Host nation Poland have competed in all but two World Championships since the inaugural 1949 event. The Poles missed out in 1990 and 1994. They have won two medals in the competition – a gold in 1974 and a silver in 2006.

While Poland did not collect a bounty of medals between 1949 and 1986, the nation also never fell below the top 10 in the standings in that time. Last time out, in Italy four years ago, Poland finished in 13th place.

With the benefit of passionate home support, the Poles enter this year’s tournament with high hopes after some promising, albeit variable, results in recent seasons. Poland won the 2012 World League but failed to qualify for the Finals in 2013.
 
In 2014 they were denied a place in the Finals on set ratio, finishing fourth in Pool A of Group 1 and seventh overall.

In another major tournaments Poland took silver at the 2011 World Cup, but then finished fifth at the London 2012 Olympic Games and ninth at the 2013 European Championship.