Polish national football team

This article deals with the men's team. For the women's team, see Polish women's national football team .

Poland
Polska

Nickname (s)	Biało-Czerwoni ( the white and red )
Association	PZPN
confederacy	UEFA
Technical sponsor	Nike
Head coach	Jerzy Brzęczek (since 2018)
captain	Robert Lewandowski
Record scorer	Robert Lewandowski (61)
Record player	Robert Lewandowski (112)
Home stadium	PGE Narodowy
FIFA code	POLE
FIFA rank	19. (1559 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey
Balance sheet
837 games 366 wins 205 draws 266 defeats
statistics
First international game Hungary 1-0 Poland ( Budapest , Hungary ; December 18, 1921 )
Biggest win Poland 10-0 San Marino ( Kielce , Poland ; April 1, 2009 )
Biggest defeat Denmark 8-0 Poland ( Copenhagen , Denmark ; June 26, 1948 )
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	8 ( first : 1938 )
Best results	Third place in 1974 , 1982
European Championship
Participation in the finals	4 ( first : 2008 )
Best results	Quarterfinals 2016
Olympic games gold 1972 silver 1976 silver 1992
(As of November 19, 2019)

The Polish national football team is the football team of the Central European country Poland and officially represents the Polish Football Association . Her greatest successes to date include her Olympic gold medal in 1972 and two third placements at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups .

history

The Polish National Football Team (1921)

Poland 5-6 Brazil (1938)

The Polish Football Association (Polish Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej , PZPN for short) was founded in 1919. The association joined FIFA in 1923 and has officially played international matches ever since.

During the German occupation in World War II, the Poles were forbidden to play football, the football association was declared dissolved by the occupation authorities. A total of nine former Polish national players were murdered by the occupiers: Marian Einbacher , Stefan Fryc , Józef Klotz , Adam Knioła , Zygmunt Krumholc , Aleksander Łyko , Leon Sperling , Bronisław Makowski , Zygmunt Steuermann . The national players Adam Kogut and Marian Spoida were shot as Polish officers in the Katyn massacre by the Soviet secret service NKVD .

Poland has participated in soccer world championships seven times so far , the most successful period of Polish soccer being in the 1970s. In 1972 it achieved its greatest success to date when the team at that time became Olympic football champions at the summer games in Munich . Two years later, the team reached third place at the Soccer World Cup in Germany , a result that they repeated in Spain in 1982 . Two more Olympic silver medals were added in Montreal in 1976 and in Barcelona in 1992 .

In contrast, the qualifications for the European soccer championships were not very successful for a long time. Even during the golden era of the 1970s, no Polish selection could qualify. Only the qualifying round for the European Football Championship in 2008 brought the first qualification. At the 2012 tournament , the team automatically qualified as hosts alongside Ukraine . The Poles were also able to successfully complete the qualifying rounds for the European Football Championship in 2016 and 2021 .

The 13 players who were in the squad for the very first international match against Hungary on December 18, 1921:

player	society	Games	Gates
Jan Loth	Polonia Warsaw	5	0
Defense
Ludwik Gintel	Cracovia Krakow	12	0
Artur Marczewski	Polonia Warsaw	1	0
midfield
Stanislaw Cikowski	Cracovia Krakow	9	0
Stefan Loth	Polonia Warsaw	1	0
Zdzisław Styczeń	Cracovia Krakow	5	0
Tadeusz Synowiec	Cracovia Krakow	8th	0
attack
Mieczysław Batsch	Pogoń Lwów	12	9
Marian Einbacher	Warta poses	1	0
Józef Kałuża	Cracovia Krakow	16	7th
Waclaw Kuchar	Pogoń Lwów	23	5
Stanislaw Mielech	Cracovia Krakow	2	0
Leon Sperling	Cracovia Krakow	16	2

Participation of Poland in the football world championship

1930 in Uruguay	not participated
1934 in Italy	withdrawn during qualification
1938 in France	Round of 16
1950 in Brazil	not participated
1954 in Switzerland	withdrawn
1958 in Sweden	not qualified
1962 in Chile	not qualified
1966 in England	not qualified
1970 in Mexico	not qualified
1974 in Germany	3rd place
1978 in Argentina	Intermediate round
1982 in Spain	3rd place
1986 in Mexico	Round of 16
1990 in Italy	not qualified
1994 in the USA	not qualified
1998 in France	not qualified
2002 in South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round
2006 in Germany	Preliminary round
2010 in South Africa	not qualified
2014 in Brazil	not qualified
2018 in Russia	Preliminary round

Football World Cup 1938 in France

The Polish team failed in the first round 5-6 after extra time to Brazil . The game is considered one of the best and most dramatic in tournament history. Ernst Willimowski was the first player in the history of the World Cup to score four goals in this game.

