Everyone is here. The Polish team was one of the last to arrive in Russia for the World Cup. Poland was defeated by Colombia and lost its chances of reaching the playoffs Poland national football team all matches

The Polish national football team is a professional team that represents the European country on the international stage. Today the team represents the middle peasants of European football, although in the past the team, which included Wlodzimierz Lubański, Kazimierz Denya, Grzegorz Lato, Jan Tomaszewski, Robert Gadocha, Zbigniew Boniek, was considered one of the strongest on the planet.

It has been playing in the final stages of world championships since 1938. The team's heyday came in the 1970s, when the Polish national team managed to come third and fifth in two competitions. In 1982, the team won bronze medals for the second time in history.

Also, the Polish national team performed well at the Olympic Games - it has a victory in Munich in 1972 and two silver medals. The team is not performing very well at the European Championships - it has several participations in final tournaments, but so far the “red-whites” have not managed to overcome the group stage.

Poland national team at the 2018 World Cup

Group stage and elimination from the World Cup

The Polish national team reached the final part of the FIFA World Cup, winning qualifying group E. The Poles scored 25 points out of a possible 30, ahead of Denmark, Montenegro, Romania, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Many expected that such a strong team would show itself in all its glory in Russia, but Adam Navalka’s team frankly failed the World Cup - this can be stated after just two games - against Senegal (1:2) and Colombia (0:3).

If in the game with the Africans there were annoying mistakes, which theoretically can be called an accident, then the match with the Colombians showed that the team is in disarray. The leader of the Polish attack, Robert Lewandowski, was absolutely disappointed, but he can be understood as his teammates did not pamper the striking forward with cool passes, as the Bayern players do.

In the third round, the Poles still managed to defeat Japan with a score of 1-0. But unfortunately, they were unable to leave the group.

The final composition of the Polish national team for the 2018 World Cup

The coaching staff of the Polish national team, led by Adam Nawalka, announced the team’s final bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

This was reported by the press service of the Polish Football Union.

The final list of 23 players included:

Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus, Italy), Bartosz Bialkowski (Ipswich), Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea, Wales);

Defenders: Michal Pazdan, Artur Jedrzejczyk (both Legia), Thiago Zionek (SPAL, Italy), Jan Bednarek (Southampton, England), Kamil Glick (Monaco), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria, Italy), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund);

Midfielders: Jacek Goralski (Ludogorets, Bulgaria), Karol Linetty (Sampdoria, Italy), Grzegorz Krychowiak (West Bromwich, England), Kamil Grosicki (Hull, England), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv, Russia ), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Wolfsburg, Germany), Slawomir Peszko (Lechia), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli, Italy), Rafal Kuzawa (Gornik);

Forwards: Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli, Italy), (Bayern, Germany), Lukasz Teodorczyk (Anderlecht), David Kownacki (Sampdoria, Italy).

Schedule of matches of the Polish national team at the 2018 World Cup

The best players of the national team in its history

• Zbigniew Boniek
• Robert Gadoha
• Kazimierz Dejna
• Michal Zhevlyakov
• Robert Lewandowski
• Wlodzimierz Lubański
• Grzegorz Lato
• Jan Tomaszewski

The top scorer in the European qualifying round was Robert Lewandowski from the Polish national team (16), who set a record for the most goals in a single qualifying tournament under the auspices of UEFA.

Historical summary

Poland achieved its best results in the 70-80s of the last century; it was a wonderful team that everyone took into account. The current composition of the Poland team at the 2018 World Cup is somewhat similar to that team, so there is hope for a successful performance in Russia.

• World Championship 1938 France. This was the first World Cup for the Poles, they immediately went down in history as participants in the most dramatic and spectacular match of the 18th final of the World Championships. The match with Brazil (defeat in extra time 6:5) remained the only one in the tournament, but the team was filled for years to come.
• World Championship 1974 Germany. This championship became one of the brightest events for the Polish people. At first, Poland won all the matches in the group, although Italy was also their opponent. Two victories at the next stage allowed the Poles to play the match for third place with Brazil. The Poles surprised the whole world and won bronze medals 1:0.
• World Championship 1982 Spain. Eight years later, the Polish team managed to repeat its achievement and take medals at the World Championship. They lost to Italy in the semi-finals, but beat France 3:2 in the match for third place.
• Euro 2008 AustriaSwitzerland. Surprisingly, Poland has never participated in a European championship before. The debut was a failure, on the fields of Austria, the Poles did not win anyone, they were content with only one point scored.
• Euro 2016 France. Poland achieved its best result at the European Championships in 2016, at the French championship. They confidently passed the group stage, leaving Switzerland behind in the knockout round, beating their opponents in the series after match penalties. At the next stage, future champions Portugal also beat the Poles in a penalty shootout.

