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Poland at the FIFA World Cup

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Polish fans at the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, Russia
Poland - Colombia match at the 2018 World Cup in Kazan, Russia

This is a record of Poland's results at the FIFA World Cup. They have qualified for the finals on nine occasions, most recently in 2022. The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.[1]

In World Cup history, Poland has participated in nine World Cup editions, started with the 1938 World Cup where they lost to Brazil in a 5–6 thriller.[2] It took Poland thirty-six years later to qualify for another World Cup, where they began to stun the world from eliminating former world champions England in 1974 qualification, to finishing third twice, in 1974 and 1982 editions.[3] After participating in 1986, Poland started to decline and lost momentum in global football.

Since the fall of communist rule in Poland at 1989, Poland managed to qualify for 2002, 2006 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, but the team was unable to repeat the feat of the predecessors, went out from the group stage in all three tournaments with two opening losses before gained a consolidating win in the last match.[4] In 2022, Poland, for the first time since 1986, didn't begin the tournament with a defeat, after holding Mexico goalless, and ultimately went on to advance to the knockout stage for the first time in 36 years.

World Cup record

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Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter
Italy 1934
France 1938 Round 1 11th 1 0 0 1 5 6
Brazil 1950 Did not enter
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 Did not qualify
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974 Third place 3rd 7 6 0 1 16 5
Argentina 1978 Second group stage 5th 6 3 1 2 6 6
Spain 1982 Third place 3rd 7 3 3 1 11 5
Mexico 1986 Round of 16 14th 4 1 1 2 1 7
Italy 1990 Did not qualify
United States 1994
France 1998
South Korea Japan 2002 Group stage 25th 3 1 0 2 3 7
Germany 2006 21st 3 1 0 2 2 4
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify
Brazil 2014
Russia 2018 Group stage 25th 3 1 0 2 2 5
Qatar 2022 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 3 5
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total Third place 9/25 38 17 6 15 49 50

Match records

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1938 FIFA World Cup

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First round

5 June 1938 Brazil  6–5 (a.e.t.)  Poland France Strasbourg, France
17:30 (WEST) Leônidas 18', 93', 104'
Romeu 25'
Perácio 44', 71'
(4-4,3-1)
Report (FIFA)
Scherfke 23' (pen.)
Wilimowski 53', 59', 89', 118'
Stadium: Stade de la Meinau
Attendance: 13,452
Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)

1974 FIFA World Cup

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 3 3 0 0 12 3 +9 6 Advance to second round
2  Argentina 3 1 1 1 7 5 +2 3
3  Italy 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 3
4  Haiti 3 0 0 3 2 14 −12 0
Source: FIFA
15 June 1974 Poland  3–2  Argentina West Germany Stuttgart, West Germany
18:00 CET Lato 7', 62'
Szarmach 8'
(2-0)
Report (FIFA)
Heredia 60'
Babington 66'
Stadium: Neckarstadion
Attendance: 32,700
Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)
19 June 1974 Haiti  0–7  Poland West Germany Munich, West Germany
19:30 CET (0-5)
Report (FIFA)
Lato 17', 87'
Deyna 18'
Szarmach 30', 34', 50'
Gorgoń 31'
Stadium: Olympiastadion
Attendance: 25,300
Referee: Govindasamy Suppiah (Singapore)
23 June 1974 Poland  2–1  Italy West Germany Stuttgart, West Germany
16:00 CET Szarmach 38'
Deyna 44'
(2-0)
Report
Capello 85' Stadium: Neckarstadion
Attendance: 70,100
Referee: Hans-Joachim Weyland (West Germany)