Football World Cup 1974 in Germany

Poland celebrates victory against Brazil

Poland qualified for the tournament with a game against 1966 world champions England . A national hero who is still celebrated in Poland today is Wembley's goalscorer at the time , Jan Domarski . The draw, however, brought no less high-profile opponents: Italy's 1970 vice world champion , Argentina , the secret favorite, and Haiti, the outsider . The Poles' first game immediately ensured that the Polish team became one of the most popular teams in the tournament with their powerful offensive football. Argentina were defeated 3-2. After an undisputed 7-0 win over Haiti, they threw the big favorites Italy 2-1 out of the tournament. In the second final round, which was held in groups for the first time, the Poles faced hosts Germany , Sweden and Yugoslavia . After two narrow wins with 1-0 over Sweden and 2-1 over Yugoslavia, there was a real semi-final against the German team, which had also been victorious so far. In the legendary Frankfurt water battle, the technically better team lost 1-0 to Germany. It failed after 90 minutes of running towards the German goal, mainly because of Sepp Maier . It didn't help that Poland had an equal goalkeeper. Jan Tomaszewski saved a penalty from Uli Hoeneß in the 53rd minute .

Poland won 1-0 in the match for third place against defending champions Brazil with a goal from Grzegorz Lato , who was also the tournament's top scorer with seven goals.

See also : Football World Cup 1974 / Poland  and Statistics

Football World Cup 1978 in Argentina

After the successes of the last World Cup and the last two Olympic Games, the pressure to succeed from home was enormous for the Polish team. An increase in third place from 1974 was expected. However, this was much more difficult in Argentina. In addition, the golden team had grown a few years older. In the opening game against world champions Germany they were the better team, but they couldn't get past 0-0. With victories over Tunisia and Mexico you reached the second round as group winners. However, they lost against Brazil and Argentina with a lot of bad luck. Only Peru could be defeated 1-0.

See also : Football World Cup 1978 / Poland  and Statistics

Football World Cup 1982 in Spain

In 1982 Poland was in a serious political crisis. In December 1981 the state of war was declared by General Wojciech Jaruzelski and there were no great hopes in the homeland when the team set out for Spain . The first group games then also corresponded to the state of mind of the entire nation. A 0-0 win against Italy still seemed like a success, but the 0-0 win against World Cup newcomers Cameroon was a disappointment. A brilliant 5-1 win against Peru ultimately made them group winners. This victory seemed like a break in the air, and in the second round the team turned to their new star Zbigniew Boniek . Belgium was beaten 3-0 by Boniek almost single-handedly, and against the archenemy Soviet Union it was 0-0 to reach the semi-finals. Here you met again on Italy, which, like Poland, had woken up in the meantime and after victories over Brazil and Argentina no longer saw Poland as a hurdle. So the semi-finals were lost 2-0. In the game for third place Poland defeated France, which with Michel Platini was at the beginning of a great era, 3-2. Platini and Boniek later became club-mates at Juventus Turin .

See also : Football World Cup 1982 / Poland  and Statistics

Soccer World Cup 1986 in Mexico

In 1986 people in Poland were convinced that Boniek, one of the European superstars, was a far more powerful group than in 1982. The disillusionment came in the first group game against Morocco . More than a 0-0 did not jump out. A new mode, which also allowed third-placed players to advance to the next round, made the decision in the second game. A 1-0 win over Portugal was a preliminary decision for qualifying for the round of 16. The 3-0 defeat against England was no longer significant. However, the trip was already over in the round of 16 with a clear 4-0 defeat against top favorites Brazil. It took 16 years before a Polish national team was able to qualify for a World Cup.

