No matter what happens at Euro 2025, Poland have succeeded

Image via @laczynaskobieca on Twitter

When speaking about football, I find that there is a predilection to really going over the top with the words people use. Players, clubs and fanbases are all described as legendary, maverick, and other terms glowing or denigrating in equal measure.

It should perhaps then be taken with a pinch of salt that we are speaking about Poland’s women in terms such as iconic and history-making, but it really is very true in this case. 

Tournament debuts generally end up bringing one of two levels of expectation: one level is that you really are happy just to be there, and the other is that you perform unexpectedly well because there is a lack of precedent and therefore a lack of fear about the experience.

I think heading into this Euro we’re all very much firmly in the first camp when it comes to Poland. Much in the way that with the men’s team we’ve come to expect tournament football over the course of the last decade, the women’s team has not been afforded the same sort of attention until last year in truth, when they were on the brink of qualification for this, their maiden tournament appearance.

Growing up in England as I have, you could make the same argument for women’s football in that country as well. Up until a very good English performance at the World Cup in 2015, there was very little mainstream interest in women’s football. In the ten years since however visibility and indeed success has skyrocketed thanks to what was initially a more casual interest amongst the public.

Hopefully Poland’s women also get this sort of increased recognition and above all funding on the back of qualification. In terms of that visibility, a player like Ewa Pajor is on the verge of being (if not already) something approaching a household name. The supporting cast of players like Natalia Padilla-Bidas and Adriana Achcińska have really caught the eye in recent games however, and are likely to benefit further from being under a brighter spotlight.

We should also say at this juncture that Poland face a tough group. A first game against eight-time Women’s Euros champions Germany, followed by the historically strong Scandinavian nations of Sweden and Denmark, it’ll be hard to see where any potential points come from.

This is why I think it’s very important to say that no matter what, Poland being here is a success in its own right. It’s also very important to say that this isn’t an attempt to be patronising, but simply the fact we should not encourage any lack of earnestness over what is a genuinely remarkable achievement. 

For Poland to have qualified for the first tournament in the entirety of their 44-year history should really not be downplayed, and what I really look forward to seeing is that increased funding towards the women’s game in Poland off the back of this debut tournament.

Now though attention will correctly turn towards the on-pitch action. We’ve already had a hard summer when it comes to Poland’s national teams, with failure and controversy aplenty with the men’s team and the abject failure of the U-21 Euro. Hopefully we’ll be dealt some real positivity by the women’s team as they take their deserved place as one of the 16 teams taking part in Switzerland this summer.

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