Poland (POL)

Coach Patryk Rombel and his team are on two missions at the EHF EURO 2022 - first to forget the weak results of previous editions, and secondly to promote the 2023 World Championship, jointly hosted with Sweden.

Poland missed EHF EURO 2018 and finished 21st at EHF EURO 2020; they missed direct qualification for the IHF Men’s World Championship 2021, but received an IHF wildcard to participate.

In Egypt, they showed their progression. Players such as Szymon Sicko, Michal Olejniczak and Arkadiusz Moryto have developed in the right way and the full transition from the former golden generation – World Championship 2007 silver medallists, and World Championship 2009 and 2015 bronze medallists – to the new generation was coming to fruition.

Rombel has integrated many young players, many of them from 2016 EHF Champions League winners Kielce or the 2021 EHF European League semi-finalists Orlen Wisla Plock. Some experienced stars, such as PSG line player Kamil Syprzak, who missed the World Championship 2021, or left wing Przemyslav Krajewski, are still part of the squad, but the future has begun for Poland.

The team booked their EHF EURO 2022 ticket as one of the four best third-ranked teams after finishing their group below Slovenia and the Netherlands. A 27:26 win against Slovenia was crucial to make it to Bratislava, where they will face Belarus, Germany and Austria in the preliminary round.

Poland’s best EHF EURO result so far was fourth in 2010, when they lost the bronze final against Iceland. On home ground in 2016, they missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals after a defeat by Croatia in the final main round match.