See also : Soccer World Cup 1986 / Poland  and Statistics

Soccer World Cup 2002 in South Korea and Japan

After a sovereign qualification, the euphoria among the Polish fans was huge, but the first problems arose in the run-up to the World Cup when the team was having discussions about advertising money and bonuses. An extra-sports scandal was the appearance of the Polish pop star Edyta Górniak . Before the first game she sang the Polish national anthem in a peculiar pop style, which sparked great discussions in Poland. The game against co-hosts South Korea was lost with a bang 0: 2 (0: 1). After the clear 0: 4 (0: 1) defeat against Portugal, Poland was eliminated early. The 3-1 (2-0) victory over the USA was well deserved and could even have been higher, but only had statistical value. In the final table of group D, Poland finished fourth and last with 3 points and 3: 7 goals from 3 games.

See also : Football World Cup 2002 / Poland  and Statistics

Football World Cup 2006 in Germany

Poland qualified for the World Cup as one of the two best runners-up of the eight European qualifying groups. Only two of the ten group games were lost, both against eventual group winners England . This raised high hopes among Polish football fans that they would finally get back to great times after the disappointment at the last World Cup. However, the surprising opening defeat against Ecuador destroyed all hopes for a successful World Cup. An almost completely different team had traveled to Germany compared to the players in the qualifying round. The game against Ecuador was lost with 0: 2 (0: 1) after Poland was not always saddled on the defensive and sometimes acted helplessly and without ideas on the offensive and in the end with two crossbars there was also bad luck. The second game against hosts Germany was lost 0: 1 (0: 0). Poland managed to keep the 0-0 through to stoppage time thanks to their goalkeeper Artur Boruc , but after Sobolewski saw the second yellow card after a tactical foul at the beginning of the final phase and was therefore sent off the field, the pressure on the Polish took off Massive gate. After Klose and Ballack only hit the crossbar in the 90th minute, it was Neuville who scored the goal in the 90th +1 minute, which meant the end of the World Cup for Poland with Ecuador's victory the following day.

In the third game against Costa Rica , which was also eliminated at the time , Poland tried to make amends for the premature end of the World Cup, but the game of the Polish team was strongly reminiscent of the two previous games. In the end, the Polish team was able to win a rather weak game through goals from Bartosz Bosacki with 2: 1 (1: 1) and was eliminated in Group A as third (3 games, 1 win and 2 defeats, 2: 4 goals (- 2), 3 points) ahead of Costa Rica with three points behind the qualifying second place for the round of 16.

See also : Football World Cup 2006 / Poland  and Statistics

Football World Cup 2018 in Russia

Poland qualified for a World Cup final for the first time in 12 years. In qualifying , they won the group with just one defeat before Denmark . In Russia, Poland met in Group H on Colombia , Japan and Senegal . After the draw, Poland and Robert Lewandowski were next to Colombia as favorites to qualify for the round of 16. Poland lost to Senegal 1: 2 (0: 1) in the first game. After another defeat against Colombia on the second match day, Poland was eliminated before the last match day. The last game against Japan was won 1-0 (0-0) by a goal from Jan Bednarek , but Poland finished the group stage as bottom group.

