The Poland national football team ( ) 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 ten goals scored 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 the 1992 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 were 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

Poland being mostly unknown on the international football scene before 1974 shook up the football world during the World Cup in Germany. With their lighting 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.

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 Germany 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 Muller scored the winning goal in the 76th minute for Germany, the ball trickled into the Polish net. 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 ninety’s 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 also eliminated Costa Rica 2-1 with both Polish goals scored by Bartosz Bosacki.

Euro 2008

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).

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

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 3

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