Robert Lewandowski was shocked by his words about the end. “I don’t wish this on anyone”

In Tuesday’s (March 31) final of the 2026 World Cup play-offs, he played his 165th match for the Polish national team. Robert Lewandowski scored 89 goals for the national team during this time. Was this the last appearance of RL9 in the most important team in the country? It’s possible.

Robert Lewandowski leaves the Polish national team. A clear declaration

It is worth noting, however, that in Warsaw, during the press conference opening the March training camp, the captain of the Polish national team did not make a clear declaration regarding his future. The attacker only stated that he would definitely not make decisions here and now.

However, with his entry after losing the match against the Swedes (2:3), the footballer himself slightly shocked public opinion.

The eloquent photo with the accompanying song – “Time to say goodbye”, performed by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman – could be read in different ways.

However, the team captain explained that his intentions for the Instagram post were different. The Pole thus said goodbye to his dreams of the World Cup. The last one – realistically speaking – in his career, considering that in August 2026 Lewandowski will be 38 years old.

– I have to think about a few things first, think about it. As I said at the conference, I am not able to make any declaration. I will return to the club, I still have some matches to play. I will have to answer these question marks in the back of my head myself (…) The worst feeling will be tomorrow when we wake up and ask ourselves what happened yesterday. This will be the saddest moment, the feeling of disappointment. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. We will have to realize that we did not advance to the World Cup, admitted the national team captain after the defeat in Sweden, in front of TVP Sport cameras.

There is no doubt, however, that Lewandowski gave clear signals after the match that this could be the end of him in the national team. A symbolic farewell that – if it actually becomes a fact – will simply have to be respected.

And thank the best player in history for all the years (his debut in the senior team in 2008!) of playing for the national team. Exactly as Lewandowski himself did, thanking the fans with tears in his eyes after the Sweden-Poland match.

A similar situation occurred during the semi-final match a few days ago, when the Poles defeated Albania (2:1), and Lewandowski scored his goal number 89 – at the PGE National Stadium in Warsaw.

The Polish national team interrupted a special series. A great tournament without Poles!

Looking at recent history, the 2026 World Cup will be especially sad for Polish fans. Since 2016, the Polish national team has been consistently participating in subsequent, largest tournaments.

This series was started by the team led by coach Adam Nawałka during Euro 2016. This tournament also brought the greatest success for the Polish national team of the 21st century, namely a place in the quarterfinals and an unfortunate, minimal defeat against Portugal (later champions) after a series of penalty kicks.

Then the Poles took part in: World Cup 2018 (Russia, eliminated after the group stage), Euro 2020 (in several countries, finally played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no advancement from the group), World Cup 2022 (Qatar, advanced to the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time since 1986, defeat by France – later world runners-up) and Euro 2024 (Germany, eliminated after group competitions).

As you can see, this is the first sad result for the Polish national team after a decade of successful qualifying rounds, both for the World Championships and European Championships. However, it will be a bitter pill to swallow, especially considering that the Poles entered the last two tournaments (i.e. World Cup 2022 and Euro 2024) relatively successfully, taking advantage of their second chance by winning play-off matches.

This trick failed with the Swedes.