2022 World Cup Team Profile: Poland

Poland National Team (Twitter @LaczyNasPilka)

JAKARTA - You may be wondering if the Polish national team is good at football. Well, football is the most popular sport in the country and is followed by millions of people. This love for the game inspired many Poles to pursue football as a profession. Some of them have even represented the Polish national football team.

Poland has produced several footballers who have written their names into the sport. They include captain and all-time goalscorer Robert Lewandowski and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.

Does the Polish national football team have a nickname? What have they achieved in this sport? This article will answer them and much more including the profiles and names of the players.

Profile overview

Full name: Poland national football team Nickname: Bialo-Czerwoni (White and Red), Orły (Eagle) Founded: 1919 Managed by: Polish Football Association (PZPN) Stadium: PGE Narodowy, ląski Stadium, Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk Affiliation: FIFA, UEFA FIFA Code: POL Colors: White and red Coach: Czeslaw Michniewicz Captain: Robert Lewandowski World ranking: 28 (as of May 2022) Best rating: 5 (2017) Lowest rating: 78 (2013) Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (75) Most appearances: Robert Lewandowski (129) Brief history

The Polish Football Federation was officially founded in 1919. The national team played its first game in 1921 when they lost to Hungary 1-0 in a friendly. The Polish national team won their first game in 1922, beating Sweden 2-1 in Stockholm.

Since then, football has grown in popularity with the Polish national team developing every year. However, Polish football suffered a setback during World War II due to the massacre of several of its players. As a result, the national team was disbanded in 1939.

After the end of the war, the Bialo-Czerwoni returned to international football in June 1946. Their first match was a friendly against Norway in Oslo, where they lost 1-3 to the hosts.

golden generation

Like many national teams, Poland has had different generations, including the golden era of 1974 to 1986. Coached by the legendary Kazimierz Gorski, the team beat England to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. They then eliminated Argentina, Haiti, Italy and Sweden to reach the semifinals, where they lost to Germany.

#OnThisDay w 1978 roku reprezentacja Polski wygrała z Peru 1:0 na mundialu w Argentynie. Gola strzelił Andrzej Szarmach i popisał się nietypową cieszynką. Więcej o tym meczu znajdziesz w #BibliotekaPZPN. ️

— czy nas piłka (@LaczyNasPilka) June 18, 2022

Poland at the World Cup

Bialo-Czerwoni took part in eight World Cup tournaments, but has never won. Their best performances came in 1974 and 1982 when they finished third. Poland made its first World Cup appearance in 1938 but was eliminated by Brazil in the round of 16.

The team also booked a place in the 2022 World Cup after beating Sweden 2-0 in a play-off match on 29 March 2022. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski took Poland into their ninth tournament.

Poland at the 2022 World Cup

The Polish national team has a difficult task in pursuing World Cup glory. This team will face Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in Group C. Against Lionel Messi's country and the often surprising side of Mexico will indeed be a big test for them, with only two teams advancing to the knockout stages.

Here is their schedule for their group stage matches:

Tuesday, 22 November 2022Argentina vs Saudi Arabia: 17:00 WIB Mexico vs Poland: 23:00 WIB Saturday, 26 November 2022 Argentina vs Mexico: 23:00 WIB Sunday, 27 November 2022Poland vs Saudi Arabia: 02:00 WIB Thursday, 1 December 2022Poland vs Argentina: 02:00 WIB Saudi Arabia vs Mexico: 02:00 WIB

#FinalDRAW nasza Grupa na mistrzostwa wiata! Zmierzymy się z: Argentyną (@Argentina)✅ Arabią Saudyjską (@SaudiNT_EN)✅ Meksykiem (@miseleccionmx)#WCQ | #WorldCup | #KierunekKatar pic.twitter.com/fWv3WEPqo7

— czy nas piłka (@LaczyNasPilka) April 1, 2022

European Cup

Poland qualified for their first European Cup in 2008. They also made it to the finals in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 editions but have never made it past the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Bialo-Czerwoni will be counting on the current players as they prepare to compete in the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers.

️ #OneYearAgo Ostatni mecz na #EURO2020, @lewy_official i ten gol w meczu ze Szwecją! ️

— czy nas piłka (@LaczyNasPilka) June 23, 2022

trophy

Bialo-Czerwoni won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympics. They went on to take home silver in 1976 and 1992.

FIFA Ranking

Currently, the Polish national team is ranked 26th in FIFA with 1530.62 points as of June 2022. Their highest ranking is 5th with 1319 points in August 2017, while the lowest is 78th with 473 points in November 2013. In Europe, they are ranked 16th.

2022 World Cup provisional squad

How many Polish players do you know? The following is a list of the latest squad members selected to play for this team, including their respective positions and clubs.

Piłkarze rice już na rozgrzewce! 💪___________40 minut do #POLBEL #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/UkBGwofyEn

— czy nas piłka (@LaczyNasPilka) June 14, 2022

Goalkeeper

Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham) Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna) Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus)

defender

Jan Bednarek (Southampton) Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria) Pawel Dawidowia Verona) Kamil Glik (Benevento) Michal Helik (Barnsley) Tomasz Kedziora (Lech Poznan) Kamil Piatkowski (RB Salzburg) Tymoteusz Puchacz (Trabzonspor) Macokiej Moscow.

Midfielder

Przemyslaw Frankowski (Lens) Kamil Jozwiak (Charlotte FC) Mat Klich (Leeds) Kacper Kozlowski (Union St Gilloise) Grzegorz Krychowiak (AEK Athens) Karol Linetty (Torino) Jakub Moder (Brighton) Przemyslawinskiot (Norel) Picheta (Norel)

Attacker

Dawid Kownacki (Bayernzdowski) Arkadi (Lech Poznan) Milik (Marseille) Karol Swiderski (Charlotte FC) Jakub Swierczok (Nagoya Grampus) Poland's best player

The Polish national football team is captained by Robert Lewandowski who is arguably their best player. He is also considered the best striker in the world. The 33-year-old forward also won the 2020 FIFA Men's Player of the Year Award for his outstanding achievements for Bayern Munich.

Moreover, no Polish player has scored more goals than Lewandowski (76) for the national team. He is also the player with the most caps with 132 games as of June 2022.

Trainer

The former head coach of Legia Warsaw, Czesław Michniewicz is currently the manager of Bialo-Czerwoni. The Polish Football Association appointed him in January 2022 to replace Paulo Sousa.