Poland fired coach Santos after six matches

On September 13, President of the Polish Football Federation, Cezary Kulesza signed a decision to fire Santos. The reason is that Poland did not compete successfully in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. After the first five matches of Group E, the "White Eagles" are ranked fourth among five teams with six points, four points behind leading team Albania. Second-placed team Czech Republic and third-placed team Moldova are both two points ahead of Poland. If he does not play well in the last three matches, Robert Lewandowski and his teammates may not be able to reach the Top 2 and win tickets to the final round.

Santos will lead Poland from January 2023. Including the friendly match with Germany, he only worked in six matches (winning three and losing three). Previously, under the guidance of former coach Czesław Michniewicz, Poland reached the 1/8 round of the 2022 World Cup.

During nearly eight months of work, Santos often faced criticism for his tactical style, team selection and laziness to watch matches in the Polish championship.

After the loss to Albania on September 10, Poland captain Lewandowski said: "We have had problems from the beginning of the qualifying round. We need to change something to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We I have to apologize to the fans for what I showed. I feel responsible for this."

Before leading Poland, Santos worked for FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos, Greece and Portugal. He brought Euro 2016 and Nations League 2019 to Ronaldo and his teammates. He also brought Portugal to the 1/8 round of the 2018 World Cup, the 1/8 round of Euro 2021 and the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup.

In June, Polish media reported that Santos could go to Saudi Arabia. However, at that time, President Kulesza denied the rumors and the 68-year-old coach remained in office.