The Poland men's national volleyball team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w piłce siatkowej mężczyzn) represents Poland in international volleyball competition. The team is directed by the Polish Volleyball Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Siatkowej, PZPS), the governing body for volleyball in Poland, which represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches.
Poland's greatest achievements to date have been winning gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, three World Championship titles (1974, 2014 and 2018), three European Championship titles (2009, 2023 and 2026), World League (2012) and the Nations League (2023, 2025 and 2026).
As of October 2026, Poland is one of the world's strongest teams, ranked first in the FIVB world ranking.
History Poland achieved some of its best results in the 1970s, with gold medals at 1974 World Championship and the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. They also won five consecutive silver medals at the European Championship, between 1975 and 1983.
2005–2008 Raúl Lozano
2005 On 17 January 2005 Raúl Lozano was chosen as coach.
On 27 May 2005 he debuted as the coach in official match against Argentina (3–1) – first meeting at 2005 World League. Polish national team won 9 of 12 matches in intercontinental round in Pool C (with Serbia and Montenegro, Greece, Argentina) and achieved promotion to final round in Serbia and Montenegro. They lost just 2 matches with Serbia and Montenegro (2–3, 2–3) and Greece (1–3).
2006 In 2006 Polish team won silver medal at World Championship. In final they lost against Brazil.
2009–2010 Daniel Castellani 2009 On 17 January 2009, Daniel Castellani, who had previously led PGE Skra Bełchatów, was announced as the new head coach. In June 2009 Polish team played in Pool D of intercontinental round of the World League 2009. They won 5 of 12 matches, but lost all 4 matches with Brazil and 3 meetings with Finland. Poland took 11th place in general classification.
On 3 September 2009, Poland played its first match in preliminary round Pool A of the European Championship 2009 held in Turkey. Polish players beat France in opening match 3–1. Then won with Germany (3–1) and hosts – Turkey (3–0). Poland took first place in Pool A and went to play-off round, where in Pool F beat European Champion 2007 – Spain (3–2) and won two another meetings with Slovakia (3–2) and Greece (3–0). They reached the first place in the group and Poland advanced to the final round. In semi-final played against Bulgaria and won 3–0. In final they met with France once again. This two teams opened and closed European Championship 2009. On 13 September 2009 Poland won a title of the European Champion first time in history. 2 of 8 individual award were achieved by Polish players. Paweł Zagumny was the Best setter and Most valuable player was awarded the captain and opposite hitter of Polish national team – Piotr Gruszka. On 14 September 2009 all players were awarded Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta and coach Daniel Castellani received Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta.
In 18–23 November 2009, Poland participated as the European Champion in World Grand Champions Cup held in Japan. The Polish team won 2 of 5 matches with Iran and Egypt. Poland took 4th place.
Polish men's national volleyball team was elected the best team of 2009 in 75th Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego 2009 in Poland and Piotr Gruszka was 3rd in the Top 10 of Polish Athletes in the same competition.
2010
Polish national team started season with intercontinental round of the World League 2010. At the beginning they lost twice with German team (1–3 and 0–3) in Stuttgart. Then on 11–12 June beat hosts of final round – Argentina (3–1 and 3–2) in San Juan. On 18–19 June played with Cuba. Poland lost first match 2–3, but next day beat opponent 3–0. The remaining 6 matches Polish national team played in Poland. On 25–26 June, Poland beat Argentina (3–1 and 3–1) in Wrocław. They moved to Atlas Arena to Łódź, where they lost both matches with Cuba (0–3 and 1–3). Matches with Germany on 8–9 July ended Polish participated in the World League. Poland lost 2–3 and won the next day 3–1 at Spodek in Katowice.
On 25 September 2010, players of Polish national team played their first match at the World Championship 2010. They won all 3 matches in Pool F (first round) with Canada (3–0), Germany (3–2) and Serbia (3–1), which were held in Trieste, Italy. In second round Poland lost their both matches with Brazil (0–3) and Bulgaria (0–3). Poland ended Championships in place 13–18.
On 25 October 2010 after the vote of the board of Polish Volleyball Federation, Castellani was fired.
2011–2013 Andrea Anastasi
2011 After lacklustre previous year the head coach and a number of players were replaced. Andrea Anastasi began work as head coach on 23 February 2011, when Poland was ranked 11th in the FIVB ranking. His assistant was Andrea Gardini.
They started season without an important players like Zagumny, Winiarski or Wlazły. The team started with the World League 2011. Poland as host was in final tournament, which was held at Ergo Arena in Gdańsk. During a first match against Bulgaria, an opposite hitter – Zbigniew Bartman injured. Despite this Poland won after tie-break. Then Poland lost with Italy (0–3) and beat Argentina in five sets. They went to the semi-final, but lost the match against Russia (1–3). On 10 July 2011 Poland won first medal of the World League in history. Polish achieved individual awards – Bartosz Kurek was the Best scorer and Krzysztof Ignaczak the Best libero.
In the same year the Polish national team wanted to defend a title of European Champion from 2009. The team, without injured Zbigniew Bartman, won in playoff round with Czech Republic and went to quarterfinals. In Karlovy Vary beat Slovakia (3–0). Then they moved to Vienna and lost the match against Italy (0–3). Poles again played the 3rd place match. On 18 September 2011 they beat the winners of World League 2011 – Russia (3–1) and achieved their second bronze in 2011. In addition, individual award for Best server received Bartosz Kurek.
