“The Polish Football Federation (PZPN) announces that, as of September 13, 2023, coach Fernando Santos will no longer perform his duties as Poland’s national coach”.

Fernando Santos, 68 years old, began his career with the Polish national team with a defeat against the Czech Republic in qualifying for Euro2024 football, then beat Albania and Germany, the latter in a friendly game, before another defeat against Moldova.

Poland then beat the Faroe Islands, but were defeated on Sunday by Albania and are in a complicated situation in the fight to qualify for the next European Championship.

With two wins and three defeats in qualifying, the Poles are fourth in Group E, with six points from five games, behind Albania, which has 10, the Czech Republic and Moldova, with eight, and just ahead of the Faroe Islands.

Santos replaced Czeslaw Michniewicz, who led the Polish team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in which they ended up being eliminated by France, the runners-up in the competition.

Previously, the Portuguese coach led the Portuguese national team from 2014 and left on December 15, 2022, after giving Portugal the first two international trophies at senior level, with the victory of Euro2016 and the 2019 Nations League.

In 109 games with the Portuguese national team, Fernando Santos managed 67 wins, 23 draws and 19 defeats, the last of which came against Morocco, 1-0, in the quarter-finals of the 2022 football World Cup.