Decision comes after Lewandowski was replaced as national team captain following his absence in Poland’s June fixtures
Robert Lewandowski has made the shock announcement that he will no longer play for the Poland national team while coach Michal Probierz remains in charge.
Lewandowski is 36 and has only a few more years left to play. Without a resolution, the Barcelona man may have already played his last game for his country.
Earlier this month the striker dropped out of the Poland squad ahead of fixtures against Moldova and Final, citing both physical and mental fatigue at the end of a gruelling season.
He then proceeded to attend the friendly against Moldova, watching from the stands. After the game, he launched a tirade during an interview with the country’s news outlet TVP Sport, accusing the Polish media of unfair criticism towards him, especially in relation to his decision not to play the games.
In a social media post on Sunday, Lewandowski confirmed a deeper rift with the national team coach which has prompted his premature retirement.
“Taking into account the circumstances and a loss of trust in the coach [Michal Probierz], I have decided to resign from playing for the Poland national team for as long as he remains in charge,” said the Barcelona striker.
“I hope I will still have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.”
The update comes after Probierz opted to replace Lewandowski as Poland captain because of his decision to drop out of the June fixtures, with Inter Milan’s Piotr Zielinski handed the role.
That decision appears to have damaged their relationship, though it is currently unclear if there was some other private conflict that had developed between the two men.
Lewandowski missed key matches for Barcelona toward the end of the 2024-25 season due to a hamstring injury but returned to score twice in the final three games, helping secure the La Liga title.
He later revealed that despite recovering physically, he was mentally drained and had communicated his unavailability to Probierz, only for tensions to escalate.
Lewandowski said this week that due to his physical and mental condition he “thought it would be worth letting it go” so he could be better prepared “for the sake of next season and the rest of the qualifying rounds [for Poland]”.
The striker remains Poland’s all-time top scorer (85 goals) and most-capped player (158 appearances). His absence will be a major blow as Poland continue their World Cup qualifying campaign, having won their opening two matches in Group G.
Probierz took over in 2023 after a brief but impressive spell with the U21s and led Poland to Euro 2024, though the team exited at the group stage without a win.
