Olympic gold medal under Górski three months after the European Championship finals , whereby the majority of the players had already been used in the European Championship qualification, as they were also eligible to start at the Olympic Games as state amateurs . Then after 36 years the World Cup qualification succeeded again and Poland was one of the big surprises at the 1974 World Cup .
EM 1976
In 1976 the final round was held for the last time with four teams. After the respectable success at the 1974 World Cup, where Poland finished third with impressive offensive football, the team also wanted to qualify for the European Championship finals for the first time. In the group stage of qualification , they met runner-up the Netherlands and Italy, which they had eliminated in the group stage at the World Cup, and Finland . Poland did not lose to Italy this time either, both parted goalless twice and ended up tied with the Dutch. But the Dutch had conceded more goals, but also scored significantly more goals. With that Poland was eliminated in second place, the Dutch reached the finals in Yugoslavia and came third there. Poland reached the final again at the 1976 Olympic Games , but lost it to the GDR. Then Kazimierz Górski resigned and his assistant Jacek Gmoch took over the office of national coach, who however resigned after the end in the second final round of the 1978 World Cup .
EM 1980
In the qualification for the European Championship in Italy, which was held for the first time with eight teams, the Poles, now trained by Ryszard Kulesza , again met runner-up world champions Netherlands as well as the GDR , Switzerland and Iceland . Poland only lost in the GDR, conceded the fewest goals and offered the Dutch a head-to-head race for group victory for a long time, but lost it with a 1-1 in the last game in Amsterdam after a 1-0 lead. The Dutch had one point more, but failed at the European Championship finals in the group stage against eventual European champions Germany.
EM 1984
In qualifying four years later, Poland, which has been coached by Antoni Piechniczek since the end of 1980 , met Portugal , the Soviet Union and Finland after again third place at the 1982 World Cup . Poland won only the first game in Finland, reached two more draws against Finland and the USSR, but lost three games and was only beaten third. Portugal drove to the European Championship finals for the first time, where the team failed in the semi-finals to hosts France. Piechniczek remained in office and led Poland to the 1986 World Cup , but resigned after the round of 16 against Brazil .
EM 1988
For the European Championship in Germany, Poland wanted now by Wojciech Lazarek trained against the Netherlands , Hungary , Greece and Cyprus qualify . Poland was the only team to surrender a point against Cyprus and in the end, like the Hungarians, had an even point account. But this was only enough for fourth place. The Dutch, who had not qualified for the World Cup two years earlier , prevailed undefeated with six wins and two draws and won the European Championship for the first time. Łazarek initially stayed in office, after qualifying for the 1990 World Cup was not positive either, he was replaced in the current qualification by Andrzej Strejlau .
EM 1992
In qualifying for the European Championships in 1992 , Poland met England , Ireland and Turkey . Poland lost only their first game in England, but could only win both games against Turkey, which also lost all other games. Since the English did not lose a game, in the end they had one point more than Ireland and two more than Poland and went to the European Championship finals, where they were eliminated in the preliminary round. Strejlau stayed in office for the time being, but after his unsuccessful qualification for the 1994 World Cup , his term of office ended.
EM 1996
For Euro 1996, which was first staged with 16 teams, the Poles had against Romania , France and Israel as well as Slovakia and Azerbaijan , who participated for the first time, qualify . Poland went into the qualification with Henryk Apostel as national coach, won only the home games against Azerbaijan, Israel and Slovakia, played four draws and lost three games. As fourth they had nothing to do with the decision to win the group. Romania were group winners, France also reached the finals as sixth-best runner-up in the group, where they both met again in the group stage. Apostle's tenure ended.
EM 2000
For the EM 2000 Poland, which was now trained by Janusz Wójcik , had to qualify against Sweden , England, Bulgaria and Luxembourg . Poland only won against Bulgaria and Luxembourg, but were tied with England in the end, but had lost both the direct comparison and the worse goal difference. So they were eliminated as third party. Sweden as group winners and England through the playoff games of the group runners-up against Scotland went to the European Championship, but both failed there in the group stage. Wójcik's tenure ended, his successor Jerzy Engel then led Poland to the 2002 World Cup , after the preliminary round at the World Cup, Engel was replaced by Zbigniew Boniek , who resigned as coach after only five games.
EM 2004
In qualifying for the European Championship in Portugal, the Poles, now trained by Paweł Janas , met Sweden, Latvia , Hungary and San Marino again . Poland could only win the game against San Marino of the home games, which lost all eight games. Although away wins in Latvia, San Marino and Hungary, that was only enough for third place. Sweden qualified directly as group winners, Latvia surprisingly via the playoffs against Turkey . In the finals, however, neither played a major role. Janas stayed in office, got a new chance and was able to qualify with Poland for the World Cup in neighboring Germany , but after being eliminated in the preliminary round, he was replaced by Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker .
