Poland come into this summer’s Euro 2020 having won their qualifying group relatively comfortably, finishing six points clear of second-placed Austria after eight wins from ten games.
Robert Lewandowski scored six goals in qualifying and currently has a total of 66 throughout his international career, making him Poland’s record goalscorer. All eyes will be on the winner of FIFA’s 2020 Best Men’s Player award following his record-breaking season in the Bundesliga where he shattered Gerd Muller’s record for goals in a season – a record that had stood since 1972.
Here at Last Word on Football, we’ve put together this profile so that you can have the complete rundown ahead of the competition kicking off in a few days.
Everything You Need to Know About Poland Ahead of Euro 2020
Who is the Poland National Team Coach?
Former Portugal international Paulo Sousa is the current head coach of the Poland national team.
Sousa, 50, enjoyed a 13-year playing career with esteemed clubs such as Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, and Inter Milan. He also played over 50 times for Portugal between 1991 and 2002.
In management, Sousa has already had stints with Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City, Leicester City, and Fiorentina, among others.
Sousa has only managed Portugal since January of this year, replacing Jerzy Brzeczek who was dismissed despite leading Poland to qualify for this year’s finals.
Who Has Been Selected in the Poland Squad For Euro 2020?
The household name within the Poland squad is, of course, Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich star has been one of the best forwards in world football for years now and shows no signs of slowing down just yet.
As well as Lewandowski, Poland also have Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Southampton’s Jan Bednarek, Mateusz Klich of Leeds United, and Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski. Unfortunately, Krzysztof Piatek will miss the tournament through injury after fracturing his ankle in a Bundesliga game in May.
GKs: Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna)
Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Pawel Dawidowicz (Verona), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Michal Helik (Barnsley), Tomasz Kedziora (Dynamo Kyiv), Kamil Piatkowski (Rakow Czestochowa), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Lech Poznan), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moskva)
Midfielders: Przemysław Frankowski (Chicago Fire), Kamil Jozwiak (Derby), Mateusz Klich (Leeds), Kacper Kozlowski (Pogon Szczecin), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moskva), Karol Linetty (Torino), Jakub Moder (Brighton), Przemyslaw Placheta (Norwich), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli)
Forwards: Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Arkadiusz Milik (Marseille), Karol Swiderski (PAOK), Jakub Swierczok (Piast Gliwice)
Can Sousa Help Poles Spring a Surprise?
Poland fans don’t really know what to expect from their team this summer. Paulo Sousa will only have taken charge of the side for five matches when they kick their tournament off against Slovakia on June 14.
So far, under Sousa, Poland have beaten Andorra, drawn with Hungary and Russia, and lost to England. Their final preparation game is this Tuesday when they face Iceland.
No doubt Sousa and co will miss the injured Krzysztof Piatek but the squad does possess plenty of strength and quality through the spine of the team. Sousa will be pinning much of his hope on Robert Lewandowski in attack.
They are tipped to progress past the group stages but it is hard to see Poland get any further than the quarter-finals.
Group Stage Fixtures
Poland are in Group E of the European Championship alongside Spain, Sweden, and Slovakia.
They are second-favourites to win their group, behind Spain and just ahead of Sweden. At a price of around 80/1 to win the competition outright, it’s fair to say Poland are an outside bet.
Poland v Slovakia– June 14, 5pm BST
Poland v Spain – June 19, 8pm BST
Poland v Sweden – June 23, 5pm BST
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