Second group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  West Germany 3 3 0 0 7 2 +5 6 Advance to final
2  Poland 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1 4 Advance to third place play-off
3  Sweden 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 2
4  Yugoslavia 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Source: FIFA
26 June 1974 Sweden  0–1  Poland West Germany Stuttgart, West Germany
19:30 CET (0-1)
Report (FIFA)
Lato 43' Stadium: Neckarstadion
Attendance: 44,955
Referee: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay)
30 June 1974 Poland  2–1  Yugoslavia West Germany Frankfurt, West Germany
16:00 CET Deyna 24' (pen.)
Lato 62'
(1-1)
Report (FIFA)
Karasi 43' Stadium: Waldstadion
Attendance: 58,000
Referee: Rudi Glöckner (East Germany)
3 July 1974 Poland  0–1  West Germany West Germany Frankfurt, West Germany
16:30 CET (0-0)
Report (FIFA)
Müller 76' Stadium: Waldstadion
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Erich Linemayr (Austria)

Third place playoff

6 July 1974 Brazil  0–1  Poland West Germany Munich, West Germany
16:00 CET (0-0)
Report(FIFA)
Lato 76' Stadium: Olympiastadion
Attendance: 77,100
Referee: Aurelio Angonese (Italy)

1978 FIFA World Cup

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 5 Advance to second round
2  West Germany 3 1 2 0 6 0 +6 4
3  Tunisia 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 3
4  Mexico 3 0 0 3 2 12 −10 0
Source: FIFA
6 June 1978 Poland  1–0  Tunisia Argentina Rosario, Argentina
16:45 ART Lato 43' (1-0)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Attendance: 9,624
Referee: Ángel Franco Martínez (Spain)
10 June 1978 Poland  3–1  Mexico Argentina Rosario, Argentina
16:45 ART Boniek 43', 84'
Deyna 56'
(1-0)
Report (FIFA)
Rangel 52' Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Attendance: 22,651
Referee: Jafar Namdar (Iran)

Second group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8 5 Advance to final
2  Brazil 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 5 Advance to third place play-off
3  Poland 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 2
4  Peru 3 0 0 3 0 10 −10 0
Source: FIFA
14 June 1978 Argentina  2–0  Poland Argentina Rosario, Argentina
19:15 ART Kempes 16', 72' (1-0)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Attendance: 37,091
Referee: Ulf Eriksson (Sweden)
18 June 1978 Peru  0–1  Poland Argentina Mendoza, Argentina
13:45 ART (0-0)
Report (FIFA)
Szarmach 64' Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza
Attendance: 35,288
Referee: Pat Partridge (England)
21 June 1978 Poland  1–3  Brazil Argentina Mendoza, Argentina
16:45 ART Lato 45' (1-1)
Report (FIFA)
Nelinho 13'
Roberto Dinamite 58', 63'
Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza
Attendance: 39,586
Referee: Juan Silvagno Cavanna (Chile)

1982 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 3 1 2 0 5 1 +4 4 Advance to second round
2  Italy 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
3  Cameroon 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3
4  Peru 3 0 2 1 2 6 −4 2
Source: FIFA
14 June 1982 Italy  0–0  Poland Spain Vigo, Spain
17:15 CEST Report (FIFA) Stadium: Balaídos
Attendance: 33,040
Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)
19 June 1982 Poland  0–0  Cameroon Spain A Coruña, Spain
17:15 CEST Report (FIFA) Stadium: Estadio de Riazor
Attendance: 19,000
Referee: Alexis Ponnet (Belgium)
22 June 1982 Poland  5–1  Peru Spain A Coruña, Spain
17:15 CEST Smolarek 55'
Lato 58'
Boniek 61'
Buncol 68'
Ciołek 76'
(0-0)
Report (FIFA)
La Rosa 83' Stadium: Estadio de Riazor
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Mario Rubio Vázquez (Mexico)

Second group stage

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 3 Advance to knockout stage
2  Soviet Union 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 3
3  Belgium 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0
Source: FIFA
28 June 1982 Poland  3–0  Belgium Spain Barcelona, Spain
21:00 CEST Boniek 4', 26', 53' (2-0)
Report
Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 65,000
Referee: Luis Paulino Siles (Costa Rica)
4 July 1982 Soviet Union  0–0  Poland Spain Barcelona, Spain
21:00 CEST Report (FIFA) Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 65,000
Referee: Bob Valentine (Scotland)

