A question mark in the Polish volleyball team. A difficult decision before Nikola Grbic
Only the best eight remained in the volleyball players played in the Philippines. Who will coach Nikola Grbić put in the key matches of the tournament?
A case that wonders in the context of the initial setting of the Polish national team is a topic regarding the positions of the host. Coach Nikola Grbić on the inauguration, as expected, put on the duo: Tomasz Fornal and Wilfredo Leon. Over time, however, it turned out that Kamil Semeniuk moved into this group.
Poland – Türkiye. Who will Nikola Grbić put in the team in the composition of the national team?
During the tournament, information about the Fornal health problems began to appear. Former JSW JSW Jastrzębski Węgiel, who will play in the Turkish league from the new season, was “spared” in the last clash of Poles in the 1/8 final with Canada. At that time, the mentioned Semeniuk jumped into the composition, which turned out to be the best scoring player on the Polish side (18 points).
The winner of the Champions League in the colors of Perugia from May BR proves, not for the first time that it can be a key card at the waist, which the coach of Poles has at his disposal. The mentioned “saving” fornal may turn out to be a gate for Semeniuk, because it is difficult to imagine that Grpić would give up Wilfredo Leon. Polish champion with Bogdanka Luk Lublin, an outstanding volleyball player, functions best in the presence in the initial setting. Therefore, it seems that it is to Leon that will be added, either fornal or Semeniuk. The fourth of the receiving Artur Szalpuk remains in the reserves. However, the disposition of the aforementioned three seems to be high enough to not make another revolution in this position.
Grbić got used to putting on proven, trained solved. It seems, therefore, that if the layout with Fornal and Leon was the basic one, Poles will start matches in such a duet. Semeniuk will be sent to this if you need support in the party (especially in the context of Leon), or a change occurs – here both fornal and Leon can be replaced.
This is the biggest question mark, although we are still talking about a more comfortable situation than in fact problematic. Having such reserve, Poland can again prove that the team’s strength is not only the starting seven, but also those who are in a square for reserve, being every day very important figures in their club teams.
The quarter -final match of the 2025 Polish World Cup – Türkiye on Wednesday (i.e. September 24) from 14:00. The World Cup matches are shown on Polsat Sport and Polsat Sport Extra. Meetings with the participation of the Polish national team are additionally available on the open Polsat antenna. Online broadcasts are available through, among others Polsat Box Go.
An impressive balance of the Polish volleyball team at the World Cup. Sack of medals!
In the medal classification of all time, looking at the world championships, Polish volleyballers are fourth. Poland reached for three gold medals (1974, 2014, 2018) and two silver rings (2006, 2022).
As you can see, apart from the memorable success of the Hubert Wagner team – later Olympic champions (1976) – they stood on the podium in the World Cup events in the 21st century. Recent years are extremely successful, since 2014 it has not happened that Poles were missing in the final of the event. In addition, it is worth noting that since the team trains under the baton of Nikola Grbcia, Poles from the most important events come back with the medal each time. Last example? The Golden League of Nations 2025, where in the final tournament in China Polish volleyballers did not lose a single set in any of the three meetings.
In addition, it is worth remembering that in the case of the Polish volleyball team, we are talking about: leaders of the FIVB world ranking, current European champions (2023), world runners -up (2022) and Olympic runners -up (2024). These are really special times for men’s volleyball in Poland. And what is also worth emphasizing, it began in total with … the 2006 World Championships. At that time, the team led by Raul Lozano decided to remind the world by climbing the party’s podium from the highest representative shelf. It was the first medal of the World Cup since Wagner.
