Football. Pogoń vs. Widzew in the fight for the Polish Cup quarterfinals

The draw for the 1/8 finals of the Polish Football Cup took place in Warsaw on Tuesday, and the top-league Pogoń Szczecin faced a rival from the same league, Widzew Łódź, and the match will take place at Twardowskiego Street in the first week of December, on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (December 2-4).

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One of the orphans pulling out the balls with team names on them during Tuesday's draw was Jakub Wawrzyniak, who played for the Polish national team years ago and, among others, for the then second-division Błękitni Stargard. The draw has been arranged so that although there are ten top-division players at this stage, at least two representatives from lower leagues will be in the quarterfinals, as Flota Świnoujście's conquerors, third-division Avia Świdnik, will host first-division Polonia Bytom, while third-division Zawisza Bydgoszcz will face first-division leader Wisła Kraków. Second-division Chojniczanka Chojnice, which controversially eliminated Świt Szczecin, will play at home against top-division Korona Kielce, and we wonder if Damian Krumplewski from Olsztyn will be the referee again...

In the Polish Cup, Pogoń has only met Widzew once, and that was also in the round of 16. The match took place at Twardowskiego Stadium on October 30, 1986, and Pogoń advanced to the quarterfinals after a 3-2 victory, so we wouldn't mind a "repeat of the entertainment." In the match from 39 years ago, the navy blue and burgundy team took the lead twice in regulation time, with goals from Jerzy Sokołowski in the 24th minute and Marek Leśniak in the 76th minute, but Łódź equalized with goals from Kazimierz Potek in the 65th minute and Leszek Iwanicki in the 78th minute, forcing extra time, with Marek Leśniak deciding the game in the 108th minute.

In the league, the Pride of Pomerania has played Widzew 59 times so far and has a somewhat unfavorable record, having won 21 matches, shared the points 13 times, and suffered 25 defeats, resulting in a negative goal difference of 70-76. However, the recent period has been more favorable for our team, which has won its last five matches, remained unbeaten in nine consecutive matches, and scored at least one goal in the last 13 matches. The Port team's biggest victory in history came on February 22nd of this year, winning 4-0 away (our heaviest defeat, 1-5, came in Łódź on October 18th, 1981, during the "Solidarity" euphoria, when Jaruzelski was already secretly preparing martial law...). When it comes to goal records, all memorable matches took place in the city of textile workers, as the most goals were scored there, in a 4-4 draw on September 4, 1976. In the history of the Szczecin-Łódź competition, Leszek Wolski scored the most goals for Pogoń (6), while Włodzimierz Smolarek scored the most for our rivals – the late Włodzimierz Smolarek (7). ©℗ (mij)

POLISH CUP 1/8 FINAL PAIRS:

POGOŃ SZCZECIN - Widzew Łódź

Piast Gliwice - Lech Poznań

Avia Świdnik - Polonia Bytom

Zawisza Bydgoszcz - Wisla Kraków

Chojniczanka Chojnice - Korona Kielce

Lechia Gdańsk - Górnik Zabrze

GKS Katowice - Jagiellonia Białystok

Silesia Wrocław - Raków Częstochowa

The next round, i.e. the quarter-finals of the Polish Cup, will take place on March 3-5, 2026, and the final is traditionally scheduled for May 2.

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