Poland national football team

Poland

Nickname(s)

Biało-czerwoni
("The white and reds")

Białe Orły
("The White Eagles")

Association

Polish Football Association
(Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej)

Head coach

Franciszek Smuda

Captain

Michał Żewłakow

Most caps

Grzegorz Lato (100)

Top scorer

Włodzimierz Lubański (48)

Home stadium

Silesian Stadium

FIFA code

POL

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

16 (September 2007)

Lowest FIFA ranking

61 (March 1998)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

1 (October 1975)

Lowest Elo ranking

55 (August 1956, April 1998)

Home colours

Away colours

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

3rd place (1974, 1982)

European Championship

Appearances

1 (First in 2008)

Best result

Round 1, 2008

Men's Football
Olympic medal record
Silver	1992 Barcelona^[1]	Team
Silver	1976 Montreal	Team
Gold	1972 Munich	Team

The Poland national football team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) is the national football team of Poland, under the auspices of the Polish Football Association (PZPN).

Poland's football history is littered with boom and bust periods, with legendary teams such as the one of the mid-seventies that held England to a draw at Wembley to qualify for the World Cup in 1974, going on to finish third that year. Poland would accomplish the same result in 1982 where they also finished in third place beating France 3–2. Poland's largest win was over Norway with a score of 9–0 until the 10-0 win against San Marino on April 1, 2009. Poland also won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and the silver medal in 1976 in Montreal and in 1992^[1] in Barcelona. They first qualified for the European Football Championships in 2008, although they will compete as joint hosts in 2012 European Football Championship.

History

1919–1939 Early Years

The Polish Football Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej) was established on the 20th of December 1919, in Warsaw, Poland. Poland would play their first official international match on December 18, 1921 in Budapest where they lost to Hungary 1–0. Their first international win would come on May 28 in 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 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, Polish team, which had never before participated on such level, was supposed 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 its lone game of the tournament. The white and reds got to the extra time, only then losing 5–6. Ernest Wilimowski, who played his club football for Ruch Chorzów at the time, scored four 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 the 1938 World Cup Runners-up Hungary. The match stands out as an achievement as Poland defeated the strong favored Hungarian side 4–2.

1946–1972

On June 11, 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 would suffer the worst defeat in the team's history on April 26, 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 September 4, 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 April 1, 2009 in Kielce when Poland defeated San Marino 10–0.

On December 1, 1970 Poland’s 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 were they captured silver. However, nothing matched the two bronze medals at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups.

1974 World Cup 3rd Place

Grzegorz Lato (left)

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.

Poland celebrating victory over Brazil 1974

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 the Caribbean nation of 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 tie 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 favor.

On July 3, 1974 came the game that could have sent Poland into the World Cup Final. They played against the eventual champions West Germany. It had rained all day long, the field was entirely flooded. Poland wanted the game postponed but the Austrian referee would not agree. The game went ahead. Poland needed a win to be in the final, a tie 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 North American nation 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 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 Zibi’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, Zibi and Lato, in what would be his final World Cup goal. Lato also had one assist and Zibi 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, Zibi netted a hat trick against Belgium in the first game of Group 1 play, accounting for all three goals in the 3–0 victory. Zibi 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, Zibi 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 seventies and eighties Poland would encounter a period of drought being unable to qualify for any major tournament. During the late eighties to the late nineties Poland’s biggest achievement would be capturing the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

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 Poland should win against. Portugal was another matter but many did not dismiss the possibility of a tie. The South Koreans stunned Poland with a 2–0 win. Portugal did not give the Poles a chance as they strode easily to a 4–0 win and eliminated Poland. Poland showed what could have been made in this World Cup with in a 3–1 win over the USA in the final match.

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, 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, Poland lost their first game to Ecuador. The final score was 2–0 with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado. Poland lost to group leader Germany on June 14, in an epic game with the final score being 1–0 with a goal scored by Oliver Neuville in the 91st minute, thus ensuring their exit from the World Cup. In the last match Poland beat and also eliminated Costa Rica 2–1 with both Polish goals scored by Bartosz Bosacki.

