Ekstraliga Women Czarni Sosnowiec were the best team in Poland last season. Fifty-six points, only two defeats and a five-point cushion over Pogoń Szczecin leave little room for argument. What they did not do was make the next title race feel inevitable.
Pogoń Szczecin finished five points back. GKS Katowice were eight behind, Górnik Łęczna nine. Four clubs crossed the 47-point mark; the next team managed 29. The 2026/27 title race begins with a clear leading group and very little reason to believe its order will remain unchanged.
Czarni are still the team to catch
Champions earn the right to be called favourites. Czarni combined the league’s best week-to-week consistency with enough attacking authority to avoid living on narrow margins. They lost less often than their rivals and did not allow pressure at the top to turn routine matches into emergencies.
Defending a title creates a different season. Opponents adjust. Draws that once felt recoverable begin to look like openings for three challengers. Czarni’s task is not to become dramatically better; it is to remain recognisably themselves while everyone else builds specifically to catch them.
Pogoń have the shortest distance to travel
Pogoń Szczecin’s 51 points made them the nearest challengers and the most obvious alternative pick. They begin against promoted Legia Ladies, a fixture that carries more risk than a standard opening match. Legia will bring energy and attention; Pogoń must bring the calm of a team expecting to fight for first place.
Pogoń’s problem was not the big occasion. It was turning enough of the less glamorous Saturdays into wins. Five points can disappear quickly if they become more ruthless against the league’s middle.
Katowice and Łęczna have more than history
GKS Katowice followed a championship in 2024 with another strong campaign, finishing third on 48 points. Their standards are now established. They are not outsiders hoping the top two collapse; they are contenders who need a small number of close matches to turn differently.
Górnik Łęczna finished one point further back. No Polish women’s club needs an explanation of what Łęczna can represent at its best. The more relevant argument is current: 47 points kept them within one sustained run of the title race. If their strongest months arrive at the right time, they can lead it.
The crowded middle
SMS Łódź, Rekord Bielsko-Biała, Śląsk Wrocław, Lech Poznań UAM, AZS UJ Kraków and AP Orlen Gdańsk finished within six points of one another last season. This is where the table can change fastest.
SMS and Rekord have the clearest route to becoming a fifth challenger. Śląsk and Lech both ended on 26 points and should expect more. AZS UJ and AP Orlen spent too much of last spring looking over their shoulders, but the promoted pair gives neither club permission to assume safety.
Five dates worth circling
- 1–2 August — Legia Ladies vs Pogoń Szczecin: the most watched newcomer meets the runners-up immediately.
- 8–9 August — Czarni Sosnowiec vs Ślęza Wrocław: the champions provide the newcomers’ first elite benchmark.
- 16 August — Legia Ladies vs Lech Poznań UAM: two major sporting brands, one important early table test.
- 29 August — GKS Katowice vs SMS Łódź: a match that could define who stays attached to the leading four.
- 3 October — Pogoń Szczecin vs Rekord Bielsko-Biała: the restart after September’s long break offers no room for rust.
Prediction
Czarni remain narrow favourites, with Pogoń close enough to make another five-point gap unlikely. Katowice are the best bet to split them; Łęczna are the team nobody will enjoy chasing if they start quickly.
We are backing Czarni to retain the title, narrowly. Pogoń should push them deeper into the spring, while Katowice have the squad and recent pedigree to punish both. Łęczna are fourth in this forecast and will probably pin it to the dressing-room wall.
Follow the complete season on the WomenLiveScore ORLEN Ekstraliga hub.
Featured image: GKS Górnik Łęczna. Photo by SMS Górnik Łęczna, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
