Poland at the FIFA World Cup

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.

Polish fans at the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, Russia

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

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

Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934
1938	Round 1	11th	1	0	0	1	5	6
1950	Did not enter
1954
1958	Did not qualify
1962
1966
1970
1974	Third place	3rd	7	6	0	1	16	5
1978	Quarter-finals[a]	5th	6	3	1	2	6	6
1982	Third place	3rd	7	3	3	1	11	5
1986	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	1	7
1990	Did not qualify
1994
1998
2002	Group stage	25th	3	1	0	2	3	7
2006		21st	3	1	0	2	2	4
2010	Did not qualify
2014
2018	Group stage	25th	3	1	0	2	2	5
2022	Round of 16	15th	4	1	1	2	3	5
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Third place	9/25	38	17	6	15	49	50

Poland's World Cup record
First Match	Poland 5–6 Brazil  (5 June 1938; Strasbourg, France)
Biggest Win	Poland 7–0 Haiti  (19 June 1974; Munich, West Germany)
Biggest Defeat	Brazil 4–0 Poland  (16 June 1986; Guadalajara, Mexico)  Poland 0–4 Portugal  (10 June 2002; Jeonju, South Korea)
Best Result	Third place in 1974 and 1982
Worst Result	Group stage in 1938, 2002, 2006 and 2018

Match records

1938 FIFA World Cup

First round

Main article: Brazil v Poland (1938 FIFA World Cup)

Brazil  v  Poland

5 June 1938	Brazil	6–5 (a.e.t.)	Poland	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

Main article: 1974 FIFA World Cup

Group stage

Main article: 1974 FIFA World Cup Group 4

Pos	Team v t e	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

Poland  v  Argentina

15 June 1974	Poland	3–2	Argentina	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)

Haiti  v  Poland

19 June 1974	Haiti	0–7	Poland	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)

Poland  v  Italy

23 June 1974	Poland	2–1	Italy	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

Main article: 1974 FIFA World Cup Group B

Pos	Team v t e	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

Sweden  v  Poland

26 June 1974	Sweden	0–1	Poland	Stuttgart, West Germany
19:30 CET		(0-1) Report (FIFA)	Lato 43'	Stadium: Neckarstadion Attendance: 44,955 Referee: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay)

Poland  v  Yugoslavia

30 June 1974	Poland	2–1	Yugoslavia	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)

Poland  v  West Germany

3 July 1974	Poland	0–1	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

Brazil  v  Poland

6 July 1974	Brazil	0–1	Poland	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

Group stage

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup Group 2

Pos	Team v t e	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

West Germany  v  Poland

1 June 1978	West Germany	0–0	Poland	Buenos Aires, Argentina
15:00 ART		Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Estadio Monumental Attendance: 67,579 Referee: Ángel Norberto Coerezza (Argentina)

Poland  v  Tunisia

6 June 1978	Poland	1–0	Tunisia	Rosario, Argentina
16:45 ART	Lato 43'	(1-0) Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito Attendance: 9,624 Referee: Ángel Franco Martínez (Spain)

Poland  v  Mexico

10 June 1978	Poland	3–1	Mexico	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

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup Group B

Pos	Team v t e	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

Argentina  v  Poland

14 June 1978	Argentina	2–0	Poland	Rosario, Argentina
19:15 ART	Kempes 16', 72'	(1-0) Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito Attendance: 37,091 Referee: Ulf Eriksson (Sweden)

Peru  v  Poland

18 June 1978	Peru	0–1	Poland	Mendoza, Argentina
13:45 ART		(0-0) Report (FIFA)	Szarmach 64'	Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza Attendance: 35,288 Referee: Pat Partridge (England)

Poland  v  Brazil

21 June 1978	Poland	1–3	Brazil	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

Group stage

Main article: 1982 FIFA World Cup Group 1

Pos	Team v t e	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

Italy  v  Poland

14 June 1982	Italy	0–0	Poland	Vigo, Spain
17:15 CEST		Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Balaídos Attendance: 33,040 Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)

