Poland
The Road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Poland qualified top of a group including Romania, Montenegro and Denmark. Adam Nawalka’s team topped the group fairly comfortably, winning eight games out of 10, suffering one defeat and drawing once.
Star striker Robert Lewandowski made a major contribution to the team’s qualification. The Bayern Munich striker finished the campaign with 16 goals, a record for European qualifiers. He also topped the scoring charts for the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Stars
Robert Lewandowski, 29, is undoubtedly Poland’s top star and main hope. He made his debut for the senior national team in 2008, and has since played 91 times, scoring 51 international goals, making him the Poles’ all-time top scorer.
Lewandowski transferred from his homeland to Borussia Dortmund aged 21, and in 2014 moved on to Bayern Munich. Lewandowski is a five-time German champion and a two-time German Cup winner.
The striker is as shrewd off the pitch as he is on it, and actively invests in internet startups and real estate. Recently, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management.
The Polish national team’s main goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, is a well-known name. In 2017 Juventus bought him from Arsenal for over €12 million ($15 million), and Szczesny is poised to replace the great Gianluigi Buffon when he retires.
Among the younger generation, Piotr Zielinski is one of the most prominent prospects. The 23-year-old midfielder has become indispensable for the national team, playing almost every minute in all 10 qualifiers. His club side is Napoli, where he has to compete with Brazilian Jorginho for the position of the only defensive midfielder.
Coach
Adam Nawalka has never worked outside of Poland, but has achieved significant success in his homeland. With his home club Wisla Krakow he became Polish champion, and guided GornikZabrze to the top league.
Nawalka, 60, joined the national team in 2007, and assisted Leo Beenhakker in taking the team to Euro 2008. However, Poland claimed just a single point from the group stage in Austria and Switzerland, and returned home early.
Nawalka took over as head coach in 2013, after Poland failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup under Waldemar Fornalik. Under the new manager, Poland reached Euro 2016 and only lost to future champions Portugal on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Past Achievements
Poland have claimed third at two previous World Cups. In 1974, a strong Polish team was one of the surprises of the tournament. At the first group stage, Kazimierz Gursky’s team defeated Italy, Zaire and Argentina, and at the second stage beat Yugoslavia and Sweden, losing only to hosts Germany. That sent the Poles through to the third place play-off against Brazil, who they beat 1-0.
Jan Tomaszewski and Grzegorz Lato were the main heroes of that tournament. Tomaszewski was named goalkeeper of the 1974 World Cup, while Lato, who scored seven goals, won the Golden Boot.
Eight years later, Poland participated in the World Cup under young coach Antoni Piechniczek, with a team including Lato and forward Zbigniew Boniek, who is the current head of the Polish Football Association. Boniek was Poland’s top striker at the 1982 edition and scored four goals. Poland reached the semi-finals, but lost to Italy, the future champions. “The White Eagles” claimed third spot, however, beating France З-2 with Michel Platini left on the bench. Russia 2018 will be the nation’s eight appearance at a finals, and first since Germany 2006.