Poland at the UEFA European Championship

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Poland have participated in four UEFA European Championships so far, all consecutively: Euro 2008, Euro 2012, Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, with an upcoming fifth appearance at Euro 2024.

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While the UEFA European Championship was first established in 1960, it took Poland as many as 48 years to qualify, by which time they had managed to attend five FIFA World Cup finals and win third place in two of them. By the end of the Cold War, Poland were the second most populated UEFA member state to have yet to compete in a Euro tournament (the most populated being Turkey), behind quite a few of their smaller neighbors, such as Czechoslovakia. Even some of the best coaches to ever run the Poland team, namely Kazimierz Górski and Antoni Piechniczek proved unable to break the humiliating succession of defeats. In 1996, Turkey and newly independent Russia made their Euro debuts, making Poland and newly independent Ukraine the only major UEFA member states to not have qualified for a European tournament (with Poland eventually beating Ukraine to making their debut first). Overall, Poland missed twelve European tournaments before qualifying for one for a first time.

The long-awaited qualification finally came in 2008 although Poland proved disappointing, ending last in the group stage, a scenario which would be repeated four years later, though drawing against Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic. The 2012 performance was especially criticized, with many suggesting that Poland would not have even qualified for the tournament had it not been one of the hosts. The next tournament, Euro 2016, proved historic as Poland got their first win in a European Championship with a 1–0 win over Northern Ireland and eventually made it to the quarter-finals before losing to Portugal on penalties and securing the best result for the Poland team since their well-remembered third place at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Euro 2008

Poland's qualification to the UEFA Euro 2008 marked their first appearance in the tournament. Despite qualifying for the tournament with an impressing campaign, edging Portugal to first place in their qualifying group, the tournament would be a disappointing debut with one point from three matches.

In a rematch from the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Poland took on Germany in the first game. Although the Poles were far from dominated in the game and created many chances, 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 controversial penalty, which the Austrian striker Ivica Vastić 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.

The Polish Football Association did not hold the coach Leo Beenhakker responsible for the disappointing performance and allowed him to keep his job for the 2010 World Cup qualifying. While Poland ended up at the bottom of the group for a third time in the 2000s, the sentiment prevalent in the Polish media was that of bad luck rather than any real lack of skill and most of public opinion was in favour of Beenhakker leading the national team to South Africa. The qualification round that followed, however, proved so disastrous and humiliating that Beenhakker lost any support in the Football Association, the press, and his own team itself, after which was promptly sacked.

Group stage

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 330041+39Advance to knockout phase
2Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 320142+26
3Flag of Austria.svg  Austria (H)301213−21 [lower-alpha 1]
4Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 301214−31 [lower-alpha 1]
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Tied on head-to-head result (Austria 1–1 Poland). Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg 2–0 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
  • Podolski Soccerball shade.svg20', 72'
 Report
Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt
Attendance: 30,461 [1]
Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)
Austria  Flag of Austria.svg 1–1 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Attendance: 51,428 [2]
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg 0–1 Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Report
Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt
Attendance: 30,461 [3]
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)

Euro 2012

On 18 April 2007 in Cardiff, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by the UEFA's executive committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Championship, which was the 14th edition of the tournament. Poland, automatically seeded in Group A, were drawn with Russia, Greece and the Czech Republic. While Poland's poor performance at the last World Cup qualification was not forgotten, many hoped that the omnipresent sense of national pride as well as the honour of playing at home would push the team, composed of some prominent Bundesliga players, such as Jakub Błaszczykowski, Robert Lewandowski and Łukasz Piszczek, to their limits. Consequently, the initial reception of the first two matches, which ended in a draw (against Greece and Russia respectively), was somewhat positive, leaving public opinion moderately optimistic about the result of the final game against the Czech Republic. All hopes were shattered though and the Czech Republic won 1–0, leaving Poland at the bottom of their group once again, this time, to make things even worse, on home soil.

Group stage

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 320145−16Advance to knockout phase
2Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 31113304 [lower-alpha 1]
3Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 311153+24 [lower-alpha 1]
4Flag of Poland.svg  Poland (H)302123−12
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head result: Greece 1–0 Russia.
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg 1–1 Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
Report
National Stadium, Warsaw
Attendance: 56,070 [4]
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg 1–1 Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Report
National Stadium, Warsaw
Attendance: 55,920 [5]
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)
Czech Republic  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg 1–0 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
Stadion Miejski, Wrocław
Attendance: 41,480 [6]
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

Euro 2016

Poland once again failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, even though the scale of their defeat was not even close to that from four years before. Under a new management of Adam Nawałka, the team managed to make it smoothly through the qualification to Euro 2016 in France, their third European tournament ever. The team advanced to the knockout phase from the second place (behind Germany), after which it knocked out Switzerland on penalties, only to be given the taste of the very same treatment in the following quarterfinal game against Portugal.