EM 2008
Poland then qualified for the first time for the 2008 European Championship. In a group with Belgium , Portugal , Serbia , which participated alone for the first time, Finland , Kazakhstan , Armenia and Azerbaijan , the first place was taken one point ahead of the Portuguese. The qualification was not a sure-fire success: In the first game they lost 3-1 at home to Finland, after a 1-1 draw against Serbia six wins followed, but then they lost 1-0 in Armenia. Two more draws in Portugal and Finland then put the qualification at risk. But since the competition also took points from each other, it was enough in the end. On November 17, 2007, the first European Championship participation was confirmed. The Portuguese as second in the group had to wait four days longer until their participation was certain. Leo Beenhakker was then awarded the order of “Poland's Rebirth” by the Polish President Lech Kaczyński .
At the final round, Poland was drawn into a group with co-hosts Austria , third place in the World Cup and record European champions Germany and Croatia . In the opening game they lost 2-0 to Germany with two goals from Polish-born Lukas Podolski . In the game against superior Austrians they kept the goal clean for 30 minutes, then Roger Guerreiro , who was only naturalized on April 17, 2008, scored the first European Championship goal for Poland and thus the 1-0. This lasted until added time, then Mariusz Lewandowski fouled the Austrian Sebastian Prödl in the penalty area and the referee gave a penalty. Ivica Vastić transformed this in the third minute of stoppage time and is the oldest goalscorer in a European Championship game. In the last game against the Croatians who had already qualified for the quarter-finals, who spared some regular players, they lost 1-0. Poland was eliminated as the bottom of the group. Croatia failed in a dramatic quarter-final on penalties against Turkey, Germany reached the final for the sixth time, but lost to Spain. Beenhakker initially stayed in office, after the 3-0 defeat against Slovenia on September 9, 2009 in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup , with which the team lost their last chance, the Polish Football Association separated from Beenhakker.
EM 2012
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Poland and Ukraine applied for the 2012 European Championship and were awarded the contract on April 18, 2007. Competitors in the application were Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy, Romania, Russia and Turkey as well as Croatia and Hungary, also with a joint application. Although Poland and Ukraine only got the third most votes in the preliminary round, they prevailed in the end against Italy as well as Croatia and Hungary. Poland did not have to qualify again, for Ukraine this meant the first participation at all. Poland, which has been coached by Franciszek Smuda since failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, played 33 friendly matches up to the European Championship finals. Of these, 14 were won, including a 2-1 win against Argentina, 11 ended in a draw and eight were lost.
When the final groups were drawn, Poland and Ukraine as well as the two World Cup finalists Spain and the Netherlands were set as group heads and Poland was assigned to the group that was to play the opening game in Warsaw. Poland's ex-European champions Greece , Russia and the Czech Republic , the successors of two other ex-European champions, were drawn. In the opening game against the Greeks, Robert Lewandowski gave Poland the lead in the 17th minute with the first goal of the tournament. In the 51st minute, the Greeks were able to equalize and had the chance to take the lead in the 70th minute: After an emergency brake from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in the penalty area, he received the red card and the Greeks were awarded a penalty . Substitute goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń was able to hold onto this. In the rest of the season, both teams failed to score another goal and so they parted 1-1. Tytoń was then also in the two following games in goal although Szczęsny was only suspended for one game. In the second game against Russia, the Poles were able to level a deficit, but this game also ended 1-1. Before the last game against the Czech Republic, there was still a chance of reaching the quarter-finals if they won against their neighbors. In a hard-fought game with eight yellow cards , Poland lost 1-0 and were eliminated from the bottom of the group, as Greece also beat Russia 1-0. Smuda's term of office ended with the end of the European Championship, followed by Waldemar Fornalik , who, however, missed the 2014 World Cup and was then dismissed. Greeks and Czechs failed in the quarterfinals.
EM 2016
For the first time, 24 teams will take part in the European Championship. For the draw of the qualifying groups , which took place on February 23, 2014, the Poles were placed in Pot 3. The Poles were drawn in Group D with world champions Germany. From the other pots the following were drawn: Ireland , Scotland , Georgia and Gibraltar, which was taking part for the first time .
The first two in the group qualify directly for the European Championship finals. If the third-placed team is the best third in the group, it is also directly qualified. The remaining third in the group play four other participants in the playoffs.
