Skorupski excluded from Poland squad amid alleged Lewandowski conflict

Jan Urban announced the Poland national team squad for the upcoming November Nations League matches on Friday, unexpectedly excluding goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski. The omission comes despite injuries to fellow goalkeepers Marcin Bułka and Kamil Grabara, which have created uncertainty regarding the starting position. Instead of recalling Skorupski, Urban selected Sławomir Abramowicz, Mateusz Kochalski and Bartłomieja Drągowski. This marks another exclusion for Skorupski, who has not received a national team call-up since October of the previous year.

Speculation regarding the exclusion centers on a reported personal conflict between Skorupski and team captain Robert Lewandowski. Wojciech Górski noted that Lewandowski privately referred to Skorupski as a fool in Sebastian Staszewski's book and did not deny the remark at a subsequent press conference. Górski observed that Skorupski has not attended any national team gatherings since these reports surfaced. Relations between the two players have reportedly been strained since Skorupski claimed a bonus dispute occurred after the World Cup, an allegation Lewandowski firmly denied at the time.

Skorupski’s agent, Daniel Kaniewski, publicly addressed the situation in comments reported by Mateusz Ligęza. Kaniewski stated that he believes there is a conflict within the national team squad that should be acknowledged openly. He asserted that Skorupski had been assured during the previous international window that he should prepare for a recall but received no communication regarding his eventual exclusion. Kaniewski later clarified that these assurances and discussions took place prior to the October gathering, though he did not dispute the characterization of tensions affecting his client's selection.