See also : Football World Cup 2018 / Poland  and Statistics

Participation of Poland in the European Football Championship

Poland took part in the finals of the European Championship three times.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1960	France	not qualified			Jean Prouff	Poland failed in the second round of qualification to Spain .
1964	Spain	not qualified			Czesław jug	Poland failed in the preliminary round of qualification to Northern Ireland
1968	Italy	not qualified			Michał Matyas	In the qualification , Poland met France , Belgium and Luxembourg and as third in the group did not qualify for the European Championship.
1972	Belgium	not qualified			Ryszard Koncewicz / Kazimierz Górski	In the qualification , Poland met the eventual European champions Germany , Turkey and Albania and did not qualify for the European championship as second in the group.
1976	Yugoslavia	not qualified			Kazimierz Górski	In the qualification , Poland met the Netherlands , Italy and Finland and did not qualify for the European Championship as second in the group.
1980	Italy	not qualified			Ryszard Kulesza / Jacek Gmoch	In the qualification , Poland met the Netherlands , the GDR , Switzerland and Iceland and did not qualify for the European Championship as second in the group.
1984	France	not qualified			Antoni Piechniczek	In the qualification , Poland met Portugal , the Soviet Union and Finland and did not qualify as third in the group for the European Championship.
1988	Germany	not qualified			Wojciech Łazarek	In the qualification , Poland met the eventual European champions Netherlands , Hungary , Greece and Cyprus and did not qualify for the European championship as fourth in the group.
1992	Sweden	not qualified			Andrzej Strejlau	In the qualification , Poland met England , Ireland and Turkey and did not qualify as third in the group for the European Championship.
1996	England	not qualified			Henryk Apostle	In the qualification , Poland met France , Romania , Slovakia , Israel and Azerbaijan and did not qualify for the European Championship as fourth in the group.
2000	Belgium and the Netherlands	not qualified			Janusz Wójcik	In the qualification , Poland met England , Sweden , Bulgaria and Luxembourg and did not qualify as third in the group for the European Championship.
2004	Portugal	not qualified			Paweł Janas	In the qualification , Poland met Sweden , Hungary , Latvia and San Marino and did not qualify as third in the group for the European Championship.
2008	Austria and Switzerland	Preliminary round	Croatia	0: 1 (0: 0)	Leo Beenhakker	In the qualification , Poland met Portugal , Serbia , Finland , Belgium , Kazakhstan , Armenia and Azerbaijan and qualified as group winners.
2012	Poland and Ukraine	Preliminary round	Czech Republic	0: 1 (0: 0)	Franciszek Smuda	Poland was automatically qualified as co-host.
2016	France	Quarter finals	Portugal	1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1), 3: 5 i. E.	Adam Nawałka	In the qualification , Poland met world champions Germany , Ireland , Georgia , Scotland and Gibraltar and qualified as second in the group. Robert Lewandowski was the top scorer in qualifying with 13 goals and set the record set by Northern Irishman David Healy in 2008.
2021	Europe	qualified

1960 European Football Championship in France

For the first time Poland took part in a European championship in 1960 . In the first two games in the round of 16 they lost to Spain and therefore could not qualify for the finals in France. However, it is not entirely clear whether the games up to and including the four-finals were considered qualifications.

European Football Championship 2008 in Austria and Switzerland

Poland qualified for a European Championship for the first time ever. In the only group with eight teams - in all other groups only seven were represented - Poland was group winner before the reigning World Cup fourth and vice European champion Portugal. Poland traveled with the slogan … bo liczy się sport i dobra zabawa! to the EM. Translated, the slogan means ... because sport and real fun count! . During the preliminary round in Group B Poland played against third place in the World Cup, Germany , co-hosts Austria and Croatia . After a 2-0 defeat against the German team, for which Lukas Podolski scored both goals, they scored 1-1 against Austria with a goal from Roger Guerreiro . The Austrian equalizer had to accept the team through a penalty in stoppage time, which Ivica Vastić converted. After the 0: 1 defeat in the last game against the Croatians, who were already group winners and competed with a B-Eleven, Poland finished the group stage in fourth and last place and thus eliminated.

European Football Championship 2012 in Poland and Ukraine

PGE Narodowy (home stadium)

As a co-host, Poland did not have to qualify for the Euro 2012. In the preliminary round, the Poles met Greece in the opening game , then Russia and the Czech Republic . Although succeeded Robert Lewandowski 's first goal of the European Championship in the opening game, but after this game like the second against Russia 1: ends 1 and Poland the third game against the Czech Republic lost 0: 1, the team eliminated already in the group stage.

European Football Championship 2016 in France

The qualifying ended Poland behind Germany as second in the group ahead of Ireland , Scotland , Georgia and the first time participating Gibraltar . Poland qualified again for the final round. In the group stage of the tournament, the Polish national team beat Ukraine and Northern Ireland 1-0 each. Against the DFB-Elf there was a draw (0-0). Poland reached the second round of the last sixteen, where Switzerland was defeated on penalties, tied with Germany due to the goal difference . Granit Xhaka was the only shooter not to score , but instead shot his penalty to the left of the goal. Poland were eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals after another penalty shoot-out against eventual European champions Portugal . Jakub Błaszczykowski failed with the fourth penalty on Rui Patrício .

European football championship 2021

On October 13, 2019, Poland secured qualification for the 2021 European Football Championship with a 2-0 home win against North Macedonia .

