Poland starts the 2026/27 Nations League with a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Warsaw

On Friday, Polish players will start the 2026/27 Nations League with a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Warsaw. For the first time since the inauguration of the competition, the White and Reds will compete in a division other than the highest one. Poland was relegated to division B in the fall of 2024, taking last place in group A1, behind Portugal, Croatia and Scotland.

Coach Urban: We have to take the Nations League seriously

To return to the elite, coach Jan Urban's players must either take first place after six matches in group B4, or take second place and then defeat in the play-offs one of the two weakest teams from third places in division A or one of the two best teams from fourth places in division A. We must take the Nations League seriously. This is also the path leading to the European Championship. If we are not able to get through directly from the qualifying rounds, there is a possibility here, Urban pointed out.

Poland's possible third place will mean remaining in the B division, and the fourth place will mean having to play in a relegation play-off with one of the teams from the second places of the C division. Four of the group matches will be played by the White and Reds at the turn of September and October. Three days after the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, they will face Sweden away, on October 2 - at home against Romania and on October 5 again against Bosnia, this time at their rival's stadium.

Poles currently occupy 36th place in the FIFA rankings, the highest - despite their absence from the World Cup - among the four teams competing in group B4. The Bosnians, who were eliminated in the round of 16 in the tournament between the USA, Canada and Mexico, are in 61st place. Of the five meetings with this rival so far, the Poles have won four, and one ended in a draw.

At the National Stadium for the 51st time.

The balance of the White and Reds' 50 appearances at the representative facility, which from 2021 is additionally named after the legendary coach Kazimierz Górski, is 29 victories, 14 draws and seven defeats. The goal balance is 10 to 46 in favor of the Poles. Their last, 29th win was on March 26, when they defeated the Albanians 2-1 in the play-off to advance to this year's World Cup. One of the goals was scored by Robert Lewandowski and it was his 32nd goal at the PGE Narodowy. The 38-year-old captain of the national team, who also scored the first goal there, scored a total of 30 percent of the goals scored by the Poles here. Arkadiusz Milik and Karol Świderski scored seven goals each.

The football inauguration of the main Polish arena of the 2012 European Championships, which was built on the site of the famous Tenth Anniversary Stadium in the Polish People's Republic, took place on February 29 of that year, and the team led by Franciszek Smuda drew 0-0 with Portugal. Later, 36 different national teams hosted the PGE National Stadium, and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the 38th opponent that Poland will face at the Warsaw facility. The previous "debutante" was Nigeria in June (2:2 in a friendly match).

11 teams visited it more than once. Three times it was Albania and Scotland, which was undefeated and was the only one to record two wins - first a friendly 1-0 in March 2014, and in November 2024 - 2-1, which meant that coach Michał Probierz's team was relegated to the lower division of the Nations League. Portugal, Germany, Montenegro, England, San Marino, Latvia, Ukraine, Lithuania and the Netherlands paid two visits to the National Museum. Apart from Scotland, which did it twice, the capital's stadium was won by teams from Ukraine, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The Ukrainians were the first to do it, because in March 2013 they won the World Cup qualifiers 3:1. From March 2014, after the first defeat against Scotland, for seven and a half years the White and Reds boasted a streak without defeat in the national arena, which was "broken" only on November 15, 2021 by the Hungarians, who won the World Cup qualification 2:1. The Belgians followed suit, winning the Nations League match in June 2022 1-0 in the capital, and three months later their feat was copied by the Dutch (2-0). The Poles suffered another defeat at this facility in October 2024 against the Portuguese (1:3) in the Nations League. Apart from the premiere 0-0 with Cristiano Ronaldo and company, the following games ended in draws: two appearances in the European Championship final tournament - with Greece and Russia 1:1 each. The former was remembered mainly because of Wojciech Szczęsny's red card and the penalty saved by Przemysław Tytoń, who replaced him, while the latter was remembered for the beautiful goal by Jakub Błaszczykowski.

"National Swimming Pool". The English were surprised, the Polish fans were embarrassed

The autumn of 2012 brought two more inconclusive matches, but already in the 2014 World Cup qualifications - with England and Montenegro 1:1 each. The first one in particular has become a permanent part of the facility's history. It was supposed to start on October 16, 2012 at 21, but after heavy rainfall, the pitch was soaked with water, and huge puddles formed in several places. After visiting the pitch three times, together with the FIFA technical delegate, the referees decided that the match could not be held in such conditions and decided to postpone it the next day. The fans - nomen omen - left no stone unturned on the organizers and the PZPN authorities. "Mockery, shame, scandal, embarrassment" - these are the most delicate expressions. The situation quickly became the subject of Internet memes, and the term "National Swimming Pool" stuck to the capital's facility for a long time. The next day, the match took place without any problems - 47,000 fans were angry with the weather and left the organizers at home, creating a great atmosphere, and the Polish players did not let themselves be defeated by their favored rival.

Historic victory over Germany

Another historic event took place in October 2014, when the Germans paid the first of two visits to the PGE National Stadium. Fresh after their triumph in the World Cup in Brazil, they lost to the Poles led by coach Adam Nawałka in the European Championship qualifiers 0:2. It was the first victory of the white and red team over this rival. The four-time world champions also lost at the representative stadium in June 2023, when in a friendly match the team led by Portuguese Fernando Santos won 1-0 after Jakub Kiwior's first goal for the national team.

The teams of San Marino, Latvia and Lithuania also lost twice at the flagship facility of Polish football, and Albania was the least lucky, having already suffered three defeats there. In turn, one each was recorded by: South Africa, Georgia, Gibraltar, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, Armenia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Israel, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Faroe Islands, Estonia, Ukraine, Turkey and Malta.