Semi-finals

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8 July 1982 Poland  0–2  Italy Spain Barcelona, Spain
17:15 CEST (0-1)
Report (FIFA)
Rossi 22', 73' Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Juan Daniel Cardellino (Uruguay)

Third place playoff

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10 July 1982 Poland  3–2  France Spain Alicante, Spain
20:00 CEST Szarmach 40'
Majewski 44'
Kupcewicz 46'
(2-1)
Report (FIFA)
Girard 13'
Couriol 72'
Stadium: Estadio José Rico Pérez
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: António Garrido (Portugal)

1986 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Morocco 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 4 Advance to knockout stage
2  England 3 1 1 1 3 1 +2 3
3  Poland 3 1 1 1 1 3 −2 3
4  Portugal 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 2
Source: FIFA
2 June 1986 Morocco  0–0  Poland Mexico Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 CST Report (FIFA) Stadium: Estadio Universitario
Attendance: 19,900
Referee: José Luis Martínez Bazán (Uruguay)
7 June 1986 Poland  1–0  Portugal Mexico Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 CST Smolarek 68' (0-0)
Report (FIFA)[dead link]
Stadium: Estadio Universitario
Attendance: 19,915
Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)
11 June 1986 England  3–0  Poland Mexico Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 CST Lineker 9', 14', 34' (3-0)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico
Attendance: 22,700
Referee: André Daina (Switzerland)

Round of 16

16 June 1986 Brazil  4–0  Poland Mexico Guadalajara, Mexico
12:00 CST Sócrates 30' (pen.)
Josimar 55'
Edinho 79'
Careca 83' (pen.)
(1-0)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Estadio Jalisco
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany)

2002 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Korea (H) 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  United States 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 4
3  Portugal 3 1 0 2 6 4 +2 3
4  Poland 3 1 0 2 3 7 −4 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
(H) Hosts
4 June 2002 South Korea  2–0  Poland South Korea Busan, South Korea
20:30 Hwang Sun-hong 26'
Yoo Sang-chul 53'
(1-0)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Busan Asiad Main Stadium
Attendance: 48,760
Referee: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)
10 June 2002 Portugal  4–0  Poland South Korea Jeonju, South Korea
20:30 Pauleta 14', 65', 77'
Rui Costa 88'
(1-0)
Report
Stadium: Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Attendance: 31,000
Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)
14 June 2002 Poland  3–1  United States South Korea Daejon, South Korea
20:30 Olisadebe 3'
Kryszałowicz 5'
Żewłakow 66'
(2-0)
Report
Donovan 83' Stadium: Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Attendance: 26,482
Referee: Lu Jun (China)

2006 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany (H) 3 3 0 0 8 2 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Ecuador 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3  Poland 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
4  Costa Rica 3 0 0 3 3 9 −6 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
(H) Hosts
9 June 2006 Poland  0–2  Ecuador Germany Gelsenkirchen, Germany
21:00 (0-1)
Report (FIFA)
24' C. Tenorio
80' Delgado
Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Gelsenkirchen
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)
14 June 2006 Germany  1–0  Poland Germany Dortmund, Germany
21:00 Neuville 90+1' (0-0)
Report (FIFA)
Yellow card 28' Yellow-red card 75' Sobolewski Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Dortmund
Attendance: 65,000
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)
20 June 2006 Costa Rica  1–2  Poland Germany Hanover, Germany
16:00 Gómez 25' Report (FIFA) 33', 65' Bosacki Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Hannover
Attendance: 43,000
Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore)

