Grbic announced the Polish squad for the Nations League finals. He crossed out two names
Nikola Grbic revealed his cards before the Nations League final. The Polish coach made key decisions before the most important part of the tournament. We know who will fly to China.
The regular phase of the Nations League is over. The Polish national team can speak of a very successful entry into the tournament. Nikola Grbic’s team finished the intercontinental competition in second place in the table, behind only the perfect Japan, which was the only one to retain all its victories.
The eight best teams will fight for the final triumph in the Nations League. In addition to Poland, Japan, Ukraine and the hosts from China, Slovenians, Italians, Americans, Turks and Bulgarians also advanced. The teams that unexpectedly said goodbye to the tournament included Brazil and France.
Nations League 2026. Success of Bartosz Lemański
From the beginning of the tournament, the Polish coach had one main goal: to test as many players as possible. That’s why he rotated his squad a lot and many debutants appeared on the pitch in the first matches. The coach gradually introduced the volleyball players to the game, who later finished the club season and needed more time to rest.
However, this approach did not prevent the White and Reds from achieving a very good result. There were also individual distinctions. Bartłomiej Lemański finished the regular phase in third place in the classification of the best blockers in the Nations League, ex aequo with Yuri Semeniuk from Ukraine, his clubmate from PGE Projekt Warszawa.
Nations League 2026. Poland’s squad for the final tournament
Nikola Grbic will take fifteen players with him to China. Jakub Kochanowski, who is still recovering from a knee injury, and Marcel Bakaj will remain in Poland. Here is the squad:
- Attacker: Bartłomiej Bołądź, Kewin Sasak
- Quarterback: Jan Firlej, Marcin Komenda
- Recipient: Aleksander Śliwka (captain), Tomasz Fornal, Wilfredo Leon, Kamil Semeniuk, Artur Szalpuk, Szymon Jakubiszak
- Mid: Bartłomiej Lemański, Jakub Majchrzak, Jakub Nowak
- Libero: Maksymilian Granieczny, Jakub Popiwczak
Nations League 2026. When will the Poland – Ukraine match be played?
The Poles’ first rival in the knockout phase will be Ukraine. The meeting will take place on Thursday, July 30 at 1:30 p.m. The White and Reds will enter the match as clear favorites.
Raul Lozano, a former coach of the Polish national team well known to Polish fans, is responsible for the results of the Ukrainian team. – We have to play very well and with a lot of confidence. The Poles are favorites, just like the Japanese, Slovenians and Italians in the remaining quarterfinals, but in volleyball the team that wins is not the one with a richer history, but the one that will perform better on the pitch that day, said the coach. – We must respect the achievements of our rivals, but if we play with self-confidence and one hundred percent of our skills, we can compete with anyone on equal terms – he added.
If the Poles defeat Ukraine, they will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Slovenia and Türkiye in the semi-final.
