Poland EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

The Polish national team has many great players and will be one of the strongest teams at Euro 2020. However, the Poles are not big favorites for gold medals but led by Robert Lewandowski, they have an excellent chance to make their best European finals ranking. 

Check out our preview of Poland at the 2020 European Championships and what we can expect from "The Eagles".

Poland European Championships - History and successes

Although they finished third in the World Cup twice (in 1974 and 1982), Poland never passed the quarterfinals of the European Championship, reaching this stage of the tournament in 2016, but failed to eliminate Portugal after penalties. Curiously, "the Eagles" has only three appearances in European finals, participating in the tournament for the first time in 2008. After that, the Poles hosted 4 years later together with Ukraine and had an automatic quota. In both tournaments, Poland failed to pass the group stage, recording poor results. In 2016, the Poles made their best ranking in the European finals after reaching the quarter-finals.

The Road to Euro 2020

"The White and Reds" was very impressive in qualifying for Euro 2020, although it had a relatively easy group. They won four consecutive games before losing to Slovenia and drawing with Austria, but that did not derail them. They managed to win their last four matches and qualify easily for the tournament this summer. The Polish team scored 18 goals in the qualifiers, which seems to be a rather modest asset for 10 matches, given that they were the big favorite in the group. The other teams were Austria, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel, and Latvia. However, Poland impressed with its defensive play, allowing only five goals on the way to Euro 2020.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Poland is in Group E of Euro 2020 with the teams of Spain, Sweden, and Slovakia.

• June 14, 6:00 pm: Poland - Slovakia / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /
• June 19, 9:00 pm: Spain - Poland / La Cartuja, Seville /
• June 23, 6:00 pm: Sweden - Poland / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /

Poland squad for the European Football Championship 2020

In the Polish national team, you will notice the names of many great players who compete in the top leagues in Europe. As a goalkeeper, the competition between Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus) and Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham) is very hard. In defense, the Poles have players such as Camille Glick (Benevento), Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Masiel Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow), and Arkadiusz Reca (Crotone). The stars in the midfield of the Polish team are Kamil Grosicki, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Piotr Zieliński and Mateusz Klich. Each of them plays for top teams, and we can mention the young talents, Jakub Moder, from Brighton and Camille Jozviak from Derby County. There is no doubt who is the big figure in the attack on Poland - of course, Robert Lewandowski, but the team has other great offensive players such as Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek.

Goalkeepers: Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham United), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna)
Defenders: Kamil Glik (Benevento), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Pawel Dawidowicz (Hellas Verona), Michal Helik (Barnsley), Kamil Piatkowski (Rakow Czestochowa), Tomasz Kędziora (Dynamo Kyiv), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Lech Poznań)
Midfielders: Przemysław Frankowski (Chicago Fire), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moscow), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Mateusz Klich (Leeds United), Kamil Jozwiak (Derby County), Jakub Moder (Brighton & Hove Albion), Przemyslaw Placheta (Norwich City), Kacper Kozlowski (Pogon Szczecin)
Forwards: Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Arkadiusz Milik (Marseille), Krzysztof Piatek (Hertha Berlin), Karol Swiderski (PAOK), Jakub Świerczok (Piast Gliwice)

Source: www.fifa.com

The Big Star: Robert Lewandowski

The greatest Polish player, Robert Lewandowski is the country's record holder for national team participation and record goalscorer. Lewandowski is a world-class footballer in every aspect and was named FIFA's best player of 2020, and has also won Footballer of the Year in Poland nine times in the last 10 years. There is simply no doubt in his class. Lewandowski is so good that strikers like Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek are warming up the bench in the Polish squad. He can score goals from any situation and will be Poland's biggest weapon at Euro 2020.

Expectations for Poland at Euro 2020

Poland is not among the favorites for Euro 2020. They currently have a odds of about 80 to win the tournament, which reflects their status as outsiders in this regard. Obviously, with players like Lukasz Fabianski, Kamil Glick, Robert Lewandowski, and Arkadiusz Milik on the field, you should always give Poland a chance. In our opinion, the "Polish team" will finish behind Spain in this group in second place and has a great chance to play at least in the quarterfinals of the competition.

Odds for Poland

The group of Poland is very balanced. All teams, except Spain, have the same odds for winning group E. This is our personal view, but maybe the bookmakers are thinking the same way. They are giving a very low probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. Poland is also out of the top 5 favorites for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the "The Eagles":

To win Euro 2020	81.00
To win Group E	6.50