Monika Kobylińska: "Playing the EHF EURO in front of your fans is a unique experience"

As she said, Kobylińska has played a lot of important games with the Polish national team. And while she has experienced some very nice atmospheres in front of home crowds, she definitely expects the EHF EURO to be a on a different level: "I have played some qualifiers on home court, and that was already very nice, we could feel like were pushed when the fans cheered for us. The EURO is going to be the same thing, but even bigger," she says.

In late October, Kobylińska and her teammates gathered in Katowice for one of their final training weeks before the competition. There is actually a very good reason why Poland chose to play a friendly game against Iceland in that city, as the Spodek will also host games throughout EHF EURO 2026. "It’s important for us to know our surroundings, even though the game will not be played in the same venue. But the staff decided to stay there to get things going, to have people aware of the event as well," she added.

The enthusiasm, she says, is also growing in the city that will be the sole Polish host of the tournament: "Especially during this national team week, you can feel that there is a lot of excitement. A lot of my friends and family plan on attending the games in Katowice and I really can’t wait for us, as a team, to play in front of so many people," she says.

It might have been a while since Poland were named as co-hosts of the competition, but it started to materialise in a lot of people’s minds only a few weeks ago. "I thought about it before the start of the season, but then I calmed myself down as there were so many games to play. But now, it’s only four or five weeks away, so it is becoming very real!"

Women’s EHF EURO 2026 is the first event that Poland will host in the forthcoming years, as the country has also been awarded the co-hosting of the 2031 IHF World Championship and the Women’s EHF EURO 2032. But far from considering the 2026 edition of the EHF EURO as a first step or launch pad towards the next events, Kobylińska would like Poland to perform: "This is a really important competition for us, for many reasons. We have shown, during the last international competitions, that we clearly were on the way up and it’s important for us to use this experience to remain stable in our results," she explains.

In the past two international competitions, Poland managed to qualify for the main round. And even if the gap between them and the best teams in Europe seems still significant, the squad, with Arne Senstad on the bench, has been making huge progress. "I think we have gathered a lot of experience, playing more important games in these two championships. Of course, Denmark, Norway or France are still ahead of us, but I feel like we have the possibility to narrow the gap with these nations," says the right back, who has been playing with DVSC Skyline since the beginning of the season.

A main round qualification seems like an achievable goal for Poland, who will be playing against France, the Faroe Islands and Ukraine in the preliminary round at the EHF EURO 2026. "France are among the best teams in the world, but I am confident we can compete with the other two. Especially with our fans supporting us in Katowice, everything is possible," Kobylińska belives, before concluding: "Our recent results have put some more pressure on our shoulders, because people are expecting us to do well now. But I have faith in my team and I am confident we can deliver."

Photos: © kolektiff; Pawel Bejnarowicz