Poland  v  Cameroon

19 June 1982	Poland	0–0	Cameroon	A Coruña, Spain
17:15 CEST		Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Estadio de Riazor Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Alexis Ponnet (Belgium)

Poland  v  Peru

22 June 1982	Poland	5–1	Peru	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

Main article: 1982 FIFA World Cup Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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

Poland  v  Belgium

28 June 1982	Poland	3–0	Belgium	Barcelona, Spain
21:00 CEST	Boniek 4', 26', 53'	(2-0) Report		Stadium: Camp Nou Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Luis Paulino Siles (Costa Rica)

Soviet Union  v  Poland

4 July 1982	Soviet Union	0–0	Poland	Barcelona, Spain
21:00 CEST		Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Camp Nou Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Bob Valentine (Scotland)

Semi-finals

Poland  v  Italy

8 July 1982	Poland	0–2	Italy	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

Poland  v  France

10 July 1982	Poland	3–2	France	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

Group stage

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group F

Pos	Team v t e	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

Morocco  v  Poland

2 June 1986	Morocco	0–0	Poland	Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 CST		Report (FIFA)		Stadium: Estadio Universitario Attendance: 19,900 Referee: José Luis Martínez Bazán (Uruguay)

Poland  v  Portugal

7 June 1986	Poland	1–0	Portugal	Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 CST	Smolarek 68'	(0-0) Report (FIFA)[dead link]		Stadium: Estadio Universitario Attendance: 19,915 Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)

England  v  Poland

11 June 1986	England	3–0	Poland	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

Brazil  v  Poland

16 June 1986	Brazil	4–0	Poland	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

Group stage

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup Group D

Pos	Team v t e	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

South Korea  v  Poland

4 June 2002	South Korea	2–0	Poland	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)

Portugal  v  Poland

10 June 2002	Portugal	4–0	Poland	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)

Poland  v  United States

14 June 2002	Poland	3–1	United States	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

Group stage

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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

Poland  v  Ecuador

9 June 2006	Poland	0–2	Ecuador	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)

Germany  v  Poland

14 June 2006	Germany	1–0	Poland	Dortmund, Germany
21:00	Neuville 90+1'	(0-0) Report (FIFA)	28'  75' Sobolewski	Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Dortmund Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)

Costa Rica  v  Poland

20 June 2006	Costa Rica	1–2	Poland	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

Group stage

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H

Pos	Team v t e	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[b]
3	Senegal	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4[b]
4	Poland	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	3

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Last 8 held as second group stage.
2. Fair play points: Japan −4, Senegal −6.

Poland  v  Senegal

19 June 2018	Poland	1–2	Senegal	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)

Poland  v  Colombia

24 June 2018	Poland	0–3	Colombia	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)

Japan  v  Poland

28 June 2018	Japan	0–1	Poland	Volgograd, Russia
17:00		Report (FIFA)	59' Bednarek	Stadium: Volgograd Arena Attendance: 42,189 Referee: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

2022 FIFA World Cup

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup

Group stage

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup Group C

Pos	Team v t e	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

22 November 2022 (2022-11-22)

19:00

Stadium 974, Doha

Attendance: 39,369

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

---

Poland	2–0	Saudi Arabia
Zieliński 39' Lewandowski 82'	Report

26 November 2022 (2022-11-26)

16:00

Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 44,259

Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)

---

Poland	0–2	Argentina
	Report	Mac Allister 46' Álvarez 67'

30 November 2022 (2022-11-30)

22:00

Stadium 974, Doha

Attendance: 44,089

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Round of 16

France	3–1	Poland
Giroud 44' Mbappé 74', 90+1'	Report	Lewandowski 90+9' (pen.)

4 December 2022 (2022-12-04)

18:00

Al Thumama Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 40,989

Referee: Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)

Record players

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

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

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

Notes

See also

• Poland at the UEFA European Championship