2018 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Colombia 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Japan 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4[a]
3  Senegal 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4[a]
4  Poland 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Fair play points: Japan −4, Senegal −6.
19 June 2018 Poland  1–2  Senegal Russia Moscow, Russia
18:00 Krychowiak 86' (0-1)
Report (FIFA)
37' (o.g.) Cionek
60' Niang
Stadium: Otkritie Arena
Attendance: 44,190
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)
24 June 2018 Poland  0–3  Colombia Russia Kazan, Russia
21:00 (0-1)
Report (FIFA)
40' Mina
70' Falcao
75' Ju. Cuadrado
Stadium: Kazan Arena
Attendance: 42,873
Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)
28 June 2018 Japan  0–1  Poland Russia Volgograd, Russia
17:00 Report (FIFA) 59' Bednarek Stadium: Volgograd Arena
Attendance: 42,189
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

2022 FIFA World Cup

[edit]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advanced to knockout stage
2  Poland 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Mexico 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4
4  Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Mexico 0–0 Poland
Report
Attendance: 39,369

Poland 2–0 Saudi Arabia
Report

Poland 0–2 Argentina
Report
Attendance: 44,089

Knockout stage

Round of 16
France 3–1 Poland
Report
Attendance: 40,989

Record players

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Władysław Żmuda, who participated in all four World Cups of Poland's Golden Generation, also holds the shared record as player with the most FIFA World Cup matches without ever winning the trophy. He is tied with Paolo Maldini and Uwe Seeler, but is the only one of those three from a country that has never won the World Cup, either.

Rank Player Matches World Cups
1 Władysław Żmuda 21 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986
2 Grzegorz Lato 20 1974, 1978 and 1982
3 Zbigniew Boniek 16 1978, 1982 and 1986
4 Kazimierz Deyna 13 1974 and 1978
Henryk Kasperczak 13 1974 and 1978
Andrzej Szarmach 13 1974, 1978 and 1982
Antoni Szymanowski 13 1974 and 1978
8 Jerzy Gorgoń 12 1974 and 1978
9 Jan Tomaszewski 11 1974 and 1978
Stefan Majewski 11 1982 and 1986
Józef Młynarczyk 11 1982 and 1986

Top goalscorers

[edit]

Ernst Wilimowski was the first player ever to score four goals in one match at a FIFA World Cup, and to this day is the only player who managed this feat and still lost the match.

Rank Player Goals World Cups
1 Grzegorz Lato 10 1974 (7), 1978 (2) and 1982 (1)
2 Andrzej Szarmach 7 1974 (5), 1978 (1) and 1982 (1)
3 Zbigniew Boniek 6 1978 (2) and 1982 (4)
4 Ernst Wilimowski 4 1938 (4)
Kazimierz Deyna 4 1974 (3) and 1978 (1)
5 Włodzimierz Smolarek 2 1982 (1) and 1986 (1)
Bartosz Bosacki 2 2006 (2)
Robert Lewandowski 2 2022 (2)

Goalscoring by Tournament

[edit]
World Cup Goalscorer(s)
1938 Ernst Wilimowski (4), Fryderyk Scherfke
1974 Grzegorz Lato (7), Andrzej Szarmach (5), Kazimierz Deyna (3), Jerzy Gorgoń
1978 Zbigniew Boniek (2), Grzegorz Lato (2), Kazimierz Deyna, Andrzej Szarmach
1982 Zbigniew Boniek (4), Andrzej Buncol, Włodzimierz Ciołek, Janusz Kupcewicz, Grzegorz Lato, Stefan Majewski, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Andrzej Szarmach
1986 Włodzimierz Smolarek
2002 Paweł Kryszałowicz, Emmanuel Olisadebe, Marcin Żewłakow
2006 Bartosz Bosacki (2)
2018 Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jan Bednarek[5]
2022 Robert Lewandowski (2), Piotr Zieliński

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 June 2007.
  2. ^ "1938 FIFA World Cup France - Matches - Brazil-Poland". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  3. ^ "From clowns to Kings: When Poland (almost) ruled the soccer world". CNN.com. Cable News Network. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Poland failed to deliver at a World Cup yet again". prostamerika.com. WordPress Development. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  5. ^ FIFA.com
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