Lewandowski loses armband and resigns from the national team

In Portugal, the last few days dedicated to the National Team have been mainly for celebrating, between the victory against Germany and the triumph against Spain that served to win the Nations League for the second time. In Poland, however, the week of commitments of the national team has been mainly for creating, experiencing and commenting on controversies.

The idea that something might be about to explode occurred when Michal Probierz, the national coach, announced the squad for the games against Moldova and Finland — a friendly and a qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, respectively. Robert Lewandowski, Poland's greatest figure, the country's all-time top scorer and the record holder for most international appearances, was not on the list .

Robert Lewandowski's emotion as he scored for the first time in a World Cup finals

PAP, the Polish news agency, was quick to confirm that the Barcelona forward had asked to be excused from the squad, the training camp and the two games because he was exhausted after a very long season - in which he even ended up missing some matches, between April and May, due to physical issues and limitations. The reasons, however, go far beyond fatigue.

This Sunday, via social media platform X, Robert Lewandowski announced that he will resign from the Polish national team while Michal Probierz is the coach. “Considering the circumstances and the loss of confidence in the Polish national team coach, I have decided to retire from the national team until he is the coach. I hope to be able to play again in front of the best fans in the world,” wrote the 36-year-old player, who has 158 caps and 58 goals for the Poles.

Biorąc pod uwagę okoliczności i utratę zaufania do selekcjonera Reprezentacji Polski postanowiłem do czasu kiedy jest trenerem zrezygnować z gry w Reprezentacji Polski. Mam nadzieję, że będzie dane mi jeszcze zagrać dla najlepszych kibiców na świecie. ?????????

— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) June 8, 2025

Lewandowski's announcement came just hours after Poland revealed that Piotr Zielinski would now be the team's captain. According to Polish media, Michal Probierz announced the change of captain ahead of the game against Moldova on Friday, and the players gave a unanimous standing ovation to the decision.

The final split between Robert Lewandowski and the coaching staff, as well as his teammates, is believed to have happened in March. At the time, despite having agreed to be called up, the Barcelona forward asked not to start against Malta to manage the physical strain - as the Catalans were due to play in three days' time. He came on in the 66th minute and, although Poland won, he continued to criticise the players and the coach for the team's poor performance, an attitude that was not well received by the Polish internationals.

Lewandowski has been Poland's captain since 2014, more than a decade ago, when he succeeded Jakub Blaszczykowski. Michal Probierz has yet to give any official reason for the decision, with the Polish Football Association deferring all answers to Monday's press conference ahead of the game against Finland, where the coach will be accompanied by Piotr Zielinski.

W nawiązaniu do dzisiejszych wydarzeń i wielu zapytań ze strony mediów, informujemy, że selekcjoner Michał Probierz odpowie na pytania dziennikarzy na jutrzejszej konferencji prasowej przed meczem z Finlandią (godz. 15:15 czasu polskiego, 16:15 czasu lokalnego, Stadion Olimpijski… pic.twitter.com/boTOcjTHvM

— PZPN (@pzpn_pl) June 8, 2025