2008 Euro Cup

Ebi Smolarek led Poland with 9 goals in qualifying.

Poland began its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign on September 2, 2006 with a 1–3 loss against Finland at Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz. They followed that up with a 1–1 tie against Serbia at Legia Stadium in Warsaw on September 6, 2006. Their first win came against Kazakhstan on October 7, 2006 (final score 0:1).

Poland then faced Portugal on October 11, 2006, winning 2–1 in Chorzów. 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 June 6, 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).

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008

Poland’s qualification to the Euro 2008 marked their first appearance in the tournament. Despite qualifying for the tournament with an impressing campaign edging Portugal to the first place in their qualifying group the tournament would be a disappointing debut.

Poland was drawn in the group that consisted of Germany, the co-hosts Austria, and Croatia. In a rematch from the 2006 World Cup Poland took on Germany in the first game. 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 call by the referee insisting a penalty, in 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.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Poland's qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup has been their worst to date, finishing in 5th place only ahead of San Marino. Poland managed a record of just 3 victories 2 draws and 5 losses. The campaign started off well 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 a undesirable result at start. A victory over San Marino, and a impressive win over the Czech Republic staged Poland at the top of the table. The match versus Slovakia in Bratislava was seen as downturn in qualifying. Poland was leading 1-0 until the 85th minute when Stanislav Šesták scored an equalizer. 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, easily defeating San Marino 10-0. 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

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012

On April 18, 2007 in Cardiff, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by the UEFA’s Executive Committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. It will be 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.

Competitive record

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934	Did not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Round 1	11	1	0	0	1	5	6
1950	Did not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Did not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Third place	3	7	6	0	1	16	5
1978	Round 2	5	6	3	1	2	6	6
1982	Third place	3	7	3	3	1	11	5
1986	Round of 16	14	4	1	1	2	1	7
1990	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Round 1	25	3	1	0	2	3	7
2006	Round 1	21	3	1	0	2	2	4
2010	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2014		–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	7/19		31	15	5	11	44	40

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament will be held on home soil.

European Championship record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Round 1	14	3	0	1	2	1	3
2012	Qualified as Host	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2016		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2/14		3	0	1	2	1	4

Achievements

FIFA World Cup

Third Place (2): 1974, 1982

Football at the Summer Olympics

Gold medal (1) 1972
Silver Medal (2) 1976, 1992^[1]

FIFA U-20 World Cup

Third Place (1): 1983

UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship

Winner (1): 2001
Runner-up (1): 1981
Third Place (1): 1984

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship

Winner (1): 1993
Runner-up (1): 1999
Third Place (1): 1990

Team names

According to the official FIFA Trigramme the team’s name is abbreviated as POL. This acronym is used to identify the team in FIFA, UEFA, and other matches. The same acronym 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 and reds" and "Białe Orły" which translates into "The White Eagles". These are the most common names given to the Polish national football team.

Stadium

Model of the New National Stadium in Warsaw

The national football team of Poland does not have one set stadium where it plays its matches. Various cities have been granted hosting duties, including Bydgoszcz, Chorzów, Kielce, Kraków, Warsaw, and Wrocław.

In recent years, many of Poland's most important matches have been played in the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów. The stadium was built in 1956 and seats 47,246 people. The record attendance came on October 20, 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 the Polish national football team. The stadium is currently being renovated to seat around 55,210.

A new National Stadium is under construction in Warsaw with an expected capacity of 55,920 seats. Following Euro 2012, this stadium will be used as the venue for most key matches of the Polish national team. It has not been ruled out that hosting duties may, to some extent, continue to be shared with other cities.