Success at the Summer Olympics

1908 in London	did not participate, the association was only founded in 1919
1912 in Stockholm	did not participate, the association was only founded in 1919
1920 in Antwerp	did not take part, the association was only admitted to FIFA in 1923
1924 in Paris	qualification
1928 in Amsterdam	not participated
1936 in Berlin	4th Place
1948 in London	not started, withdrawn from the Polish Association
1952 in Helsinki	Round of 16
1956 in Melbourne	not participated
1960 in Rome	Preliminary round
1964 in Tokyo	not qualified
1968 in Mexico City	not qualified
1972 in Munich	Olympic champion
1976 in Montreal	Second
1980 in Moscow	not qualified
1984 in Los Angeles	boycott
1988 in Seoul	not qualified
1992 in Barcelona	Second

1972 Summer Olympics in Munich

The 1972 Olympic Football Tournament took place from August 26th to September 10th. The draw for the preliminary round showed that the Polish team had to compete against one of the favorites in the preliminary round. The first opponents Colombia and Ghana were easily defeated 5: 1 and 4: 0. The decisive game for the entry into the second group phase followed on the last matchday against the GDR . Poland won 2-1 with two goals from central defender Jerzy Gorgoń when Joachim Streich conceded . The second final round then brought a disappointment in the first game. Poland did not get beyond a 1-1 draw against Denmark , but then defeated the big favorites Soviet Union 2-1 in the second game . In the last game Poland won 5-0 against Morocco and advanced to the final. In the final, Poland defeated the Hungarian team 2-1. Shortly before half-time, the Hungarians took a 1-0 lead through Varadi. Kazimierz Deyna brought the turnaround in the 47th minute with the equalizer and scored the winning goal in the 68th minute. The 1972 Olympic victory in Munich was the first major success in the history of Polish football.

1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal

The legendary coach Kazimierz Górski sat in the Polish dugout for the last time at this tournament. As Olympic champion in 1972 and third in the World Cup in 1974, the Polish team was the top favorite to win the gold medal again. So it was of course no surprise that the team played through to the final again. But this time the GDR team of coach Georg Buschner was the stronger. The Polish team appeared again with a great playing culture, but the strikers had lost the penetration power of recent years and the GDR won 3-1. Winning the silver medal is one of the great historical successes of Polish football.

1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona

The first Olympic Games after the political change in Europe brought an unexpected surprise for Polish football fans. Now the state amateurs were no longer competing , but a junior team that gave hope for the future. The later national coach Janusz Wójcik had young talented players available who eliminated much stronger opponents such as Italy and Australia in the first rounds . The star of this team was the young center forward Andrzej Juskowiak , who became the tournament's top scorer and shot the team into the final. They then lost 3-2 in a dramatic final against hosts Spain . Still, winning the silver medal is the greatest achievement since the legendary victories of the 1970s.

International matches in the last 24 months

→ Main article : List of international matches for the Polish national football team

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Type of game	Goal scorers for Poland
0June 8, 2018	Poses ( )	Chile	2: 2 (2: 1)	Friendly match	Lewandowski (30th), Zieliński (34th)
June 12, 2018	Warsaw ( )	Lithuania	4: 0 (2: 0)	Friendly match	Lewandowski (19., 33.), Kownacki (71.), Błaszczykowski (82.)
19th June 2018	Moscow ( )	Senegal	1: 2 (0: 1)	World Cup 2018	Krychowiak (86.)
June 24, 2018	Kazan ( )	Colombia	0: 3 (0: 1)	World Cup 2018
June 28, 2018	Volgograd ( )	Japan	1: 0 (0: 0)	World Cup 2018	Bednarek (59.)
0Sep 7 2018	Bologna ( )	Italy	1: 1 (1: 0)	UEFA Nations League	Zieliński (40th)
Sep 11 2018	Wroclaw ( )	Ireland	1: 1 (0: 0)	Friendly match	Klich (87.)
Oct 11, 2018	Chorzów ( )	Portugal	2: 3 (1: 2)	UEFA Nations League	Piątek (18th), Błaszczykowski (77th)
Oct 14, 2018	Chorzów ( )	Italy	0: 1 (0: 0)	UEFA Nations League
Nov 15, 2018	Gdansk ( )	Czech Republic	0: 1 (0: 0)	Friendly match
Nov 20, 2018	Guimarães ( )	Portugal	1: 1 (0: 1)	UEFA Nations League	Milik (66.)
21 Mar 2019	Vienna ( )	Austria	1: 0 (0: 0)	European Championship qualification	Piątek (68.)
24 Mar 2019	Warsaw ( )	Latvia	2: 0 (0: 0)	European Championship qualification	Lewandowski (76th), Glik (84th)
0June 7, 2019	Skopje ( )	North Macedonia	1: 0 (0: 0)	European Championship qualification	Piątek (47.)
June 10, 2019	Warsaw ( )	Israel	4: 0 (1: 0)	European Championship qualification	Piątek (35th), Lewandowski (56th), Grosicki (58th), Kądzior (84th)
06 Sep 2019	Ljubljana ( )	Slovenia	0: 2 (0: 1)	European Championship qualification
0Sep 9 2019	Warsaw ( )	Austria	0-0	European Championship qualification
Oct 10, 2019	Riga ( )	Latvia	3: 0 (2: 0)	European Championship qualification	Lewandowski (9th, 13th, 76th)
Oct 13, 2019	Warsaw ( )	North Macedonia	2: 0 (0: 0)	European Championship qualification	Frankowski (74th), Milik (80th)
Nov 16, 2019	Jerusalem ( )	Israel	2: 1 (1: 0)	European Championship qualification	Krychowiak (4th), Piątek (54th)
19 Nov 2019	Warsaw ( )	Slovenia	3: 2 (1: 1)	European Championship qualification	Szymański (3rd), Lewandowski (54th), Góralski (81th)