Nawałka adapted an extremely defensive tactic, all but eliminating one of the major Polish flaws at previous tournaments: the tendency to lose goals as a result of small mistakes. During the whole tournament, Poland conceded as few as two goals, both of which were considered highly sophisticated and difficult to block. Compared with the defense, however, the offensive left much to be desired, with Robert Lewandowski scoring his only solitary goal in the last game and, together with Arkadiusz Milik, notoriously missing out on perfect scoring opportunities. Nevertheless, the tournament was viewed as successful in Poland and Nawałka was invited to lead the team in the qualification to the 2018 World Cup.

Group stage

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 321030+37 [lower-alpha 1] Advance to knockout phase
2Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 321020+27 [lower-alpha 1]
3Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 31022203
4Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 300305−50
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Tied on head-to-head result (Germany 0–0 Poland). Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg 1–0 Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland
Report
Stade de Nice, Nice
Attendance: 33,742 [7]
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg 0–0 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 73,648 [8]
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Ukraine  Flag of Ukraine.svg 0–1 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 58,874 [9]
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

Knockout phase

Round of 16
Quarter-finals

Euro 2020

Poland managed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020 but not without skepticism after some of Poland's poor performance in qualifiers. However, Poland was unfortunate to be drawn with two very strong opponents, Spain and Sweden – both will be the first time Poland encounter against in the Euro. The last opponent was Slovakia who won the Euro qualifiers play-offs over Northern Ireland.

The tournament was a major catastrophe for the Polish side, as the team started its run with a shock 1–2 defeat to Slovakia, with Wojciech Szczęsny registered to the history in an unfabulous style as the first goalkeeper to score an own goal. Poland then fought back to gain a respectable 1–1 draw to Spain in Seville, all thanked for Robert Lewandowski, who then scored two goals in Poland's eventual 2–3 defeat to Sweden to end Poland's tournament in a disappointing last-place finish. All two losses of Poland occurred in Saint Petersburg.

Group stage

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 321042+27Advance to knockout phase
2Flag of Spain.svg  Spain (H)312061+55
3Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 310227−53
4Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 301246−21
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg 1–2 Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
Report
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
Attendance: 12,862 [12]
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)
Spain  Flag of Spain.svg 1–1 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
La Cartuja, Seville
Attendance: 11,742 [13]
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)
Sweden  Flag of Sweden.svg 3–2 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
Attendance: 14,252 [14]
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

Euro 2024

Group stage

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 00000000Advance to knockout stage
2Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 00000000
3Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 00000000Possible knockout stage based on ranking
4Flag of France.svg  France 00000000
First match(es) will be played: 16 June 2024. Source: UEFA
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg Match 7 Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Report
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg
Poland  Flag of Poland.svg Match 19 Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Report
Olympiastadion, Berlin
France  Flag of France.svg Match 32 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Report
BVB Stadion Dortmund, Dortmund

Record players

RankPlayerMatchesEuros
1 Robert Lewandowski 112012, 2016 and 2020
2 Łukasz Piszczek 82008, 2012 and 2016
Jakub Błaszczykowski 82012 and 2016
Kamil Glik 82016 and 2020
3 Grzegorz Krychowiak 72016 and 2020
4 Marcin Wasilewski 62008 and 2012
Kamil Grosicki 62012 and 2016
5 Wojciech Szczęsny 52012, 2016 and 2020
Dariusz Dudka 52008 and 2012
Rafał Murawski 52008 and 2012
Michał Pazdan 52008 and 2016
Artur Jędrzejczyk 52016
Tomasz Jodłowiec 52016
Arkadiusz Milik 52016

Goalscorers

PlayerGoals 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Roger Guerreiro 11
Robert Lewandowski 5113
Jakub Błaszczykowski 312
Arkadiusz Milik 11
Karol Linetty 11
Total1112440

Overall record

UEFA Euro 2012 opening match Poland-Greece Both teams on the pitch POL-GRE 8-6-2012.jpg
UEFA Euro 2012 opening match Poland–Greece
UEFA European Championship record
YearRoundPositionPldWD*LGFGA
Flag of France.svg 1960 Did not qualify
Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg 1964
Flag of Italy.svg 1968
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 1972
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg 1976
Flag of Italy.svg 1980
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 1984
Flag of Germany.svg 1988
Flag of Sweden.svg 1992
Flag of England.svg 1996
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Flag of the Netherlands.svg 2000
Flag of Portugal.svg 2004
Flag of Austria.svg Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg 2008 Group stage14th301214
Flag of Poland.svg Flag of Ukraine.svg 2012 Group stage14th302123
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 2016 Quarter-finals5th523042
Flag of Europe.svg 2020 Group stage21st301246
Flag of Germany.svg 2024 Qualified
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 2028 To be determined
Flag of Italy.svg Flag of Turkey.svg 2032
TotalQuarter-finals5/17142751115

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Full-time report Germany-Poland" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 8 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "Full-time report Austria-Poland" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Full-time report Poland-Croatia" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Full-time report Poland-Greece" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Full-time report Poland-Russia" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Full-time report Czech Republic-Poland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Poland v Northern Ireland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Germany v Poland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Ukraine v Poland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Switzerland v Poland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Poland v Portugal" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Poland v Slovakia" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Spain v Poland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Sweden v Poland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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