Poland All-time 23 member team

Poland 1974

Poland entered its first ever World Cup Finals in 1938.  They played an epic match against Brazil, where Ernst Wilimowski scored 4 goals.  However, for the next 34 years, Polish football did not make any other mark internationally.  Then, Poland had a Golden era between 1972 and 1986. They won the Olympic Gold in 1972.  And then, progressed to the semifinal of the WC Finals in 1974 and 1978.  In 1974, Poland probably fielded their greatest ever team(even through Wlodzimierz Lubanski missed the Finals).  Their heroics actually started with the World Cup Qualifier against England at Wembley in 1973. They drew England and eliminated them in the progress.  It was considered one of England's blackest nights in their football history.  Then, Poland came third in the WC Finals.  Grzegorz Lato finished as the top scorer. Some football historians considered Poland 1974 as good as Holland and West Germany of the same tournament.  In 1982, Poland eliminated the Soviet Union in the 2nd round under the cloud of the Solidarity movement of the 1980's.  They again finished 3rd.  

After the World Cup Finals in 1986, the standard of Polish football declined.  They had high expectations at the World Cup Finals in 2006, where they played in next door Germany, but they failed to go past the Group stage.  Again, in 2008, Poland hosted the European Championship, but failed to reach the second stage.

England vs Poland, 1973

Team
GK: Jan Tomaszewski
He was considered one of the top keepers in the history of the game.  Before the important World Cup Qualifiers vs England in 1973, Brian Clough called him a "clown".  He responded by playing a man-of-the-match performance in which Poland eliminated England and qualified for the WC Finals in West Germany.  At the World Cup Finals, Poland reached the semifinal.  he won 63 caps for Poland, making him his country's most-capped 'keeper.

GK: Jozef Mlynarczyk
He is best remembered for his stint with F.C. Porto where he won the European Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.  He was the starting keeper for Poland at the WC Finals in 1982 and 1986.

GK:  Edward Szymkowiak
He was a keeper from the late 1950's and 1960's.  He was the starting keeper in 1957 when Poland beat the Soviet Union.  he was Poland's Player of the season four times: 1957, 1958, 1965, 1966.

RB: Antoni Szymanowski
He was a member of the Poland national football team in two FIFA World Cups: 1974 and 1978.  he is considered to be one of Poland's greatest defenders.  He spent most of his career with Wisła Kraków.

RB:  Łukasz Piszczek
He is a member of Borussia Dortmund team that finished as the runner-up at the Champions' League.  He participated at the Euro 2012.  

CB: Stanisław Oślizło
He was a captain of Górnik Zabrze in the Cup Winners Cup final in 1970 versus Manchester City.  He played for Poland 57 times scoring one goal.

CB:  Władysław Zmuda
He was probably Poland's best ever defender.  He earned 91 caps for the Poland and is a four-time FIFA World Cup participant.He played a total of 21 matches at the World Cup finals, which (tied with Uwe Seeler and Diego Maradona) is the third most appearances ever, behind only Lothar Matthaus and Paolo Maldini.
He played for Śląsk Wrocław, Widzew Łódź, Hellas Verona, New York Cosmos and US Cremonese.

Władysław Zmuda

CB: Roman Wójcicki
He was a participant at the three consecutive World Cups, 1978 FIFA World Cup, 1982 FIFA World Cup, where Poland won the bronze medal and 1986 FIFA World Cup.

CB:  Jerzy Gorgon
He is considered to be one of Poland's greatest defensive players. With Górnik Zabrze, .he won five consecutive Polish cups in 1968-72.  He was a participant atthe WC Finals in 1974 and 1978.

LB:  Adam Musial
He spent the best part of his career with Wisla Krakow.  He played for Poland at the WC finals in 1974.

LB: Zygmunt Anczok
He won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1972 Olympics.  He was an offensive wingback.

DM: Zygmunt Maszczyk
He played for Poland at the WC finals in 1974. He won the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics and a silver medal four years at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

CM: Henryk Kasperczak
As a player, Kasperczak took part in two FIFA World Cups with Poland, achieving third place in 1974.  He won a silver medal  at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

LW:  Grzegorz Lato
He was a key player during Poland's Golden era in football, largely beginning at the 1972 Olympics where they won the Gold Medal and ended with the World Cup Finals in 1986.   He was the leading scorer at the 1974 World Cup.

Grzegorz Lato

LW: Robert Gadocha
He was also  member of the 1972 Summer Olympics and as well as the World Cup Finals in 1974.  He played in Nantes in France and the Chicago Sting in NASL.

AM: Kazimierz Deyna
He was one of the greatest playmakers from Eastern Europe.  He played for Poland on 97 times, scoring 41 goals, and often captained the side.  He won the Gold Medal in the 1972 Olympic Games.  He played mostly for Legia Warsaw.

Kazimierz Deyna

FW/RW/LW: Zbigniew Boniek
He is one of the greatest Polish players in the history of the game.  After a starring role at the WC Finals in 1982, he moved to Italy and played for Juventus, where he won the Champions' League in 1985.

Zbigniew Boniek

FW: Ernst Wilimowski
He was a native of Silesia. He was one of the best goalscorers in the history of both the Polish national team and in Polish club soccer before he decided to re-take German citizenship and play for Germany.  He played for Poland at the WC in 1938, where he became the first player to score 4 goals in a game.  He retook a German citizenship because of the War and the situation in Silesia.  He played for Germany from 1941, earming 8 caps scoring 13 goals in his career.  

ST: Ernst Pohl
He is one of the greatest Polish attackers.  He scored 186 goals in the Polish league. He scored 39 goals in 46 games for Poland.

ST:  Andrzej Szarmach
He played in the Golden Generation of the early 1970's.  He went to the WC Finals in 1974, where he scored 5 goals. He won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics where he finished as the top scorer.
  
ST: Lucjan Brychczy
He was an all-great great with Leiga Warsaw.  He won four titles with Warsaw, in 1955, 1956, 1969 and 1970 as well as four Polish Cups, in 1955, 1956, 1964 and 1966. He scored 182 goals in a career which lasted 19 seasons, both of which remain club records to this day. His Legia career also included a foray into the semi-finals of the European Cup.

ST:  Robert Lewandowski
At the time of writying, he is known for his career with Borussia Dortmund, where he scored over 70 goals and reached the Champions' League Final in 2013.  After the 2013-2014, he moved to Bayern Munich under a controversial situation.  

Robert Lewandowski

ST:  Wlodzimierz Lubanski
He is Poland's greatest striker.  He is the all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, Lubański amassed 75 caps between 1963 and 1980, scoring 48 goals.  He missed the WC Finals in 1974 because of injury, but he went to play in the 1978 World Cup Finals.

Honorable Mention
Tomasz Wałdoch, Stanislaw Oslizlo.

Squad Explanation 
Most of the squad played between the 1972 Olympics and the 1986 World Cup Finals.  Poland won a Gold Medal in 1972 and a silver in 1976.  They also qualified 4 straight WC Finals and advanced to the semi-final twice in this period.

Starting lineup

Formation 4-3-3

The squad is based upon the starting lineup of the World Cup 1974.  This is actually the best ever lineup and it jsut happened that it was dominated by the 1974 team.  I only made two chances.  I brought Lubanski who missed the actual tournament and Boniek into the team. 

 


The squad is based upon the starting lineup of the World Cup 1974.  This is actually the best ever lineup and it jsut happened that it was dominated by the 1974 team.  I only made two chances.  I brought Lubanski who missed the actual tournament and Boniek into the team.