International match records

Poland has the following records against other national teams (at least ten games; as of November 19, 2019).

country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Goal difference	Goal difference	Important encounters
Albania	11	7th	3	1	14: 8	+6	European Championship qualification 1972, World Cup qualification 1986, 1990
Argentina	11	3	2	6th	12:18	–6	World Cup preliminary round 1974, World Cup intermediate round 1978
Belgium	19th	7th	6th	6th	26:20	+7	European Championship qualification 1968, 2008, World Cup intermediate round 1982, World Cup qualification 1986
Brazil	12	1	2	9	19:37	-18	World Cup round of 16 1938, 1986, World Cup match for 3rd place 1974, World Cup intermediate round 1978
Bulgaria	25th	12	8th	5	47:30	+16	World Cup qualification 1970, qualification for the Olympic Games 1972, European Championship qualification 2000
ČSSR	19th	4th	5	10	27:43	-16	World Cup qualification 1934
Denmark	23	8th	2	13	38:49	–11	Biggest defeat, round of 16 of the 1952 Summer Olympics, preliminary round of the 1960 Summer Olympics, intermediate round of the 1972 Summer Olympics, World Cup qualification 1978, 2018
Germany	21st	1	7th	13	12:34	-22	European Championship qualification 1972, 2016, World Cup intermediate round 1974 , World Cup preliminary round 1978, 2006, EM preliminary round 2008, 2016
GDR	19th	10	4th	5	27:26	+1	Preliminary round of the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1976 Summer Olympics final, 1980 European Championship qualification, 1982 World Cup qualification
England	19th	1	7th	11	11:30	-19	World Cup qualification 1974, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2014, World Cup preliminary round 1986, European Championship qualification 1992, 2000
Finland	32	21st	8th	3	77:28	+49	World Cup qualification 1958, 1966, qualification for the 1960 Summer Olympics, European Championship qualification 1976, 1984, 2008
France	16	3	5	8th	16:27	–11	European Championship qualification 1968, 1996, World Cup match for 3rd place 1982
Greece	17th	10	4th	3	30:12	+18	World Cup qualification 1986, European Championship qualification 1988, European Championship preliminary round 2012
Ireland	28	11	11	6th	44:30	+14	European Championship qualification 1992, 2016
Israel	13	7th	4th	2	28:15	+8	European Championship qualification 1996,2021
Italy	16	3	7th	6th	10:21	–11	World Cup qualification 1966, 1998, World Cup preliminary round 1974, 1982, European Championship qualification 1976, World Cup semi-finals 1982, UEFA Nations League 2018
Yugoslavia	19th	6th	4th	9	39:46	0	World Cup qualification 1938, 1962, World Cup preliminary round 1974
Latvia	15th	11	2	2	40:15	+25	2004 European Championship qualification
Lithuania	11	5	4th	2	17: 8	+9	so far only friendlies
Netherlands	15th	3	6th	6th	16:21	-5	World Cup qualification 1970, 1994, European Championship qualification 1976, 1980, 1988
Northern Ireland	10	4th	2	4th	14:13	+1	World Cup qualification 2006, 2010, Euro qualification 1964, Euro preliminary round 2016
Norway	19th	12	3	4th	58:26	+32	Game for 3rd place at the 1936 Summer Olympics, World Cup qualification 1994, 2002
Austria	10	5	2	3	19:17	+2	World Cup qualification 2006; European Championship preliminary round 2008, European Championship qualification 2021
Portugal	13	3	5	5	13:18	-5	World Cup preliminary round 1986, 2002, World Cup qualification 1978, Euro qualification 1984, 2008, Euro quarter-finals 2016, UEFA Nations League 2018
Romania	36	7th	15th	14th	57:56	+1	European Championship qualification 1996, World Cup qualification 2018
Scotland	10	3	5	2	14:13	+1	World Cup qualification 1966, European Championship qualification 2016
Sweden	26th	8th	4th	14th	37:56	-19	World Cup intermediate round 1974, World Cup qualification 1990, European Championship qualification 2000, 2004
Switzerland	11	4th	6th	1	21:12	+9	European Championship qualification 1980, European Championship round of 16 2016
Soviet Union	14th	3	3	8th	11:27	-16	World Cup qualification 1958, qualification for the 1968 Olympic Games, intermediate round of the 1972 Summer Olympics, World Cup intermediate round 1982, European Championship qualification 1984
Spain	10	1	1	8th	8:27	-19	European Championship round of 16 1960
Turkey	17th	11	3	3	39:12	+27	European Championship qualification 1972, 1992, World Cup qualification 1994
Hungary	32	8th	4th	20th	39:87	-48	Final of the 1972 Summer Olympics, European Championship qualification 1988, 2004
United States	17th	7th	3	7th	36:22	+14	World Cup preliminary round 2002