Recent and future matches

Date	Venue	Opponent	Competition	Score	Goalscorer(s)
January 17, 2010	Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Denmark	2010 King's Cup	1–3 L	Peszko
January 20, 2010	Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Thailand	2010 King's Cup	3–1 W	Glik , Małecki , Robak
January 23, 2010	Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Singapore	2010 King's Cup	6–1 W	R.Lewandowski , Iwański , Brożek , Małecki , T.Nowak
March 3, 2010	Warsaw, Poland	Bulgaria	Friendly	2–0 W	Błaszczykowski , R.Lewandowski
May 29, 2010	Kielce, Poland	Finland	Friendly	0–0 D
June 2, 2010	Kufstein, Austria	Serbia	Friendly	0–0 D
June 8, 2010	Murcia, Spain	Spain	Friendly	0–6 L
August 11, 2010	Szczecin, Poland	Cameroon	Friendly	0–3 L
September 4, 2010	Łódź, Poland	Ukraine	Friendly	1–1 D	Jeleń
September 7, 2010	Kraków, Poland	Australia	Friendly
October 9, 2010	Chicago, United States	United States	Friendly
October 12, 2010	Chicago, United States	Mexico ^[2]	Friendly
November 17, 2010	Poznań, Poland	Russia^[3]	Friendly	stadium opening
February 9, 2011	away	TBD	Friendly
March 25/26, 2011	away	TBD	Friendly
March 29, 2011	Greece	Greece	Friendly
June 7, 2011	Gdansk, Poland	TBD	Friendly	stadium opening
September 6, 2011	Warsaw, Poland	Germany	Friendly	stadium opening

Current squad

Franciszek Smuda has announced the squad for the friendly matches against Ukraine and Australia on September 4th and 7th.^[4] Caps and goals correct as of August 11, 2010.

Goalkeepers

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Artur Boruc	February 20, 1980 (1980-02-20) (age 30)	44	Fiorentina
12	GK	Przemysław Tytoń	May 23, 1987 (1987-05-23) (age 23)	2	Roda
	GK	Grzegorz Sandomierski	September 5, 1989 (1989-09-05) (age 21)	0	Jagiellonia Białystok

Defenders

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
21	DF	Łukasz Piszczek	June 3, 1985 (1985-06-03) (age 25)	8	0	Borussia Dortmund
3	DF	Grzegorz Wojtkowiak	January 26, 1984 (1984-01-26) (age 27)	6	0	Lech Poznań
4	DF	Maciej Sadlok	June 29, 1989 (1989-06-29) (age 21)	10	0	Ruch Chorzów
13	DF	Kamil Glik	February 3, 1988 (1988-02-03) (age 23)	6	1	Palermo
14	DF	Michał Żewłakow	April 22, 1976 (1976-04-22) (age 34)	97	3	Ankaragücü
2	DF	Sebastian Boenisch	February 1, 1987 (1987-02-01) (age 24)	0	0	Werder Bremen
	DF	Dariusz Pietrasiak	February 12, 1980 (1980-02-12) (age 31)	0	0	Polonia Warsaw

Midfielders

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
6	MF	Maciej Rybus	August 19, 1989 (1989-08-19) (age 21)	10	1	Legia Warszawa
8	MF	Rafał Murawski	October 9, 1981 (1981-10-09) (age 29)	24	1	Rubin Kazan
15	MF	Adam Matuszczyk	February 14, 1989 (1989-02-14) (age 22)	4	0	Köln
16	MF	Jakub Błaszczykowski	December 14, 1985 (1985-12-14) (age 25)	33	3	Borussia Dortmund
17	MF	Sławomir Peszko	February 19, 1985 (1985-02-19) (age 25)	13	1	Lech Poznań
19	MF	Tomasz Bandrowski	September 18, 1984 (1984-09-18) (age 26)	6	0	Lech Poznań
	MF	Kamil Grosicki	June 8, 1988 (1988-06-08) (age 22)	3	0	Jagiellonia Białystok
20	MF	Maciej Iwański	May 7, 1981 (1981-05-07) (age 29)	8	2	Legia Warszawa

