Poland’s four European qualifiers were drawn into their respective competitions on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the draws, Raków Częstochowa, Legia Warsaw, Lech Poznań and Pogoń Szczecin found out who they were paired with.

Raków Częstochowa

2022/23 Mistrz Polski Raków were drawn into the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League for the very first time on Tuesday. In the draw, they were paired against Estonian Champions Flora Tallinn. The first leg, with Raków at home, will be held on either the 11th or 12th of July, with the trip north to Estonia to follow a week later.

Should Raków progress to the Second Qualifying Round, they will face the winner of the tie between Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar or Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan.

If they should lose against Flora Tallinn, Raków will receive a bye to the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League. The draw for that game would take place on 24th July.

Legia Warsaw

Ekstraklasa runners-up and Puchar Polski winners Legia will start their European campaign in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League. In Wednesday’s draw they were handed a two-legged tie against Ordabasy Shymkent of Kazakhstan. Legia will travel eastwards on 27th July, before hosting the second leg on 3rd August.

Ordabasy qualified for the Conference League by virtue of winning the 2022 Kazakhstan Cup against FC Akzhaiyk. They have yet to progress past the Second Qualifying Round of any European competition to date, although they did reach the Quarter Finals of the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996/97.

Lech Poznań

2021/22 League winners Lech Poznań were also placed into the draw for the 2nd Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, thanks to their third-placed finish in the Ekstraklasa. In the draw, they were tasked with a trip to face Lithuanian A Lyga runners-up Kauno Żalgiris. The first match will be played in Poznań on 27th July, before travelling to Kaunas a week later.

Kauno finished the 2022 campaign an astonishing 21 points behind FK Żalgiris of Vilnius, and as a result enter European competition for the fifth successive season. Like Legia’s rivals Ordabasy, they too have never made it past the Second Qualifying Round – where they were hammered 10-1 on aggregate by Welsh club The New Saints in 2021/22.

Pogoń Szczecin

Although also in the draw for the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Pogoń will have to wait to find out their opponents. The draw handed them either a trip to face Northern Ireland’most successful club, Linfield, or Albania’s oldest club, Vllaznia.

Linfield qualified for the competition by finishing second behind first-time Champions Larne FC, whilst Vllaznia ended the Kategoria Superiore season in 4th.

Linfield have plenty of European experience, but haven’t made it to the first round proper of a tournament since their brief UEFA Cup stint in 1994. Vllaznia also have played in the Qualifying rounds on numerous occasions; but discounting several Intertoto Cup campaigns, you have to look back to 1991 to find their last First Round appearance – Also in the now-defunct UEFA Cup.

Pogoń will host their rivals in the first leg on 27 July, before travelling to either Belfast or Shkoder on 3rd August.