The Poles, now trained by Adam Nawałka , started 7-0 in Gibraltar and then won their first game against Germany 2-0. A 2-2 home game against Scotland was followed by a 4-0 win in Georgia and a 1-1 draw in Ireland. After half of the games, the Poles were in first place with the most goals and the fewest goals conceded, but were only one point ahead of Germany and Scotland. After a defeat in the second leg in Germany, Poland fell back to second place, but had at least reached the playoffs of the group third after an 8-1 against Gibraltar. After a 2-2 draw in Scotland and a 2-1 win against Ireland in the last game, the Poles qualified for the finals as runners-up and scored the most goals (33) of all 53 teams, of which Robert Lewandowski alone was able to score thirteen, who with it the set eight-year-old qualifying record for Northern Irishman David Healy .
The Northern Irish were then the first group opponent at the finals in France and with a 1-0 the Poles were able to win a European Championship game for the first time. In the second game they separated from qualifying opponents Germany goalless and then won against Ukraine 1-0, so that they reached the knockout round of an EM for the first time as second in the group, where they met Switzerland in the round of 16, who in in her group was also second. The Poles took the lead in the 39th minute after a counterattack, but were largely pushed back into their own half in the second half and had to accept the equalizer in the 82nd minute and then saved themselves first in overtime and in it first penalty shootout in a major tournament. In this all five Polish shooters met, while a Swiss missed the goal by far. This was the first time they were in a quarter-finals at a major tournament and met Portugal. After an early lead in the second minute through Lewandowski's first tournament goal, they were never able to dominate the game and had to accept the equalizer 30 minutes later. After that there were no more chances to score and after 120 minutes there was another penalty shoot-out in which Błaszczykowski was the only shooter to fail against the opposing goalkeeper. Portugal later won the title for the first time.
EM 2021
For the pan-European EM, Poland initially applied to host games with the Narodowy Stadium, which was built for the EM in 2012 , but then withdrew the application, so that no EM games will take place in Poland in 2021. In the qualification, Poland met Austria, Israel, Slovenia , North Macedonia and Latvia. The Poles won six of their first eight games, left Austria goalless and only lost in Slovenia. Since the other teams also took points away from each other, the early qualification succeeded on matchday eight.
At the draw on November 30, 2019, the Poles were drawn to the group with Spain. Other opponents are Sweden and a team that can still qualify via the playoffs in March 2020.
Player with the most appearances in European championships
| Games | player | Year (games) |
|---|---|---|
| 8th | Jakub Błaszczykowski | 2008 (0), 2012 (3), 2016 (5) |
| Robert Lewandowski | 2012 (3), 2016 (5) | |
| Łukasz Piszczek | 2008 (1), 2012 (3), 2016 (4) | |
| 6th | Kamil Grosicki | 2012 (1), 2016 (5) |
| Marcin Wasilewski | 2008 (3), 2012 (3) | |
| 5 | Dariusz Dudka | 2008 (3), 2012 (2) |
| Kamil Glik | 2016 (5) | |
| Artur Jędrzejczyk | 2016 (5) | |
| Tomasz Jodłowiec | 2016 (5) | |
| Grzegorz Krychowiak | 2016 (5) | |
| Arkadiusz Milik | 2016 (5) | |
| Rafał Murawski | 2008 (2), 2012 (3) | |
| Michał Pazdan | 2016 (5) |
Player with the most goals at European championships
| Gates | player | Year (goals) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Jakub Blaszczykowski | 2012 (1), 2016 (2) |
| 2 | Robert Lewandowski | 2012 (1), 2016 (1) |
| 1 | Roger Guerreiro | 2008 (1) |
| Arkadiusz Milik | 2016 (1) |
As of June 30, 2016
Players banned from European championships
- In 2008 Mariusz Lewandowski received the second yellow card in the last group game , as Poland was eliminated it had no effect.
- 2012 goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny received the red card in the opening game because of an emergency brake and was banned for the second group game, but was not used in the last group game. In this Eugen Polanski received the second yellow card , since Poland was eliminated, it had no effect.
- In 2016, Bartosz Kapustka received the second yellow card in the last group game and was suspended for the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, Artur Jędrzejczyk also received the second yellow card, but this had no effect since Poland was eliminated.
