Poland are just one of the 24 teams who participated in the excellent Euros 2024 football tournament in Germany. Here’s everything you need to know about the team, who failed to win a single group game and didn’t progress to the round of 16.

1. The team played their first game in 1921

For their first official match, the Polish team traveled to Budapest in December, 1921. There, they faced Hungary and were narrowly defeated 1-0.

2. Their badge features the Polish coat of arms

The Polish football crest is simply the country’s coat of arms, which features a white eagle with gold talons, wearing a crown on a red background. The first version of this coat of arms was created around the year 1000, but the team weren’t around for another 920 years or so.

3. The team play their home games in two stadiums

Poland play their home games in two venues. The Kazimierz Górski National Stadium in Warsaw has a capacity of around 58,000. The other ground is the Silesian Stadium in Silesia, which holds 54,378 fans.

4. Their captain is Robert Lewandowski

Lewandowski was made Poland’s captain in March 2013, when the team faced San Marino in a World Cup qualifier. He scored two penalties in the game, which ended in a 5-0 win.

5. Robert Lewandowski is their highest goalscorer too

Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski has scored 83 times for his country, including 6 hat-tricks against Gibraltar, Georgia, Denmark, Romania, Armenia and Latvia. In 2015 and 2021, he scored 11 each year!

6. They have two nicknames

Poland’s football fans call their side Biało-Czerwoni (The White-Reds) or Orły (The Eagles). Pretty straight forward and very easy to remember!

7. Their biggest win was against San Marino

Poland’s greatest victory happened on April 1, 2009. The unlucky opponents were San Marino, whose goalkeeper retrieved the ball no less than 10 times from the back of the net. The final score was 10-0. Ouch!

8. Their biggest defeat was against Denmark

On June 26, 1948 – just three years after the Second World War – Poland traveled to the Danish capital of Copenhagen for a match which ended in an 8-0 loss.

9. The Women’s national side began playing in 1981

The women’s side are nicknamed ORLICE, which means Eaglesses and have been playing for over 40 years. They’re currently ranked 32nd and their biggest win was away to Israel in 1998, where they won 13-0 in Ramat Gan. They’re yet to qualify for the European Women’s Championships.

10. They share a rivalry with Germany

Poland’s biggest rivals are their neighbours Germany. Much of the rivalry stems from Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1 1939, which led to Great Britain and France declaring war on the aggressors. In football, they’ve faced each other 22 times, with Germany winning 13 of the fixtures, drawing 7 times and losing to Poland twice – once in 2014 (2-0) and in 2023 (1-0).

11. Their FIFA world ranking is 26

The Polish men’s team are currently ranked 26th in the world, but their highest placing was 5th in August 2017. The lowest team has been ranked is 78th, just four years earlier.

12. Their head coach is Michał Probierz

Following a managerial career which began in 2005, Probierz was appointed Poland’s head coach in 2023. He made 323 club appearances for teams like Jagiellonia Białystok and Widzew Łódź, and as a midfielder, scored 12 goals.

13. Their most capped player is Robert Lewandowski

The Barcelona striker has represented his country 152 times. His international debut was in September 2008 in a game against San Marino. He was just 20 years old and scored a goal in their 2-0 win.

14. Their fastest goal took 100 seconds

Robert Lewandowski (him again) scored one of the fastest goals in the history of the European Championships in a 2016 game against Portugal. Their quarter-final showdown got off to a great start when he scored after 1 minute 40 seconds. The game, however, ended in a draw and Portugal went through to the semi-finals after winning the penalty shootout (and lifted the trophy).

15. They’re yet to win any major trophies

While Poland have yet to win any big football competitions, they’ve achieved third place in the 1974 and 1982 World Cups and their best performance in the Euros was reaching the quarter-final stage.