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Five years ago, the White and Reds put on a very surprising display by reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. In this article, we’ll look back at the tournament and the performances Poland put in to reach the last eight of the competition.
Adam Nawalka’s men did incredibly well to reach the latter stages of the tournament and most importantly getting out of their group that included Northern Ireland, Ukraine and the FIFA 2014 World Cup winners, Germany.
Group Stages
Poland v Northern Ireland – 12th June 2016
Poland started their Euro 2016 campaign in Group C against Northern Ireland on June 12th in the Allianz Riviera in Nice.
Stars like Kyle Lafferty, Oliver Norwood and Steven Davis started for the Green and White Army whilst Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik were the two forwards chosen to lead the line for the White and Reds with the latter behind Poland’s number nine.
Milik had the best chance of the opening half an hour. Poland’s number seven was cleverly found by Lukasz Piszczek but dragged his effort wide of the target from close range.
Only eight minutes later, Bartosz Kapustka forced a fantastic save from Michael McGovern. From the corner, the ball was cleared away only as far as the youngster, who took the ball down on his knee and smashed a thunderous strike at goal which was beaten away by the goalkeeper.
In the 51st minute, Poland were in front. A pullback from Jakub Blaszczykowski found Milik with the forward striking the ball beyond McGovern and into the back of the net.
Both sides had chance in the final stages of the match, but it was Nawalka’s men who came closest. Grzegorz Krychowiak got away from many Northern Irish challenges before sending a shot narrowly wide of McGovern’s left post.
The game ended in a 1-0 win for Poland and it was the perfect way to start the European campaign with three points and a clean sheet.
Germany v Poland – 16th June 2016
Four days later at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the White and Reds faced their toughest challenge of the group stages.
Germany were the oppositions but Poland did not let that scare them and put them off as the underdogs battled against one of the world’s best national teams.
Milik once more had one of the best chances of the game at the start of the second-half. Kamil Grosicki’s delivery was a dangerous one, however, the forward was unable to properly connect with the ball as it flew wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal.
Only a minute later, Mario Gotze released a shot at Lukasz Fabianski’s goal which the goalkeeper comfortably saved but the ball was put behind for a corner by Michal Pazdan.
Poland went close from the free-kick near the hour mark. Lewandowski stood over the set-piece but rolled the ball back to his strike partner Milik who saw his effort wide of the target.
Joachim Low’s men flooded attack after attack but they were unable to break down the Polish defence as the points were shared in a 0-0 draw at the Stade de France.
Ukraine v Poland – 21st June 2016
In the final game of the group stages at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, Poland faced Ukraine in a game that would decide who would advance into the next stage of the tournament.
Poland and Germany were the lead teams on four points with Northern Ireland a point behind the pair after beating Ukraine in matchday two.
Nawalka’s men had one thing to focus on: beating Ukraine and making sure they make it out of Group C as either winners or runners-up.
Lewandowski had the first chance of the game in the third minute, but his snapshot went over Andriy Pyatov goal.
Andriy Yarmolenko had the chance to open the scoring for Ukraine. The winger had Roman Zozulya to his left, however, he decided to go alone and saw his shot go well wide of the target.
Yevhen Konoplyanka was the next player for the Yellow and Blue to have a shot at Fabianski’s goal. The number 10 took on the shot from outside the box but was only able to hit the side netting.
In the 54th minute, Poland were ahead after a fantastic goal from Blaszczykowski. Milik played the ball into the midfielder, who ball rolled his marker and curled a fantastic effort into the top corner of Pyatov’s goal.
Chances from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kapustka, Konoplyanka and Milik were all off-target as Poland ran out slim 1-0 winners and progressed out of the group as runners-up.
Knockout Stages
Round of 16 – Switzerland v Poland – 25th June 2016
Poland returned to the Stade Velodrome a couple of days later to face Switzerland in the Round of 16. This encounter was one that was wide open throughout but it was the White and Reds who struck first through a familiar man.
Grosicki was able to cut inside and find Blaszczykowski in the box, after amazing play off the ball from Milik who dragged the defenders towards him which left the midfielder wide open.
Poland’s number 16 controlled the ball well and tapped the ball into the net beyond the sea of Swiss defenders and their goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.
Eight minutes from time, Switzerland were able to hit back. Xherdan Shaqiri took on the audacious attempt of scoring a bicycle kick which paid off as it beat Fabianski and levelled the game at 1-1.
The game could not be decided in the regular 90 minutes and in extra time as the sides faced each other in a penalty shootout.
Both Stephan Lichsteiner and Robert Lewandowski scored their penalties in round one of the shootout as both sides got off to a good start.
Next up for Switzerland was Granit Xhaka. The midfielder stepped up but put his penalty wide of Fabianski’s goal giving Poland a massive boost.
The White and Reds scored their next four penalties with Krychowiak scoring the decisive one to give the Poles a 5-4 victory in the shootout and see them progress into the quarter-finals.
Quarter-Final – Poland v Portugal – 30th June 2016
Another day and another match at the Stade Velodrome. So far in the tournament, the stadium in Marseille was a lucky one for the Poles but would they be able to get past a strong Portugal featuring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Renato Sanches and many more.
It only took two minutes for Poland to get in front. Grosicki latched onto a ball that went over Cedric and delivered a teasing ball into the box which Lewandowski smashed into the net to give the White and Reds an early 1-0 lead.
Both sides exchanged blows but Portugal were able to get back on level terms. A clever backheel from Nani found Renato Sanches who curled his effort and found the back of the net in the 33rd minute.
Similarly to the Round of 16, Poland and Portugal were unable to settle the tie in 90 minutes and after extra time they were still locked together at 1-1.
The first three penalties from both sides were dispatched with confidence as Cristiano Ronaldo, Renato Sanches and Joao Moutinho for Portugal and Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik and Kamil Glik made no mistake from the penalty spot for Poland.
In round four, Nani slotted the penalty past Fabianski to make it 4-3 in Portugal’s favour in the shootout. Blaszczykowski was the fourth penalty taker for the White and Reds as the pressure mounted. The midfielder saw his penalty saved by Rui Patricio as only a Ricardo Quaresma miss would guarantee them a chance to level things up.
The Portuguese winger would make no mistake from the spot though as Portugal made their way into the semi-finals and sent Poland packing.
It was not a disappointing defeat, in the end, as Fernando Santos’ men went on to win the tournament and a quarter-final appearance for Poland is a fantastic result.
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