The Polish national team 2018 composition will remain virtually unchanged in two years, and in Russia we will see all the same performers who almost reached the Euro medals.

Poland national team at the world championships

The Polish team competed for the first time at the World Championships in 1938 and lost to the Brazilian team in the 1/8 finals (the tournament was held according to the Olympic system). But what a match it was! Regular time ended with the score 4:4, in extra time they scored twice, but the Poles scored only once.

The “golden age” of the Polish national team spanned the period from the mid-70s to the mid-80s of the last century, when the Poles played in four world championships in a row, twice finishing in the top four teams on the planet.

At the 1974 World Cup, the Poles took first place in the group, beating Italy, Argentina and the Haitian team. In the second round, where the teams were also divided into groups, the Polish team beat Sweden and Yugoslavia, but lost to the West German team - 0:1, and then managed to beat the Brazilian team with the same score in the match for 3rd place.

Four years later, the Poles again win the group, this time ahead of the current world champion, the German team. But in the second group round Poland loses 0:2 to Argentina, the future world champion, and 1:3 to the Brazilian team.

Only on the third attempt did the Poles overcome the second group stage of the World Cup. The Polish national team in 1982 at the first group stage beat the teams of Italy (again the future world champion), Cameroon and Peru, and in the second group round the teams of the USSR and Belgium.

But in the semi-final match, the magnificent Paulo Rossi scored two unanswered goals against the Poles, and Poland went to the consolation final, where they beat the French team and climbed to the podium.

As it turned out, this was the last success of the Polish team. Having made it to the 1986 World Cup, the Polish team was able to make it to the 1/8 finals, where they were defeated by the Brazilian team 0:4.

Then Polish football found itself in a deep crisis, from which it began to emerge only at the beginning of the new century. Then the Polish national team qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Championships, where they failed to advance from the group.

Performance statistics

World Championships

European Championships

The excitement around Tuesday's match was noticeably weaker than on the day of the first game, when Argentina faced Iceland in the same arena. This is understandable: fans from different countries were eager to take advantage of the opportunity to see Leo Messi with their own eyes, just as a week earlier the public was eager to watch the Argentines train in Bronnitsy near Moscow.

Neither Poland nor Senegal had players of this caliber, but already on the approach to the stadium it became clear what it should look like on the days of Spartak’s home games: as far as the eye could see, everything was pleasing to the eye with red and white tints. Perhaps there were shoals of Senegalese fans fighting somewhere, but this could not be determined visually. And the thought immediately came to mind: shouldn’t we offer the Spartak leadership to rent out Polish “tiffozi” while the football season continues in Russia? They definitely wouldn’t spoil the surrounding reality.

Contrary to their own reputation as desperate brawlers and brawlers, Polish fans behaved unusually peacefully and even sleepily. If aggression was visible anywhere, it was in the media center - too compact for there to be enough seats for everyone, and therefore provoking skirmishes and internecine strife in the struggle for suddenly vacant chairs.

The Poles looked disapprovingly at the TV screens in anticipation of the match with the participation of their team: there Japan was tearing the Colombians to shreds. Perhaps the guests mentally projected what they saw onto the scenario of the upcoming match: Japan was far from the first team to publicly gut the favorite, while Senegal was called the biggest mystery of the tournament even before the World Cup. An African pearl. And pearls, as you know, are such a strong thing. How can you not be afraid?

As the stands filled up, their sound design changed. The fighting song that flowed more and more harmoniously from the stands made us remember one of the names of the Polish football torsida: soldiers of the legion. It is clear that in this context we are usually talking about Legia fans, but the World Cup is the very time when the axes of club passions are buried in the ground. But the fact that the “legion fans” not so long ago beat their own players for the defeat against “Lech” was worth keeping in mind just to understand what can be expected in Tushino if Poland is defeated in the first of their matches.