Share of players playing abroad in the EM squad
Legionnaires always made up the main contingent in the three EM squads.
| Year (games) | Number (countries) | Players (stakes) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 (3) | 13 (1 in Belgium, 2 in Germany, 2 in England, 2 in Greece, 1 in Austria, 1 in Romania, 1 in Russia, 1 in Scotland, 1 in Spain, 1 in Ukraine) | Marcin Wasilewski (3); Jacek Krzynówek (3), Łukasz Piszczek (1); Łukasz Fabiański (0) Marek Saganowski (3); Michał Żewłakow (3), Maciej Żurawski (1); Jacek Bąk (2); Paweł Golański (2); Mariusz Jop (1); Artur Boruc (3); Euzebiusz Smolarek (3); Mariusz Lewandowski (3) |
| 2012 (3) | 17 (1 in Belgium, 7 in Germany, 1 in England, 3 in France, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 1 in Scotland, 2 in Turkey) | Marcin Wasilewski (3); Jakub Blaszczykowski (3), Sebastian Boenisch (3), Robert Lewandowski (3), Adam Matuschyk (1), Łukasz Piszczek (3), Eugen Polanski (3), Artur Sobiech (0); Wojciech Szczęsny (1); Dariusz Dudka (2), Ludovic Obraniak (3), Damien Perquis (3); Przemyslaw Tytoń (3); Maciej Rybus (1); Paweł Brożek (2); Kamil Grosicki (1), Adrian Mierzejewski (2) |
| 2016 (5) | 13 (2 in Germany, 1 in England, 1 in France, 6 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 Spain, 1 in Wales 1 ) | Robert Lewandowski (5), Łukasz Piszczek (5); Artur Boruc ; Kamil Grosicki (5); Jakub Blaszczykowski (5), Thiago Cionek (1), Kamil Glik (5), Bartosz Salamon , Wojciech Szczęsny (1), Piotr Zieliński (1); Arkadiusz Milik (5); Grzegorz Krychowiak (5); Łukasz Fabiański (4)
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As of June 30, 2016
particularities
- Oldest goalscorer: Ivica Vastić (Austria), born on September 29, 1969, in the match between Austria and Poland at the 2008 European Championships at the age of 38 and 257 days
Games
Venues (green = positive balance, yellow = balanced balance, red = negative balance, number in brackets = number of games, if> 1) |
The Poles have played eleven European Championship games so far, only two of which have been won, six have ended in a draw and three have been lost. Two games had to be extended, one of which was won and lost on penalties. The Poles played once as hosts in the opening game of the European Championship, played once against the hosts and had three home games. They never played against the defending champion, but once against the eventual European champion, three times against ex-European champions and twice against the successors of ex-European champions.
None of the previous games meant the biggest defeat against these countries, but the defeat against Germany was never higher (three friendlies also ended 0: 2, one 1: 3 as well as a European Championship qualifier).
| All EM games | |||||||||
| No. | date | Result | opponent | venue | occasion | Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 8, 2008 | 0: 2 (0: 1) |
Germany
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* | Klagenfurt ( AUT ) | Group game | |||
| 2 | June 12, 2008 | 1: 1 (1: 0) |
 Austria
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A. | Vienna ( AUT ) | Group game | |||
| 3 | June 16, 2008 | 0: 1 (0: 0) |
 Croatia
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* | Klagenfurt ( AUT ) | Group game | |||
| 4th | June 8, 2012 | 1: 1 (1: 0) |
 Greece
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H | Warsaw | Opening game | |||
| 5 | June 12, 2012 | 1: 1 (0: 1) |
 Russia
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H | Warsaw | Group game | |||
| 6th | June 16, 2012 | 0: 1 (0: 0) |
 Czech Republic
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H | Wroclaw | Group game | Poland are eliminated as the bottom of the group, last game under Franciszek Smuda | ||
| 7th | June 12, 2016 | 1: 0 (0: 0) |
Northern Ireland
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* | Nice ( FRA ) | Preliminary round | First European Championship game by opponents Northern Ireland | ||
| 8th | June 16, 2016 | 0-0 |
Germany
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* | Saint-Denis ( FRA ) | Preliminary round | |||
| 9 | June 21, 2016 | 1: 0 (0: 0) |
Ukraine
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* | Marseille ( FRA ) | Preliminary round | |||
| 10 | June 25, 2016 | 1: 1 n.V .; 5: 4 i. E. |
 Switzerland
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* | Saint-Etienne ( FRA ) | Round of 16 | |||
| 11 | June 30, 2016 | 1: 1 n.V .; 3: 5 i. E. |
 Portugal
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* | Marseille ( FRA ) | Quarter finals | |||
| June 14, 2021 | Playoff winner way B | A / * | Dublin ( IRL ) | Group game | |||||
| June 19, 2021 |
 Spain
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A. | Bilbao ( ESP ) | Group game | |||||
| June 23, 2021 |
 Sweden
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* | Dublin ( IRL ) | Group game | |||||
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Poland 2-4 Spain
- ↑ Netherlands 1-1 Poland
- ↑ uefa.com: "Last minute draw for Austria"
- ↑ Draw for the EURO qualification: Pot 1 in focus. UEFA , February 20, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 .
- ↑ uefa.com: "Lewandowski leads Poland to France"
- ↑ uefa.com: Poland and Russia are through, the DFB team is struggling
