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Poland look to Egypt 2021: “This is another chance to play with the best”

20 Aug. 2020

Poland look to Egypt 2021: “This is another chance to play with the best”

In 2023, Poland will co-host the IHF Men’s World Championship together with Sweden, for what will be the first senior World Championship held on Polish soil. This co-hosting of the upcoming event was one key reason the IHF Council decided to award one of the two Wild Cards for the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt to Poland, as participation in Egypt 2021 will be critical for the team to continue developing. 

Following the 2016 Olympic Games, Poland have undergone a significant generational change in the men’s national team. At Rio 2016, the side played for the bronze medal. Although they were defeated by Germany in the 3/4 match, the fourth-place finish obviously showed that Poland were one of the top teams at the Games. 

It was hardly a surprise that Poland would rank so high at Rio 2016, considering they were the bronze medallists at the previous World Championship, in 2015. Between Qatar 2015 and Rio 2016, Poland had a disappointing finish of seventh at their home EHF EURO in January 2016 – but they had nevertheless hovered among the top 10 teams at most major international championships for the preceding decade. 

With the reconstruction of the national team, following the retirement of players such as Karol Bielecki – the top scorer at the 2016 Olympic Games – and 2009 IHF World Player of the Year Slawomir Szmal, came a sharp drop in results. From bronze at Qatar 2015, Poland recorded a 17th-place finish at the 2017 World Championship in France, and then a non-qualification for the 2019 edition in Germany and Denmark. The team did not qualify for the EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia, and ranked 21st at the 2020 event in Sweden, Austria and Norway. 

Due to these rankings, Poland also lost the chance to play for a place at the 2020 Olympic Games. Therefore, the 2021 World Championship becomes an even more important vehicle for the side to gain further experience and work toward improving their international results ahead of their World Championship co-hosting duties – which naturally include a hope that the team will proceed as far as possible and thereby encourage heightened interest in the event across the country. 

“This is important to us for many reasons. We want our team, a generation changed, to play at international tournaments. This is extremely important in sport. In 2023, Poland and Sweden will host the Men's World Championship. The participation of our team in the tournament in 2021 is an element of preparation and promotion of this event,” Polish Handball Federation President Andrzej Kraśnicki told his federation’s official website following the IHF Council decision, while coach Patryk Rombel commented:

“This is another chance to play with the best. In order to develop further, we need as many such meetings as possible. The World Championship is the perfect occasion for this. That is why I am so glad that we will take part.” 

Like the other team to receive a Wild Card for Egypt 2021, Russia, Poland will play their first major international event under the guidance of a new coach. Rombel took the helm of the Poland team in 2019, following a two-year stint led by Piotr Przybecki, and prior to that, head coach of 2016 Champions League winners PGE VIVE Kielce, Talant Dujshebaev (2016-2017), and German Michael Biegler (2012-2016). 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Poland were among the sides looking ahead to the European qualification for the 2021 World Championship. Qualification Phase 2, in which Poland were due to participate, was first delayed (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) by the EHF before an April decision that no European qualification for Egypt 2021 would take place and that the remaining European participants were automatically chosen based on ranking at the EHF EURO 2020. 

As Poland were not among the participants at the EHF EURO 2020, their Egypt 2021 dreams appeared to be all but over. However, coach Rombel confirms his side have been preparing as though they would participate, hoping for the Wild Card opportunity and considering it a strong possibility given their status as 2023 co-hosts.  

“We have been working for a long time as if we were to go to this championship. In line with the principle that, until someone says we don’t get a Wild Card, we believe that we are going to the tournament,” said Rombel, who, like most other coaches, has little idea of how the next months will proceed and whether his team will meet as planned. 

“There are no deadlines for the next grouping. We follow the calendar and regulations that apply to us. From September, the clubs start with a large number of matches. We would love to meet more often, but we have to work with what we have.”

One positive for Poland regarding preparation for Egypt 2021, considering the difficulty arising from the COVID-19 confinement measures, is that the bulk of the current national squad are based in the country, playing for clubs such as Champions League participants Kielce as well as top sides in the domestic competition. With the European club competitions expected to begin in the coming months, the players will soon be on the court working toward Egypt 2021. 

More information on the Polish Handball Federation and their national teams can be found on the federation’s official website