Lech Poznań defended the Polish championship, Górnik Zabrze returned to the big stage with a place in the Champions League qualifiers, Jagiellonia once again made it onto the podium, and the bottom of the table brought drama for Lechia Gdańsk. The 2025/2026 season of the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa was one of the most
In the 2024/2025 season of PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa, the Polish champion accumulated a total of 70 points, and the gap between the last place on the podium and the highest position in the relegation group was 30 points. The situation looked completely different in the edition that has just concluded – the champion finished with a tally of 60 points, while the difference between the bronze medallist and the best-placed relegated side was 18 points. This is just one of the aspects that makes the past season one of the most wild in years.
This year's league winner was Lech Poznań, who defended the championship title following their success in the previous season. The charges of coach Niels Frederiksen, with a record of 16 wins, 12 draws and 6 defeats, secured the trophy in the 33rd round by beating Radomiak Radom 3:1 away from home. It was Kolejorz, together with Lechia Gdańsk, who scored against opponents' goalkeepers most often – 62 goals. In the end, their advantage over second-placed Górnik Zabrze was 4 points.
A major contribution to the success was a run of 9 consecutive matches without defeat (6 wins and 3 draws), which lasted until the final round, in which Lech added a 2:2 draw with Wisła Płock. Furthermore, Kolejorz was the only team to score in every home match this season, but in terms of home points they finished only in 10th position – away from home, however, they performed best, winning 9 times, recording 5 draws and 3 defeats.
The club from Poznań claimed the championship title for the 10th time in their history. They are the 5th team with a double-digit tally in our league. It is also Lech's 5th title in the 21st century – for the first time in this century they managed to defend it. Looking more broadly, the people from Poznań have claimed a podium finish 10 times in the last 14 seasons – 4x gold, 3x silver, 3x bronze.
The past campaign was also particularly successful for clubs from the Silesian voivodeship. Górnik Zabrze in the final match of the season thrashed Radomiak Radom 6:2 and secured the title of vice-champion of Poland, having the same number of points as third-placed Jagiellonia Białystok. The Zabrze side won the same number of matches as Lech (16), drew 8 times and suffered 10 defeats. The team of coach Michal Gasparik dominated the league in home points – 34 (11 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats). It is worth noting that whenever Górnik took the lead this season, they did not lose the match.
Previously, Zabrze had last been in the top two of the league in the 1990/1991 season. Before that, a longer gap between two seasons in the TOP-2 of the Polish championship had been recorded by Polonia Warszawa (1946–1998).
It is a great achievement for coach Michal Gasparik, whose charges will compete in the Champions League qualifiers. The former Górnik player has a run of 6 consecutive seasons in the top three of the domestic league with his team, having previously reached the podium in his home country: 2020/2021–2024/2025 – 5x 3rd place.
Lukas Podolski became the oldest outfield player in the history of Ekstraklasa. The legend of the Zabrze team appeared on the pitch at the age of 40 years and 353 days. The previous record belonged to Piotr Reiss – 40 years 347 days. The world champion replaced Sondre Liseth in the 69th minute of the match against Radomiak.
Two more teams from the Silesian voivodeship advanced to European competition. Just behind Jagiellonia Białystok, who finished the campaign on the podium for the 3rd consecutive season, claiming the bronze medal today (their 6th podium finish in history overall), came Raków Częstochowa. This is the 5th medal for Medaliki in the last 6 seasons. Raków fell short of Duma Podlasia by 1 point.
The top of the table was very closely contested, and the players of GKS Katowice accumulated 5 points fewer than Częstochowa. The Katowice side found themselves in the top five of the league for the first time since the 2002/2003 season. Bartosz Nowak played a huge part in this – the top assist provider of this edition of PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa (12).
Legia Warszawa and KGHM Zagłębie Lubin came very close to qualifying for European competition. Had Katowice lost, Wojskowi would have played in Europe – they ultimately finished 1 point behind GKS. Miedziowi, meanwhile, following their defeat to Jagiellonia Białystok, ended their campaign with 48 points.
Lechia Gdańsk are leaving our league by the skin of their teeth. The team of coach John Carver, together with Lech Poznań, scored the most goals in the competition, which best illustrates that this was a season full of contrasts. At the same time, they also conceded the most goals (65). The defeat to Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza meant that the Gdańsk side ended the season with 38 points – 3 fewer than safe Piast Gliwice. This is the 6th relegation in Lechia's history.
Alongside Lechia, Arka Gdynia are also leaving the ranks of PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa, having been relegated after a match against… the Słonie. The last team in the table dragged down the other two relegated sides with them. The team from Gdynia returns to Betclic 1. Liga after one year at the top level – as does Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza. The last time two promoted sides were relegated from Ekstraklasa was in the 2023/2024 season (ŁKS Łódź and Ruch Chorzów).
The best result among the promoted sides was recorded by Wisła Płock. The soldiers of coach Mariusz Misiura found themselves at the completely opposite end of the spectrum, coming close to the European places. Nafciarze's tally was 12 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats.
The battle for the top scorer crown lasted until the very end. The competition involved Tomas Bobcek from Lechia Gdańsk and Karol Czubak from Motor Lublin. Ultimately, the better man was the one who found the net in the 34th round – the Czech striker from Gdańsk put on a brace against opponents from Nieciecza and, as some consolation for relegation, claimed the title of the competition's top scorer. His total goal tally stopped at 20. Czubak scored 18 goals, Jonatan Braut Brunes and Mikael Ishak 16 each. With a tally of 13 goals, Jesus Imaz ended the season – the Spaniard, who after the April match against Arka Gdynia and a brace scored became the most prolific foreign player in the history of Ekstraklasa.
The attendance also deserves special mention – in the 34th round of PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa, the barrier of 4 million fans in the stands was surpassed. The 2025/2026 season once again showed that Ekstraklasa is not only about excitement on the pitch, but also full stadiums, ever-growing interest in the league and an atmosphere that builds the prestige of the competition. Full stands, unpredictable battles for the title, European places and survival, individual records and decisions made in the final minutes – all of this added up to a complete season. Spectacular, unpredictable, full of stories and heroes. Simply: one of the best seasons our league has seen in recent years.
Home wins: 138
Away wins: 83
Draws: 85
Home vs away points: 499 vs 334
Number of goals: 837
Home goals: 482
Away goals: 355
Average goals per match: 2.74
Goal scorers: 256
Braces: 56
Hat-tricks: 4
Yellow cards (players): 1230
Red cards (players): 44
Penalties awarded / scored: 88/70
Most home points: Górnik Zabrze (34)
Most away points: Lech Poznań (32)
Most wins: Lech Poznań, Górnik Zabrze, Raków Częstochowa (16 each)
Most draws: Cracovia (15)
Most defeats: Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza (18)
Highest ball possession: Jagiellonia Białystok (58%)
Most goals: Lech Poznań and Lechia Gdańsk (62 each)
Most goals conceded: Lechia Gdańsk and Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza (65 each)
Best goal difference: Lech Poznań (17)
Highest expected goals rate: Lech Poznań (64.34)
Most expected goals per match: Lech Poznań (1.89)
Highest expected goals conceded rate: Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza (58.37)
Most shots per match: Lech Poznań (12)
Most shots on target per match: Lech Poznań (5.94)
Most fouls committed: Legia Warszawa (491)
Most fouls suffered: Raków Częstochowa (493)
Greatest distance covered per match: Lech Poznań (114.56)
Most yellow cards: Radomiak Radom (87)
Most red cards: Piast Gliwice (5)
