WARSAW: Poland coach Paulo Sousa has named his squad for the Euro 2020 finals – headed by star striker Robert Lewandowski and including late replacements for injury absentees Krzysztof Piantek and Arkadiusz Reca.

There are several surprises among the 26 players who will start their pre-European Championship on May 24, including that of the young midfielder Kacper Kozlowski, from Pogosz Szczecin, who at the age of 17 could make his debut with the red-and-white team in an official competition.

Tomasz Kedziora, a right-back who plays for Dynamo Kiev, is another of the most outstanding newcomers, since this is the first time that he has been called up.

Poland begin their Euro 2020 journey on June 14 against Slovakia in St Petersburg. Five days later, Spain are the opposition and on June 23 it will be against Sweden.

The average age of the squad is 27.2 years and the team ranked 19th in the FIFA world rankings.

Aside from superstar Lewandowski, who has equaled Gerd Müller’s legendary 40-goal Bundesliga record and lifted Bayern to a new title, Naples midfielder Piotr Zielinski and starting goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who plays in the Juventus, are the main figures of the Polish team.

The squad

Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Radoslaw Majecki (AS Monaco), Lukasz Skorupski (FC Bologna) and Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham United)

Defenders: Tymoteusz Puchacz (Lech Poznan), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Tomasz Kedziora (Premier of Ukraine), Kamil Glik (Benevento Calcio), Pawel Dawidowicz (Hellas Verona), Kamil Piatkowski Michalkowski (Rakow Czestokowski) (Barnsley) and Jan Bednarek (Southampton)

Midfielders: Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moscow), Piotr Zielinski (Naples), Jakub Moder (Brighton & Hove Albion), Karol Linetty (Torino), Mateusz Klich (Leeds United), Sebastian Szymanski (Dinamo Moscow) and Kacper Kozlowski (Pogon Szczecin).

Forwards: Kamil Jozwiak (Derby County), Przemyslaw Placheta (Norwich City), Przemyslaw Frankowski (Chicago Fire), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Arkadiusz Milik (Olympique Marseille), Karol Swiderski (PAOK Thessaloniki), Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and Jakubeldorf Swierczok (Piast Gliwice).

Belgian squad

Roberto Martinez, manager of world top-ranking Belgium, has named the following squad:

Goalkeepers : Courtois, Mignolet, Sels

Defenders : Alderweireld, Boyata, Denayer, Vermaelen, Verthonghen, Castagne , Meunier

Midfilders : Carrasco, Chadli, Thorgan Hazard, De Bruyne, Dendoncker, Praet, Tielemans, Vanaken, Witsel

Forwards : Doku, Edern Hazard, Mertens, Trossard, Batshuayi, Benteke, Lukaku

The Croatia squad is:

Goalkeepers: Kalinic (Hajduk), Livakovic (Dinamo), Sluga (Luton Town).

Defenders: Vida (Besiktas), Lovren (Zénith), Vrsaljko (Atlético), Barisic (Rangers), Caleta-Car (Marseille), Juranovic (Legia), Bradaric (Lille), Skoric (Osijek), Gvardiol (Dinamo).

Midfielders: Modric (Real Madrid), Kovacic (Chelsea), Brozovic (Inter), Badelj (Genoa), Pasalic (Atalanta), Vlasic (CSKA Moscow), Ivanusec (Dinamo ).

Forwards: Perisic (Inter), Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Rebic (AC Milan), Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Petkovic (Dinamo), Orsic (Dinamo), Budimir (Osasuna ).

** Roberto Mancini has extended his contract as manager of Italy until 2026.

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