Who are Poland’s Top Five All-Time Goalscorers?

Number one will be obvious for all fans around the world as it doesn’t come as a surprise who has scored the most goals for the White and Reds, but the question is who are the other four in the top five?

#5- Ernest Pol

Credit: Gornik Zabrze

Pol was born in 1932 and spent his childhood years in the climate of World War Two happening around the seven-year-old when the war started.

In his teenage years, the forward played for Slavia Ruda Śląska which was his hometown club before moving to Orzeł Łódź at the age of 20.

He ended his playing career in 1967 for Gornik Zabrze and remains to this day the most prolific goalscorer in the Polish First Division with 186 goals to his name.

His Poland national career spanned ten years getting his first appearance in a 2-2 draw against Romania in Bucharest.

The forward’s first goal came in a 2-1 defeat to Bulgaria in Wroclaw a year after his international debut with his last strike coming in a 7-0 victory over Finland near the end of his Poland career.

Pol earned himself 39 goals for the White and Reds as he enters this list at number five with the striker nearly averaging a goal a match for his national side.

#4- Kazimierz Deyna

Credit: Przeglad Sportowy

One of Poland’s golden players of the last 50 years, Kazimierz Deyna went on to be an influential and important figure for his international side.

Born in Starogard Gdański in 1947, the playmaker started his career in 1958 with Włókniarz Starogard Gdański but moved onto Legia Warszawa after one appearance for LKS Lodz.

Making over 300 appearances for the Militarians in a 12-year spell, he made his way to England and signed for Manchester City in 1978.

After a three-year spell in the United Kingdom, he moved to the USA with San Diego Sockers with who he finished his career with.

Making his debut against Turkey in April 1968, it took him a year to get his first international goal in an 8-0 thumping of Luxembourg.

Managing 41 goals for his nation, he played an instrumental part of Poland’s 1974 World Cup campaign where the White and Reds finished third and also was vital in the Olympics team as the nation won gold in 1972 and silver in 1976.

#3- Grzegorz Lato

Credit: Laczy Nas Pilka

Another figure that every child would look up to was Polish winger Grzegorz Lato who similarly to Deyna was an important player for Poland in the 1970s and 1980s.

Born in Malbork in 1950, the winger started his professional career as a 16-year-old for Stal Mielec. He spent most of his career at the Polish club guiding them from the Second Division to the top-flight and ultimately winning the Ekstraklasa twice in 1973 and 1976.

Going onto score 117 goals for the Polish club, he then had spells in Belgium and Mexico before going onto spend his last moments in football playing for Polonia Hamilton, an amateur team created for Polish immigrants. He retired from football in 1991 amassing 165 goals in well over 400 club appearances.

Winning his first cap for Poland in 1971, Lato was thrown into the mix by legendary Poland manager Kazimierz Gorski to be in the lineup that faced West Germany in a qualifying match ahead of 1972 European Championships.

It took him two years to finally get on the score sheet for his nation and once he got going he didn’t look like he was going to stop.

Goal number one and two came in the same fixture against Bulgaria in 1973 with the White and Reds going onto win 2-0 courtesy to Lato’s brace. His final goal came against Peru in 1982 as the winger retired from international football in 1984 with 45 goals to his name and in the moving ahead of Deyna by four goals.

#2- Wlodzimierz Lubanski

Credit: Przeglad Sportowy

The man that sat on top for over 40 years before Robert Lewandowski dislodged him from his throne was legendary forward, Wlodzimierz Lubanski.

Starting his professional career at the age of 16, the Gliwice born striker made an immediate impact at his first club, Gornik Zabrze.

Amassing 155 league goals in his 12-year spell at the Polish club he was on the move in 1975 joining Belgian side Lokeren that year.

82 goals in nearly 200 appearances in Belgium saw Lubanski move to France in his last seasons as a professional footballer.

His last three years of his playing career were spent in France playing for Valenciennes and Quimper scoring 42 goals in 89 appearances for the French sides.

His first goal for Poland came in a 9-0 victory against Norway in September 1963 with his final goal coming 17 years later in 1980 as the White and Reds drew 1-1 with Czechoslovakia. Having scored 48 goals for his nation, Lubanski lead the way for an awfully long time before one Lewandowski came and stole his crown.

#1- Robert Lewandowski

Credit: Laczy Nas Pilka

Born in Warsaw, the striker looks to be ageing like a fine wine as he doesn’t seem to be stopping his goalscoring habits any time soon as he continues to bang goals for Bayern Munich.

It all began in 2005, as Legia Warszawa placed him into the B team and he spent one year at that level before moving to Znicz Pruskow.

The 36 league goals in two seasons attracted Lech Poznan to gamble on the youngster and brought him in to bolster their attack.

Lewandowski continued his form as he managed 32 league goals in two years saw him move to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. The striker enjoyed his time in Dortmund scoring 74 goals in 117 appearances as he made his big-money move to Bayern Munich.

He has scored 186 league goals for the Bavarians sees the Pole close to reaching the 200 mark for Bayern as he still has a long way to go if he wants to reach Gerd Muller who scored 365 goals for the club.

The 32-year-olds Poland debut came in 2008 where he came on as a substitute in a 2-0 win against San Marino. His latest goal came in a victory over Bosnia as Lewandowski scored a brace and Poland went on to win 3-0.

Currently, he leads the Poland All-Time goalscoring charts with 63 and could get even more if he continues scoring for fun for his club and country.

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