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With Lewandowski at the fore, Poland are looking to reach the second round of the World Cup for the first time in the 21st century.
The name on everyone's lips whenever Poland is mentioned will always be Robert Lewandowski, but the team is much more than just their outstanding striker. Poland may not be too many people's choice to lift the trophy, but they have enough firepower to provide entertainment.
Poland's Road to Qatar
Poland finished second to England in UEFA Qualification group I with 20 points from 10 games. They then went to the playoffs for the best second-placed teams and Nations League qualifiers and were paired against Russia in the first round of the playoffs.
Due to Russia’s involvement in the invasion of Ukraine, they were expelled from the playoffs, and Poland were allowed to move to the playoffs final where they defeated Sweden 2-0 thanks to goals from Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski.
Poland's best World Cup performances
Poland had a golden era of performances at the World Cup that culminated in them winning two bronze medals in 1974 and 1982, thanks in part to the heroics of legendary forward Grzegorz Lato who was the top scorer at the 1974 World Cup with seven goals.
They haven’t been anywhere close to those levels since. They have only qualified on three occasions after 1986, and on all four occasions, they left at the earliest stage possible, winning only one match of three, and losing the other two in each tournament.
In 2022, they’ll be hoping that they can better these performances and rekindle their glory days of the ‘70s and 80s.
Poland’s World Cup squad
Poland’s squad is of course headlined by Lewandowski, but still features a number of other players with undeniable quality. Napoli midfielder Zielinski, Aston Villa full-back Matty Cash, as well as the Juventus duo Arkadiusz Milik and Wojciech Szczęsny are other notable players called up by Poland for the World Cup.
There was no room, however, for Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich, while Brighton’s Jakub Moder has been ruled out through injury as well.
Here is a full list of their squad going to the World Cup.
Poland's star players at the World Cup
Robert Lewandowski
The obvious choice. Poland are in Qatar thanks majorly to the contributions of Lewandowski who scored nine goals during the qualifiers, including the opening goal in the playoff finals. He is currently Poland’s highest-ever goalscorer and has earned the most caps for them as well.
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In the 2022/23 season, he has been on fire for Barcelona, scoring 18 goals in 19 games, while laying on four assists as well. Leading into the World Cup, he’ll be the focal point for Poland’s attack as they look to reach the second round for the first time since 1986.
Piotr Zieliński
Supplying Lewandowski will be Napoli's attacking midfielder Zielinski who has already assisted seven goals for the Italian league leaders in only 15 starts and currently leads their team for expected assisted goals (xAG) with 5.6 xAG.
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Zielinski will be going to his second World Cup tournament with Poland and will be hoping for a better outing than the 2018 World Cup in Russia where he and the entire team had a torrid tournament.
Poland’s Coach at the World Cup
Poland have a proud history of having mostly Polish coaches take charge of the national team with only two foreigners ever managing The Eagles.
Currently at the helm is experienced manager Czesław Michniewicz whose coaching career has spanned 20 years and has seen him coach some of the biggest teams in Poland as well as the national under-21 team.
He has struggled a bit since replacing Paulo Sousa as manager of Poland, winning only three of his eight games in charge so far. However, one of those games was in the crucial playoff that allowed Poland to qualify for Qatar 2022.
Poland’s fixtures at the World Cup
Poland vs Mexico 22 November 2022 17:00 UTC +1 (Local Nigerian time)
Poland vs Saudi Arabia 26 November 2022 14:00 UTC +1
Poland vs Argentina 30 November 2022 20:00 UTC +1
Poland’s chances and betting odds at the World Cup
Despite having one of the greatest goalscorers of his generation in their team, Poland are still a long shot to win the World Cup at 150.00 odds. That is below the odds for Denmark and Uruguay to win. Poland are also billed to make the semifinals at 7.50 odds which is respectable, and the odds for them to qualify from the group stand at 1.89.
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