This article is part of theGuardian’sEuro 2025 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 16 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two teams each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 2 July.
One of the enduring images from the win against Austria that sealed Poland’s first major tournament appearance was Oliwia Woś standing there with an enormous grin on her face. There were lots of smiles that day last December but tears of happiness, too, Ewa Pajor among those who cried at their achievement.
The coach, Nina Patalon, has played a big part in the success. Against Austria they were the underdogs but showed better attitude over the two legs and, as always, came well prepared. Poland have made huge progress under Patalon. One of the coach’s mantras is that the true reflection of a team is how its members support each other.
Watch Poland and you will see a squad fighting for every ball, and here the defensive midfielder Ada Achcińska, for whom there are no lost balls, leads the way. Another midfielder, Tanja Pawollek, reads the game superbly and her spatial awareness is another key component. Paulina Dudek and Oliwia Woś also have important roles, launching counterattacks with incisive passing.
Two fast wingers, Ewelina Kamczyk and Natalia Padilla Bidas, will be ready to pounce on through balls but also drop deep to pick up the ball, together with the star of the show, Pajor. There was a trend in recent games for players to take more opportunities to shoot from range.
One major disappointment for the players is not having special jerseys for the tournament. “We were hoping for a tournament-specific kit, that’s standard for a major tournament,” said the West Ham goalkeeper Kinga Szemik. “It’s part of the prestige of having qualified. All the others have a special jersey made so why are we treated differently?”
Always the first.Nina Patalonis the first woman to coach a Poland senior team. Before that, she was the first Polish woman to get a Uefa Pro licence. And she is the first to take the women’s team to a major tournament. She moved up the coaching ladder by taking charge of the under-15, under-17 and under-19 teams. In addition to her current role she is the coordinator of women’s football training at the Polish FA. She believes football will become the No 1 sport for women in Poland, and if ever her motivation drops, she stops by a pitch where young girls are playing. That provides the energy to carry on, more than any Champions League game ever could.
Ewa Pajor.“One of her greatest assets is how much she enjoys playing football,” Patalon says of the Barcelona forward. “On the pitch she’s like a little girl: she forgets that she’s a great footballer.” The 28-year-old made her Poland debut 11 years ago and has more than a 100 caps. Last summer she moved from Wolfsburg to Barcelona. Spanish media loved the signing, El País writing that the forward was the missing piece in the jigsaw. Pajor moved to Catalonia to win the Champions League but lost in the final for a fifth time. Overall, though, the season was a huge success. She won the league and the Spanish Cup and was top scorer. Pajor has netted 43 times this season, leading to speculation about the Ballon d’Or.
Ewelina Kamczyk.A volcano of energy everywhere she goes. At times it feels like she is the first person to attack and the first person to defend and win back possession. The 29-year-old, who plays for Fleury 91 in France, is the full package: she can dribble, shoot from distance and, overall, brings a lot of positive energy. An added bonus is her understanding with Pajor. They have been playing together for Poland for a long time, winning the Under-17 European Championship in 2013.
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Some games are shown on TV and some are streamed online but the level of the Ekstraliga is far from that of, for instance, neighbouring Germany. Attendances are low and games are rarely played in the clubs’ main stadiums. A Polish team reaching the Champions League would help but no one looks close to achieving that. Just four players from the domestic top flight are in the squad. Most players dream of being transferred to a superior league abroad, an accurate reflection of where the competition is at the moment.
To collect some points. The players are desperate to change the perception of women’s football in Poland and will approach their games full of positive energy.
The Poland team guide was written by Joanna Wiśniowska (Gazeta Wyborcza).