Strikers

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
7	FW	Euzebiusz Smolarek	January 19, 1981 (1981-01-19) (age 30)	43	19	Polonia Warsaw
	FW	Artur Sobiech	June 12, 1990 (1990-06-12) (age 20)	3	0	Polonia Warsaw
9	FW	Robert Lewandowski	August 21, 1988 (1988-08-21) (age 22)	24	6	Borussia Dortmund
11	FW	Ireneusz Jeleń	April 9, 1982 (1982-04-09) (age 28)	25	4	Auxerre

Other recent callups

The following players have also appeared for the Polish NT in the last year. ★ denotes reserve for upcoming match.

Goalkeepers

Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Club
GK	Łukasz Fabiański	April 18, 1985 (1985-04-18) (age 25)	16	Arsenal
GK	Tomasz Kuszczak	March 20, 1982 (1982-03-20) (age 28)	10	Manchester United
GK	Łukasz Załuska	June 16, 1982 (1982-06-16) (age 28)	1	Celtic
GK	Wojciech Szczęsny	April 18, 1990 (1990-04-18) (age 20)	1	Arsenal

Defenders

Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
DF	Adam Kokoszka	October 6, 1986 (1986-10-06) (age 24)	10	2	Empoli
DF	Dariusz Dudka	December 9, 1983 (1983-12-09) (age 27)	48	2	Auxerre
DF	Tomasz Jodłowiec	March 22, 1985 (1985-03-22) (age 25)	12	0	Polonia Warsaw
DF	Jakub Rzeźniczak	October 26, 1986 (1986-10-26) (age 24)	6	0	Legia Warszawa
DF	Marcin Kowalczyk	August 9, 1985 (1985-08-09) (age 25)	7	0	Dinamo Moscow
DF	Marcin Wasilewski	June 9, 1980 (1980-06-09) (age 30)	38	1	Anderlecht
DF	Arkadiusz Głowacki	March 13, 1979 (1979-03-13) (age 31)	21	0	Trabzonspor

Midfielders

Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
MF	Mateusz Cetnarski	July 6, 1988 (1988-07-06) (age 22)	2	0	GKS Bełchatów
MF	Roger Guerreiro	May 25, 1982 (1982-05-25) (age 28)	22	4	AEK Athens
MF	Mariusz Lewandowski	May 18, 1979 (1979-05-18) (age 31)	65	6	Sevastopol
MF	Radosław Majewski	December 15, 1986 (1986-12-15) (age 24)	8	0	Nottingham Forest
MF	Patryk Małecki	August 1, 1988 (1988-08-01) (age 22)	7	2	Wisła Kraków
MF	Adrian Mierzejewski	November 4, 1986 (1986-11-04) (age 24)	4	0	Polonia Warsaw
MF	Ludovic Obraniak	November 10, 1984 (1984-11-10) (age 26)	9	2	Lille
MF	Jakub Wilk	July 11, 1985 (1985-07-11) (age 25)	3	0	Lech Poznań

Strikers

Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
FW	Rafał Boguski	June 9, 1984 (1984-06-09) (age 26)	6	3	Wisła Kraków
FW	Paweł Brożek	April 21, 1983 (1983-04-21) (age 27)	21	3	Wisła Kraków
FW	Dawid Janczyk	September 23, 1987 (1987-09-23) (age 23)	5	0	Germinal Beerschot
FW	Dawid Nowak	November 30, 1984 (1984-11-30) (age 26)	6	0	GKS Bełchatów

