Poland Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Poland
Wondering what sports the Polish like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Poland in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Polish Sports
Find below Poland national sports, ranked by watching popularity (in which the percentage is the part of respondents that enjoy watching this sport on television):
| Rank | Sport | Watching popularity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Football | 78% |
| 2 | Ski jumping | 74% |
| 3 | Volleyball | 52% |
| 4 | Olympics | 49% |
| 5 | Handball | 40% |
| 6 | Athletics | 37% |
| 7 | Boxing | 32% |
| 8 | Mixed martial arts | 28% |
| 9 | Formula One | 27% |
| 10 | Basketball | 26% |
So there you have them, the most popular Polish sports! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Poland.
What is the National Sport of Poland?
The national sport of Poland is football. While it was not officially declared a national sport, football is in the heart of all Polish people, and it is definitely the sport’s emblem of the country. It is the most popular sport, and there are clubs and teams all around Poland.
Learn More About Poland Popular Sports
Poland is a country located in Central Europe, and it is the fifth-most populous one in the European Union. Its capital city is Warsaw, which counts more than 1,793,000 inhabitants (but more than 3,100,000 if you include the metropolitan area).
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed the top 5 Poland popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in Poland is football. As you know, football is the national sport of Poland. It is played by millions of Poles, and it has been around since the end of the 19th century. The first international match of the Polish national football team took place in 1921.
The national team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 8 times, and finished at best 3rd, at the 1974 and the 1982 editions. As for the European Championship, it participated 4 times, from 2008 to 2020.
Number of Football licensed players in Poland: more than 400,000 (several million plays casually)
Famous Polish Football players: Robert Lewandowski, Kazimierz Deyna, Grzegorz Lato, Zbigniew Boniek, Jerzy Dudek, Arkadiusz Milik, Wojciech Szczęsny, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Łukasz Fabiański, Kamil Glik, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Ernest Pohl, Łukasz Piszczek
Ski jumping
The second Poland most popular sport is ski jumping. Believe it or not, ski jumping is extremely popular in Poland. This sport is mostly popular from a viewer’s perspective, as there are not that many ski jumpers in the country. However, whenever there is an international event, Poles are all in front of their TV, so much in fact that there are almost as many spectators for a ski jumping event as for a football event!
The most famous Polish ski jumper is probably Adam Małysz, who won 4 Olympic medals (3 silver and 1 bronze).
Famous Polish Ski jumping players: Kamil Stoch, Dawid Kubacki, Maciej Kot, Adam Małysz, Wojciech Fortuna, Justyna Kowalczyk, Piotr Fijas, Piotr Żyła, Stefan Hula Jr.
Volleyball
The third most popular sport in Poland is volleyball. The 2014 Volleyball World Championship was hosted in Poland, and the national team won the gold medal that year. Since 1965, the men’s team has earned 14 medals in many international competitions, including the 2012 World League, where they beat the United States in the final.
There is also a women’s national beach volleyball team that competed in the 2018-2020 Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. A famous Polish volleyball player is Hubert Jerzy Wagner, who coached the team to win the 1976 Olympic Games gold medal.
Famous Polish Volleyball players: Bartosz Kurek, Michał Kubiak, Paweł Zagumny, Michał Winiarski, Piotr Nowakowski, Krzysztof Ignaczak, Łukasz Żygadło, Marcin Możdżonek
Olympics
The fourth most popular sport in Poland is the Olympic Games. While the Olympics are not a sport, in particular, they are very closely followed by a decent fanbase in Poland.
The Polish Olympic Committee was founded back in 1918 and was recognized a year after that. Since 1924, it has participated in every Olympic Games, except for the 1984 edition, when the Soviets as a whole boycotted the competition.
Polish athletes have won a grand total of 302 medals over the year, including 74 gold, 90 silver, and 140 bronze.
Famous Polish Olympics players: Stanisława Walasiewicz, Hans Woellke, Gustav Flatow, Myer Prinstein, Janusz Kusociński, Gerhard Stöck, Jan Kowalczyk, Elżbieta Krzesińska
Handball
The fifth and last most popular sport in Poland is handball. Handball is one of the most popular team sports in Poland, and the top national league is called the Superliga. The current champion is Łomża Vive Kielce (the undisputed best team in the country, with 18 total titles), and 14 teams are competing all around the year. The league was established in 1956.
On an international scale, Polish clubs participate in the Champions League as well as the European League.
Famous Polish Handball players: Günther Ortmann, Sławomir Szmal, Karol Bielecki, Bartosz Jurecki, Krzysztof Lijewski, Zdzisław Antczak, Michał Daszek, Helmut Pniociński, Ryszard Przybysz
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Poland. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.
In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Poland sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.
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