POLAND
FIFA World Ranking: 21
Previous Best: QF 2016
Last 5 Euros (Latest first): QF-Groups-Groups-DNQ-DNQ
How Qualified: Winner Group G
Qualifying Record: P10 W8 D1 L1 F18 A5 GD13 Pts25
Tournament Odds: 80/1
Squad
Goalkeepers: Łukasz Fabiański (West Ham), Łukasz Skorupski (Bologna), Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus)
Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Bartosz Bereszyński (Sampdoria), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Michał Helik (Barnsley), Tomasz Kędziora (Dynamo Kyiv), Kamil Piątkowski (Raków Częstochowa), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Lech Poznań), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moskva)
Midfielders: Paweł Dawidowicz (Verona), Przemysław Frankowski (Chicago Fire), Kamil Jóźwiak (Derby), Mateusz Klich (Leeds), Kacper Kozłowski (Pogoń Szczecin), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moskva), Karol Linetty (Torino), Jakub Moder (Brighton), Przemysław Płacheta (Norwich), Piotr Zieliński (Napoli)
Forwards: Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Karol Świderski (PAOK), Jakub Świerczok (Piast Gliwice)
Group Fixtures
June 14 vs Slovakia (5pm – St Petersburg)
June 19 vs Spain (8pm – Seville)
June 23 vs Sweden (5pm – St Petersburg)
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History
Poland have a surprisingly poor record in the European Championships, although their best outing to date was in the last tournament in France where they made the quarter final before going down to eventual champions Portugal in a penalty shootout. They then disappointed in the World Cup in Russia where they failed to escape a winnable group so there is a little bit of pressure on them to deliver a strong run here, but it must be said tournament football doesn’t appear to be their forte.
Qualifying
Poland were very good in what was considered to be the weakest of the qualifying groups. They powered into the finals with eight wins from their 10 matches, barely conceding a goal and doing enough to qualifying comfortable as the winners of a group which contains two more teams who made it to these finals in Austria and North Macedonia. They have changed manager since then but that shouldn’t detract from their qualifying performance. As you would expect, Robert Lewandowski was their top scorer in qualifying. He notched six goals.
Pandemic Effect
We will only truly know after the tournament whether the pandemic was a held or a hindrance but having changed manager at the beginning of the year, there is a chance that the 12 month delay came at the right time for Poland, with Paulo Sousa changed with getting the best out of a bright set of attacking players, both experienced and younger players. Some of those players have continued to shine in some big leagues throughout Europe so they probably head into the competition in better shape despite an indifferent beginning to their World Cup qualifying campaign this year.
Strengths
The biggest strength of the Poland side is that they have arguably the most deadly striker in Europe, if not the world, in their ranks in Robert Lewandowski. Poland fans and he won’t need reminding that his tournament record flatters to deceive and is actually quite poor so they will need him to deliver the goods here. They have good quality in the goalkeeping ranks as well with Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski particularly good options.
Weaknesses
With the exception of Jan Bednarek, there is a light look to the centre of the Poland defence, emphasised by the fact that Sousa has come in and immediately changed them to a three at the back outfit. Kamil Glik is probably past his best and the new brigade haven’t quite got the quality required for this level just yet. They are becoming renowned for underachieving at tournaments too and that is a tag that can often be very hard to shake off.
Manager
Paulo Sousa has only been in charge of Poland for six months but he has already tried to make a dramatic impact. The Portuguese has switched to a three at the back formation, which hasn’t got the results they require so far but will probably be better for them in the long term as it will give them the chance to get some of their more exciting attacking players on the park at the same time. Sousa is an experienced boss who has won titles in Israel and Switzerland. His teams play a fluent style of football without neglecting a defensive stability.
Key Players
All eyes will be on Robert Lewandowski for as long as Poland remain in this tournament. He is yet to deliver the goods on the tournament stage for his country but his club form suggests that with the right players around him that surely has to change eventually. One of those key players alongside him could be the Napoli playmaker Piotr Zielinski, a man who on his day can be unplayable and will need to offer up that form here.
Team Bets
I’m a little surprised that we can get the Poland total tournament goals line up at 4.5 in this competition. They made the last eight of the last Euros and still only managed to score four goals in their five matches and I don’t see them going as deep as that here so they will have fewer matches with which to score more goals. I’m not convinced it is happening even if they have got Robert Lewandowski in their ranks.
He doesn’t have a great tournament record and while the natural logic would suggest that has to change soon, Poland are in a group with three defensively proficient sides and if they do come out of it they will run into either England or Croatia or the Netherlands. They might get some joy against the latter but you’d think the former two have enough to control the game so I don’t see this Poland team banging in the goals in this tournament. I’m happy to be on the under here.
Tips
Back Under 4.5 tournament goals for a 2/10 stake at 1.75 with Betway