Lewandowski +10

The chronicle of the Russian stage preserves the story of how Nikolai Baskov and Maxim Galkin once flew on a tour to one of the Russian cities in the same plane. The singer preened for a long time before stepping onto the ramp, straightened his signature hairstyle and, finally, putting on a snow-white raincoat and a working smile, he left the plane. At the bottom of the gangway, smiling just as sunnyly, stood a girl with a sign: “Galkin +1.”

For many, the Polish national team looks about the same. It has Robert Lewandowski and the rest.

The Bayern Munich striker has been consistently recognized as the best football player in the country for the last seven years, and seven years in football is a lifetime. One of the achievements of the Polish forward may never be surpassed: on September 22, 2015, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the match against Wolfsburg, Lewandowski scored five goals in nine (!!!) minutes. Every second person follows the life of Robert and his wife Anna (black belt in professional karate), calling them nothing less than “the Polish Beckhams.” And in the town of Kuznya-Ratsiborskaya there was even a street named after Robert.

The Poles joke that if Lewandowski ever thinks about the presidency, he will be guaranteed the support of the nation. On the other hand, the world has already seen from the example of Lionel Messi how helpless the one on whom the main hopes are placed can turn out to be. So the player’s virtual presidential future may well be directly dependent on the outcome of Poland’s performance at the World Cup.

First duel

The intrigue of the match was also fueled by the fact that the two teams had never played against each other before, and they had to find out who was capable of what as the performance progressed. Poland has not played at the world championships for 12 years, Senegal for 16.

Group H, with the only favorite in the person of the Colombian national team, probably could not have been considered seriously if not for the result of a slightly earlier match than the Polish-Senegalese match on Tuesday, in which the Colombians lost to Japan. This plunged the Japanese fans into the abyss of unbridled joy, and seriously puzzled the Russian technical “service” working with the team (“they thought, three times for 90 minutes, and they would be able to go on vacation, but this is how it turns out…”).

The first five days of the championship, with a number of unexpected, not to say stunning, results, psychologically liberated many newcomers to the big football game. Each of them mentally probably asked himself the question: why am I worse? Journalists gloomily joked that the championship, if recognized favorites such as Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Germany failed to qualify from their groups, could be closed for senselessness.

On the field in the first half there was an absolutely equal fight, with a dozen players from the Senegal team looking at some points noticeably faster than the Poles. There was a feeling that the game would be the first goalless draw of the championship: in the first 35 minutes there was not a single dangerous moment on the field. However, the legendary Spartak coach Oleg Romantsev spoke well on this matter many years ago, noting that although the score in football is important, true football gourmets enjoy something completely different, while the abundance of goals means that teams have no luck defense is good.

However, football gourmets had nothing to profit from. The match, despite the good, strong level of players from both teams, confidently went to the nomination of the most boring game of the first round.

The goal, scored in the 38th minute, turned out to be ridiculous: Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye did not shoot too hard from long range, and the ball, ricocheting off Thiago Sionek, went into the Polish goal as an own goal.

The second half started noticeably more aggressively. In the first minutes, Jan Bednarek, who replaced Jakub Blaszczykowski, crashed his head into Yussuf Sabali and took quite a long time to recover on the lawn. On the 49th, Salif Sane received a yellow card. On the 59th, Nyangu needed medical help - the player, limping heavily, was about to go to the sideline, accompanied by doctors, but suddenly returned. And at that very second, having intercepted the ball, he rushed towards Wojciech Szczęsny’s ​​goal with such speed, as if it was not the Senegalese’s battered body that was running across the field, but his flaming soul - 2:0.

The moment became the highlight of the match. Senegalese fans should definitely have been glad that the footballer, who has dual citizenship, chose a year ago to play for his historical homeland, and not for France, where he played at the youth team level.

The more the Poles tried, the worse they did. The team really fought, trying to turn the slightest opportunity to attack in their favor, and in the 86th minute the efforts turned out to be successful: Grzegorz Krychowiak headed the ball into the goal.

The stadium was silent, but again, as during the match between the Icelanders and the Argentines, there was a full house (44,190 spectators), roared, and the game sparkled with new colors. The four minutes added by the referee could theoretically have given the Poles the opportunity to equalize the score, but they failed to create a single more dangerous moment.

