Despite being the top seed in Group H, Poland meekly exited the World Cup on Sunday night, following a comprehensive 3-0 defeat by Colombia. Poland is the first European team to be knocked out of Russia 2018.
Led by Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, Poland was the 8th-ranked team going into the tournament, largely thanks to its gaming of the FIFA rankings, and confident qualifying performance.
But following a somewhat unlucky loss to Senegal, Poland consigned itself to a must win against another surprise first-game loser Colombia. With James Rodriguez the architect, the South Americans demolished the Eagles, who last made it through to the World Cup play-offs 32 years ago.
Poland's #worldcup campaign...#POLCOL pic.twitter.com/d64dr4HmnF
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 24, 2018
Poland didn’t get a sniff. Surprising, since that’s what Colombia are known for letting others do.
— Phanto (@_wangwe) June 24, 2018
Poland has been relegated to CONCACAF
— 🇭🇷 Kimić 🇭🇷 (@lgbtqfc) June 24, 2018
A reminder that Poland didn't play any friendly matches for almost a year so they would be seeded for this World Cup.
— Jonny Sharples (@JonnyGabriel) June 24, 2018
Why is no one watching this Poland match saying Europe should have fewer spots? Poland have been worse than Saudi so far
— Para (@TheParacelsus) June 24, 2018
Poland's performance tonight is much like Lech Premium, a pale lager that comes from the Poznań region of the country.Both are utter piss. pic.twitter.com/4LyJ4nA3Ua
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) June 24, 2018