In November was the first chance to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At FIVB World Cup 2011 won 9 of 11 matches. They lost with Iran (2–3), Brazil (2–3) and Russia (2–3). Polish national team won promotion to the Olympics on 3 December 2011, when they won first two sets against Brazil (this one point gave them place on the podium). In conclusion Poland won the silver medal, and repeated the success of the FIVB World Cup 1965, where Poland achieve silver too. For the first time in the history Polish national team won three medals in one year. One of individual awards received middle-blocker Marcin Możdżonek, who was Best blocker.
Polish men's national volleyball team was elected the best team of 2011 in 77th Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego 2011 in Poland and Bartosz Kurek was 2nd in the Top 10 of Polish Athletes in the same competition.
2012
The main purpose for the team were Olympics, but earlier they participated in FIVB World League 2012. They won 10 of 12 matches of intercontinental round, including 3 times won with Brazil, which was successful after many years of defeats. Poland advanced to Final Six, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Polish team was in Pool F with Cuba and Brazil. They won both their group matches and went to the semi-final. They beat the host – Bulgaria and for the first time in history had a chance to play in final of World League. On 8 July 2012 won the final match against United States (3–0). It was a second medal of World League for Polish team and the first gold. Polish players received 4 of 8 individual awards. Best spiker was Zbigniew Bartman, Best blocker – Marcin Możdżonek, Best libero – Krzysztof Ignaczak and Most valuable player – Bartosz Kurek.
On 29 July 2012 the team played their first Pool A match at the 20123 London Summer Olympics against Italy (3–1). Polish national team won 3 of 5 pool matches, but lost with Bulgaria and Australia. They went to quarterfinal, but lost it after 3–1 match against future Olympic Champions – Russia. Despite the defeat, Krzysztof Ignaczak was the Best receiver of the 2012 Summer Olympics (four years earlier, the same award received another Polish player – Michał Winiarski).
Poland had the success and failure of this season, but despite this they were elected the best team of 2012 in 78th Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego 2012 in Poland.
2013 The team started season on 24 May 2013 when they played friendly match with Serbia (3–0) in Milicz. Next day, on 25 May the two national teams played their second match in Twardogóra, which was won by guests (1–3).
Poland began its participation in the World League 2013 losing their first four matches. They lost twice with Brazil at Torwar Hall on 7 June (1–3) and after tie-brak at Atlas Arena on 9 June. Then Polish players lost next two aligned matches on 21 and 23 June against France, which have been resolved after tie-breaks. On 28 June 2013 Polish team played their first match with Argentine team (3–2) at Łuczniczka, Bydgoszcz and two days later their second meeting (3–1) at Ergo Arena in Gdańsk. The heroes of winning matches with Argentine players were Jarosz and Kurek. On 5 and 7 July, Polish national team beat United States team (3–2) at Spodek, Katowice and (3–1) at Centennial Hall in Wrocław, after great game of Jakub Jarosz. Poland didn't continue their series of victories. On 12 July 2013 lost (0–3) match against Bulgaria and one day later lost dramatic match after tie-break despite the determination of the whole team. Unstoppable was the main scorer of Bulgaria – Tsvetan Sokolov. At Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna lost their last two matches of intercontinental round and ended their game in World League 2013.
In October 2013 Andrea Anastasi was fired as coach of the Polish national team. The reason for this decision were unsuccessful Polish losses in 2013 and getting worse team game. Poland, while working of Andrea Anastasi, took 3rd place in the FIVB World Rankings. It was promotion from 11th place in early 2011. Anastasi has announced that he won't be coach of any national team at the World Championship 2014 held in Poland because of respect for his former players. He decided to stay in Poland and has been working with Polish club Lotos Trefl Gdańsk.
2014–2016 Stéphane Antiga
2014 On 24 October 2013, was announced new head coach Stéphane Antiga. He began his work after the end of the league season 2013/2014, because he played for PGE Skra Bełchatów and he had to complete his career as a player. His first tournament as Poland's head coach was the CEV European Championship 2015 qualification. Poland won 5 out of their 6 matches, beating Macedonia and Latvia twice each and Slovenia once. The Polish national team qualified for the CEV European Championship 2015.
After this, the team took part in the FIVB World League 2014. They won 6 of 12 matches in the intercontinental round, but didn't qualify for the Final Six. They lacked one set against Brazil for a place in the final tournament. The team went on to make preparations at training camps in Bełchatów, Capbreton (France) and Spała before the World Championship 2014. On 16–18 August 2014 the 12th Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner was held at Kraków Arena, Kraków. On the first day, after losing a match with Bulgaria (2–3), coach Antiga announced the list of players who would represent the Polish national team at the World Championship 2014. He eliminated one of the major players of previous years: Bartosz Kurek. In the following matches of tournament Mariusz Wlazły was unable to play because of a sprained ankle. Despite this, Poland defeated China and for the first time since 2011, beat Russia. The Polish team took 2nd place and two of the Polish players received individual awards: Piotr Nowakowski as Best server and Krzysztof Ignaczak as Best libero.