And they didn’t seem to be such obvious favorites as, say, the Germans, bookmakers and experts still predicted victory for the “white and hearts”. It was assumed that this was a much more coherent and strong team than the national team. In addition, the Poles have Robert Lewandowski - the best scorer in the history of the team.

But underestimating the Senegalese would be a fatal mistake - the team, which includes Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly, would be considered weak and uncompetitive. And this is, obviously, how the Poles reacted to their rivals.

Adam Navalka's team started the game actively, but soon began to play around, for which they paid. One of the Senegalese counterattacks culminated in a goal - unexpected and curious, but no less valuable. Idrissa Gueye shot from outside the penalty area, but Polish defender Thiago Sionek was unable to parry the shot or get out of the ball's path. The projectile ricocheted into the corner opposite to where Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had already moved.

At the beginning of the second half, the Poles had a real chance to win back, earning the right to a set piece near the Senegalese penalty area. As expected, Lewandowski approached the ball, and taking it from such a position is the same as taking a penalty. He struck a magnificent shot, but African goalkeeper Khadim N'Diaye managed to ward off the threat with a spectacular leap.

Discouraged Polish players tried to create something at the other goal, but nothing worked for them, and they were noticeably nervous. This resulted in a monstrous discount by Grzegorz Krychowiak from the center line towards his own goal - probably, as planned, it was a pass to the goalkeeper, but Szczesny clearly did not have time for this ball. But M’Baye Niang, who rushed by with incredible speed, managed to do so. With one touch, he threw the goalkeeper running towards him, caught up with the ball and sent it into the goal with a second touch. 2:0 in favor of Senegal - who could have expected this?

Paradoxically, it was the same Krychowiak who gave the Poles hope of salvation. Five minutes before the end of regulation time, Kamil Grosicki sent a set-piece into the penalty area, and Krychowiak, outweighing everyone, headed the ball into the net in opposition to the goalkeeper. The score became 2:1, but the Polish team had too little time and energy to snatch a draw. The history of world football knows similar cases when, in the end, teams even managed not only to equalize, but also to win. The Poles were unable to do either of these, adding to the list of sensations at the 2018 World Cup. The final whistle sealed the victory of the Senegal team.

I talked with Wodzislaw Smorawski, a fan with fifteen years of experience, who talked about the chances of his country’s national team at the upcoming championship.

The Polish national football team returned to the final stage of the World Cup after 12 years. There is euphoria in the country. How do you assess the chances of the Polish team?

“Taking into account the place we occupy in the FIFA rankings, it would be great if we managed to reach the quarterfinals. I’m not trying to win a medal, but the quarter-finals are real and certainly achievable for our players.

— In the world of football they believe that now there are no weak teams in Europe - this is the first thing. Secondly, Montenegro is the Balkans, and the people there are special. They always play football until the very end - which was confirmed. When the Polish team relaxed a little, they brought the score to 2:2. Fortunately, we also showed fortitude.

Should opponents be wary of the Poles at the championship? What are the strengths of the Polish national team, besides a strong spirit?

— The strength is the atmosphere that reigns in the team. After all, this is a specific organism. This is not a team that meets every day. These are not footballers who spend whole days with each other, as happens in clubs. The national team consists of players who meet only a few times a year and train differently. And it is the atmosphere that reigns in the team itself that is of enormous importance.

This is what we managed to achieve, mainly due to the character of the players and their determination to win. The Poles won 8 out of 10 matches in the qualifying stage, drew with Kazakhstan, and suffered one defeat from. This hasn't happened for a long time.

I think that now the team will play at a different level. At the European Championships, which took place in 2016, we were called a “dark horse,” but we achieved a lot. And losing the quarterfinals against the future champion is a good result. Now the team is in the top ten of the rankings. Our opponents will look at us differently. I think that they will not be afraid of us, but they should respect us.

You are a long-time fan. Are you going to go to Russia for the FIFA World Cup and how interested, in principle, are Polish fans in attending matches in the Russian Federation?

- Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go myself. But knowing our fans, who are ready to go to the ends of the earth for their team, I think the interest will be enormous. The World Cup is relatively close and there will be a lot of Polish fans. And this is good. Let's become the so-called twelfth player. I hope that during the matches you will be able to feel more than once that she is playing “at home.”

