Poland's sports encompass almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: football, volleyball, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, track and field, handball, basketball, tennis, and combat sport. The first Polish Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, has brought awareness of Formula One Racing to Poland. Volleyball is one of the country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competition. Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, Jaroslaw Hampel, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Maciej Janowski and Rune Holta. Speedway is very popular in Poland. They won the world cup (2014), and the Polish Extraleague has the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland. The Polish mountains are an ideal venue for hiking, skiing and mountain biking and attract millions of tourists every year from all over the world. Cross country skiing and ski jumping are popular TV sports, gathering 4–5 million viewers each competition, with Justyna Kowalczyk, Dawid Kubacki, Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch as the main attractions. Baltic beaches and resorts are popular locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.
Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków, is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, following relegation from the 2021–22 Ekstraklasa season. It ranks fourth in the number of national titles won (13), behind Górnik Zabrze, Ruch Chorzów, and Legia Warsaw (15), and second in all-time victories. Wisła was founded in 1906 under the name TS Wisła. The team plays its home matches at Henryk Reyman Stadium.
Polonia Warsaw, founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract bridge sections. Historically it also had sections in ice hockey, fencing, tennis, volleyball, hazena, cycling and boxing.
Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań, is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division.
Cracovia is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. The club is five-time Polish champion, besides being the inaugural Polish champion, winner of the Polish Cup and the Polish Super Cup in 2020. Founded in 1906, Cracovia is the oldest Polish club still in existence. They play in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league system.
ŁKS Łódź is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, swimming, cycling, fencing, chess, etc. The club is based at Władysław Król Municipal Stadium, at Aleja Unii Lubelskiej 2 in the West of Łódź.
Warta Poznań is a multi-sports club based in Poznań, Poland. The name means the Guard in Polish and also the name of the river Warta on which Poznań is located. As of the 2024–25 season, they compete in the second division, after being relegated from the 2023–24 Ekstraklasa.
WKS Grunwald Poznań is a multi-sports club based in Poznań, Poland. The handball section had been champions several times whereas the field hockey section is one of the top teams not only in the country but in Europe. Other sections have been champions in Poland and have had Olympic representation.
KS Lublinianka is a Polish professional football club based in Lublin. It was founded in 1921 as WKS Lublin and was supported by the Lublin garrison of the Polish Army. In 1923, WKS Lublin was renamed to Klub Sportowy Lublinianka. In 1938 the club won the Football Junior Championships of Poland. They spent eleven seasons in the Polish First League and in the 1969–70 season they reached the quarterfinals of the Polish Cup. Lublinianka currently plays in the IV liga Lublin.
OKS Odra Opole Spółka Akcyjna is a football club based in Opole, Poland, currently playing in the I liga.
Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of national football league system.
Sport in Romania is an important part of the country's culture. Romania has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Association football is the most popular sport in Romania, a nation of 20 million. The most successful club is Steaua Bucharest, who were the first Eastern European side to win the European Cup and the European Supercup in 1986. Romania is one of only four national teams from Europe that took part in the first World Cup in 1930. The Romania national football team has taken part in seven FIFA World Cups and had its most successful run during the 1990s, when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, losing to Sweden in the penalty shootout. Romania was ranked third by FIFA in 1997.
Sport in Croatia has significant role in Croatian culture, and many local sports clubs as well as the Croatian national squads enjoy strong followings in the country. The most enduring sport by far in Croatia is football, and is played on amateur and professional levels amongst all age groups across the entire country. Several other major team sports are handball, basketball and water polo, with clubs in all parts of Croatia. Ice hockey is another popular team sport, namely in the Croatian interior. The most popular individual sports in Croatia are tennis, alpine skiing, and swimming, and to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin.
TVP Sport is a Polish sport channel, owned by TVP, launched on 18 November 2006. The channel is available on Platforma Canal+, Polsat Box, as well as over cable providers.
Polonia Bydgoszcz is a Polish sports club based in Bydgoszcz most known for its speedway team ŻKS Polonia Bydgoszcz which currently races in the 1. Liga. The club has won the Polish Speedway League Championship seven times, the latest in 2002, and European Team Championship three times, the latest in 2001. The club also has a football team that plays in the lower leagues, though it was more successful in the past and played in the Polish top division, plus several other departments: athletics, cycling and boccia.
Bogdan Kowalczyk is a former Polish handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and then became a handball coach; he coached the Iceland men's national handball team to victory in the 1989 World Men's Handball Championship of B teams and was later coach of the Polish national team. He is widely considered to be a major influence on the development of handball in Iceland.
Ekstraklasa, officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Wybrzeże Gdańsk was a Polish multi-sports club based in Gdańsk, established in 1945, most known for its motorcycle speedway and handball teams. Club has closed in 2005, due to financal problems. Before 2006 speedway season was established new club - Wybrzeże Gdańsk. In handball, new club take part in league matches first time in 2010.
Witold Smętek was a Polish athlete, javelin thrower, runner, handball player, table tennis player, Polish champion and record holder. Born intersex and assigned female at birth, in 1937 Smętek transitioned to male.
Zygmunt Sochan was a Polish footballer who played as a midfielder, manager, and member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II.