Managers

Poland national team managers since 1922	from	to
Józef Lustgarten, Adam Obrubański and Stanisław Ziemiański	1922-05-14	1922-09-03
Kazimierz Glabisz, Adam Obrubański and Tadeusz Kuchar	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, Czesław Krug and Karol Bergtal	1947-09-14	1947-10-26
Zygmunt Alfus	1948-04-04	1948-09-19
Andrzej Przeworski, Czesław Krug and Jan Nowak	1948-10-10	1948-10-17
Mieczysław Szymkowiak, Ignacy Izdebski, Stefan Kisieliński, Czesław Krug and Kazimierz Śmiglak	1949-05-08	1949-11-06
Mieczysław Szymkowiak, Mieczysław Kaczanowski and Stanisław Szymaniak	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, Kazimierz Górski and Klemens Nowak	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	2009-09-10	2009-10-29
Franciszek Smuda	2009-10-29	—

Player Records

Most capped players

As of June 8, 2010 the players with the most caps for Poland are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Grzegorz Lato	1971–1984	100	45
2.	Kazimierz Deyna	1968–1978	97	41
3.	Michał Żewłakow	1998–2010	97	3
4.	Jacek Bąk	1993–2008	96	3
5.	Jacek Krzynówek	1999 –	96	15
6.	Władysław Żmuda	1973–1986	91	1
7.	Antoni Szymanowski	1970–1980	82	1
8.	Zbigniew Boniek	1976–1988	80	24
9.	Włodzimierz Lubański	1963–1980	75	48
10.	Tomasz Wałdoch	1991–2002	74	2

Bold – still active

Top goalscorers

As of June 8, 2010 the ten players with the most goals for Poland are:

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps
1.	Włodzimierz Lubański	1963–1980	48	75
2.	Grzegorz Lato	1971–1984	45	100
3.	Kazimierz Deyna	1968–1978	41	97
4.	Ernest Pol	1955–1965	39	46
5.	Andrzej Szarmach	1973–1982	32	61
6.	Gerard Cieślik	1947–1958	27	45
7.	Zbigniew Boniek	1976–1988	24	80
8.	Ernest Wilimowski	1934–1939	21	22
9.	Dariusz Dziekanowski	1981–1990	20	63
10.	Roman Kosecki	1988–1995	19	69
10.	Euzebiusz Smolarek	2002 –	19	43

Bold – still active

Notable Players

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

1920's
- Wawrzyniec Staliński (1922–1928)
- Józef Nawrot (1928–1935)
1930's
- Ernest Wilimowski (1934–1939)
- Leonard Piątek (1936–1939)
1940's
- Gerard Cieślik(1947–1958)
1950's
- Edward Szymkowiak (1952–1965)
- Lucjan Brychczy (1954–1969)
- Ernest Pol (1955–1965)
- Eugeniusz Faber (1959–1969)
1960's
- 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)
1970's
- 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)

1980's
- 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)
1990's
- 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–)
- Tomasz Kłos (1998–2006)
- Maciej Żurawski (1998–2008)
- Jacek Krzynówek (1998–2009)
- Paweł Kryszałowicz (1999–2004)
- Tomasz Frankowski (1999–2006)
- Michał Żewłakow (1999–)
2000's
- Emmanuel Olisadebe (2000–2004)
- Kamil Kosowski (2001–2009)
- Mariusz Lewandowski (2002–)
- Ebi Smolarek (2002–)

Bold- Indicates player with minimum 50 caps and minimum 10 goals.

National kits

The national kits of Poland go along with the color of the national flag which is white and red. The home jersey consists of a white shirt, red shorts and white socks with the national coat of arms of Poland the white eagle. Their away kit colours are red throughout. The current alternative third kit consists of a blue shirt, blue shorts, and white socks which the team started wearing before the 2006 World Cup. The current kits are provided by Nike.

Match statistics

Competition record

Current as of June 8, 2010 following the 0-6 loss with Spain:

Tournament	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Win %
World Cup	15	5	11	31	48%
World Cup Qualifying	49	15	31	95	53%
Euro Cup	0	1	2	3	0%
Euro Cup Qualifying	38	23	29	90	42%
Friendly	208	128	159	493	42%
Total	310	167	232	709	44%

Poland versus other countries