- What do you think fans who will go to the 2018 World Cup in Russia should expect?

— Russians are very friendly people and, like all Slavic peoples, sweet and hospitable. Therefore, the fans will definitely receive a warm welcome. It is clear that you may encounter some aggression and unpleasant behavior from some of the local fans, who, like the British, are famous for this in Europe. In general, guests of any country should be prepared to meet pseudo-fans and hooligans, including their own. But overall, I think everything will be great and nice.

I know that most are already ready. Many are undergoing final “cosmetic” work. A lot of money has been invested in this championship. Judging by the Olympic Games held in Sochi, President Putin is not sparing money on this. The stadiums that have already been built or are under construction look decent. It will be great, but I’m afraid it won’t be without incident—it’s unlikely to be avoided.

- Perhaps because Polish fans will go wild not only in the stands?

— Of course, considering that we have, let’s say, a specific history with the Russians. Therefore, I fully admit that, in addition to football fans, a group of real hooligans will go, for whom the main thing is to wave their fists and fight to prove who is the best. But these are the marginalized, and not at all the main mass who will go to root for the team and support it. I read a funny tweet on the Internet: “The gates to heaven have opened - we are going to Russia.” It would probably never have occurred to us that paradise could be waiting for us in Russia, but it turned out that in some ways it really is waiting for us.

All information about the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia can be found in the FIFA 2018 special project.

The Polish national football team is a team representing Poland in football competitions under the auspices of FIFA. Bronze medalist at the 1974 and 1982 World Championships, and the Polish team also won the 1972 Olympic Games. The first match was played on December 18, 1921 (Hungary 1:0 Poland). The best place in the FIFA ranking is 16 (autumn 2007).

History of the Polish national team

At the end of 1919, the Polish Football Union was founded in Warsaw, which still exists today. The Poles played their first match in May 1920 against the so-called Lviv team. Regarding official games, the White Eagles played their debut match on May 28, 1922 against Sweden (Sweden 1:2 Poland).

Poland at the World Championships

In the fall of 1933, the Poles played for the first time in qualifying for the World Cup. In 1938, the team managed to get to the 1938 World Cup, where the “red-whites” failed to qualify from the group, but were remembered for the dramatic match against Brazil (5:6).

In subsequent years, Poland did not participate in the World Cup for various reasons. Only in 1974, the Poles again declared themselves to the whole world, at the World Cup in Germany, the “white eagles” won bronze, beating Brazil (0:1) in the match for third place.

At the 1978 world championship, the Poles successfully passed the group, taking first place, but could not advance further in the second stage, where the then strong Argentina and Germany were in the Polish group.

At the next World Cup in 1982, Poland again reached the semi-finals and again won bronze. In ½ the Poles capitulated to Italy, but in a dramatic match for third place they defeated France (3:2). The last World Cup where the Poles managed to qualify from the group was the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The Polish squad reached the 1/8, where they subsequently lost to Brazil (4:0).

Already in the new millennium, Poland participated twice in the group stage of the World Championship, but failed to advance further from the group.

Poland and the European Championship

Regarding the European championship, the Poles played there for the first time in 2008. Having received such formidable rivals as Germany and Croatia into the group, the Polish national team capitulated, sharing the last place with one of the hosts of the tournament, the Austrian national team.

In 2012, Poland hosted its EURO together with Ukraine, but the Poles were not lucky here either. After a 1:1 draw with Greece in the first match, the White Eagles finished the match with Russia with the same score, and in the decisive match they lost minimally to the Czech Republic.

Top scorers of the Polish national team

• Włodzimierz Lubanski (48 goals)
• Grzegorz Lato (45 goals)
• Kazimierz Dejna (41 goals)
• Ernest Paul (39 goals)
• Andrzej Szarmach (32 goals)

Most appearances for the Polish national team

• Michal Zhevlyakov (102 match)
• Grzegorz Lato (100 matches)
• Kazimierz Deyna (97 matches)
• Jacek Bonk (96 matches)
• Jacek Krzynowek (96 matches)

The biggest victory of the Polish national football team

• Poland 10:0 San Marino (04/1/2009)