• green background = positive balance sheet (number of wins higher than that of defeats)
• yellow background = balance balanced
• red background = negative balance (number of defeats higher than that of victories)
• Teams in italics are no longer active

Record holder

Most appearances in the national team Surname Active years International matches Robert Lewandowski 2008– 112 Jakub Błaszczykowski 2006– 108 Michał Żewłakow 1999-2011 102 Grzegorz Lato 1971-1984 100 * Kazimierz Deyna 1968-1988 97 Jacek Bąk 1993-2008 96 Jacek Krzynówek 1998-2009 96 Wladyslaw Żmuda 1973-1986 91 Antoni Szymanowski 1970-1980 82 Zbigniew Boniek 1976-1988 80 Włodzimierz Lubański 1963-1980 75 Tomasz Wałdoch 1991-2002 74 Kamil Glik 2010– 73 Kamil Grosicki 2008– 73 Maciej Żurawski 1998-2008 72 Piotr Świerczewski 1992-2003 70 As of: November 19, 2019 Note: * FIFA does not recognize 5 games in the Olympic selection as A international games. Most goals in the national team Włodzimierz Lubański , Polish top scorer until October 5, 2017 Surname Active years Gates Robert Lewandowski 2008– 61 Włodzimierz Lubański 1963-1980 48 Grzegorz Lato 1971-1984 45 Kazimierz Deyna 1968-1988 41 Ernst Pohl 1955-1964 39 Andrzej Szarmach 1972-1982 32 Gerard Cieślik 1947-1958 27 Zbigniew Boniek 1976-1988 24 Jakub Błaszczykowski 2006– 21st Ernst Willimowski 1934-1939 21st Euzebiusz Smolarek 2002-2010 20th Dariusz Dziekanowski 1981-1990 20th Roman Kosecki 1988-1995 19th Maciej Żurawski 1998-2008 17th

Active players are shown in bold .

Well-known former players

• Zbigniew Boniek , undisputed star of the 1980s and midfielder for Juventus Turin
• Lucjan Brychczy , midfielder in the 1950s and 1960s
• Andrzej Buncol , midfielder at the World Cup in 1982 and also in the Bundesliga played
• Kazimierz Deyna , 1970s golden crew captain
• Jan Domarski , Poland scored with his opening goal against England at Wembley Stadium (1: 1) for the 1974 World Cup
• Robert Gadocha , one of the best left wingers in Europe in the 1970s
• Jacek Gmoch , defender in the 1960s, later national coach
• Jerzy Gorgoń , tall central defender of the 1970s team
• Roger Guerreiro , a Polish midfielder born in Brazil
• Tomasz Hajto , former FC Schalke 04 defender
• Andrzej Iwan , striker at the 1978 World Cup and attacking midfielder at Górnik Zabrze and 1982 World Cup, later VfL Bochum
• Werner Antoni Janik , goalkeeper of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s at AKS Chorzow ( Königshütte ) and F. V Germania Königshütte , later club coach
• Andrzej Juskowiak , storm leader in the 1990s. Most recently active at the second division club FC Erzgebirge Aue . There he also ended his active career.
• Henryk Kasperczak , midfielder and later successful coach
• Grzegorz Lato , top scorer of the 1974 World Cup
• Włodzimierz Lubański , was considered the best player in Poland before the 1974 World Cup, but was not used due to an injury
• Józef Młynarczyk , goalkeeper of the bronze team at the 1982 World Cup, winner of the European Cup and World Cup winner with FC Porto
• Mirosław Okoński , midfielder for Hamburger SV
• Emmanuel Olisadebe , a Nigerian born Polish striker
• Henryk Reyman , well-known striker of the 1920s , one of the most famous former players in Wisła Krakow
• Andrzej Rudy , midfielder at 1. FC Cologne
• Włodzimierz Smolarek , left winger at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, from 1986 one of the most popular players at Eintracht Frankfurt
• Andrzej Szarmach , center forward at the 1974 and 1978 World Cups
• Władysław Szczepaniak , captain of the 1938 World Cup team
• Zygfryd Szołtysik , Lubański's congenial partner, 1972 Olympic champion
• Jan Tomaszewski , Polish goalkeeping legend of the 1970s
• Tomasz Wałdoch , central defender of FC Schalke 04 and captain of the team at the 2002 World Cup
• Krzysztof Warzycha , Panathinaikos Athens top striker
• Władysław Żmuda , central defender and record player at world championships

National coach since 1971

Kazimierz Górski

Antoni Piechniczek

• Kazimierz Górski (1971-1976), formed the best Polish national team of all time in the 1970s; Olympic champion in 1972 and third in the 1974 World Cup
• Jacek Gmoch (1976–1978), successor to the legendary Górski and coach at the 1978 World Cup
• Ryszard Kulesza (1978–1980)
• Antoni Piechniczek (1981–1986, 1996/1997), coach at the 1982 World Cup and 1986 World Cup; 1982 World Cup third
• Wojciech Łazarek (1986–1989)
• Andrzej Strejlau (1989–1993)
• Lesław Ćmikiewicz (1993)
• Henryk Apostle (1993–1995)
• Władysław Stachurski (1995–1996)
• Krzysztof Pawlak (1997)
• Janusz Wójcik (1997–1999)
• Jerzy Engel (2000–2002), coach at the 2002 World Cup
• Zbigniew Boniek (2002), resigned as coach after only five games
• Paweł Janas (2003-2006), coach at the 2006 World Cup
• Leo Beenhakker (2006–2009), coach at the 2008 European Championships
• Stefan Majewski (2009, interim)
• Franciszek Smuda (2009–2012), coach at the EM 2012
• Waldemar Fornalik (2012-2013)
• Adam Nawałka (2013-2018), coach at the EM 2016 and the World Cup 2018
• Jerzy Brzęczek (2018–)

See also

• List of international matches of the Polish national football team
• Polish national football team (U-17 juniors)
• Polish national football team (U-20 men)
• Polish national football team (U-21 men)
• Soccer in Poland

Web links

Commons : Polish National Football Team  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Polish Football Association (English / Polish)
• Profile on 90minut.pl

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Thomas Urban : Black eagles, white eagles. German and Polish footballers at the wheel of politics ; Göttingen: Die Werkstatt, 2011, p. 93, 100–101.
3. ↑ Poland shows itself from the best side: Four EM arenas for 15 games , in: transfermarkt.de, from May 31, 2012
4. ↑ An overview of the stadiums of the European Championship 2012 , in: transfermarkt.de, from June 7, 2012
5. ↑ Euro 2012 pots for the draw ( memento from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), in: transfermarkt.de, from November 16, 2011
6. ↑ Match report: Poland - Greece on transfermarkt.de
7. ↑ Match report: Poland - Russia on transfermarkt.de
8. ↑ Match report: Czech Republic - Poland on transfermarkt.de
9. ↑ Results from a Polish perspective
10. ↑ UEFA.com: Poland pegged back by Ecuador
11. ↑ eu-football.info: Poland national football team individual records and stats