Władysław Żmuda

Żmuda was born in Lublin. He spent six years learning his trade with his first club Motor Lublin before finally spreading his wings in 1973 and switching to Gwardia Warsaw, one of the Polish capital's clubs. The 19-year-old Żmuda was instrumental in Gwardia's UEFA Cup campaign of 1973–74 where they narrowly lost out to eventual winners Feyenoord. Żmuda pursued his career in Poland with Śląsk Wrocław and later Widzew Łódź before Italian club Hellas Verona secured permission to sign him from Poland in 1982. After two injury-plagued seasons at Verona, Żmuda spent a brief spell with New York Cosmos before returning to Italy with US Cremonese, playing two of his three seasons with the club in Serie B. Żmuda ended his playing career in 1988.

Żmuda played for the Poland national team, for which he earned 91 caps and scored 2 goals. He was a participant at four FIFA World Cups, the first in 1974, where Poland reached third place. He received the FIFA Young Player Award at the tournament. He played a total of 21 matches at the World Cup finals, the sixth-most ever, tied with Uwe Seeler and Diego Maradona and behind only Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose, Paolo Maldini and Cristiano Ronaldo. Being a part of Polands squad for four tournaments, in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986, place him joint seventh in the all-time rankings regarding players who played in the most World Cup tournaments. He was also a participant at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where Poland won the silver medal.

International

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Żmuda goal.

Śląsk Wrocław

Ekstraklasa: 1976-77 Polish Cup: 1975–76 Widzew Łódź

Ekstraklasa: 1980–81, 1981–82 Poland

Olympic silver medal: 1976 FIFA World Cup third place: 1974, 1982 Poland U18

UEFA European Under-18 Championship third place: 1972 Individual

FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award: 1974 Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1974 Polish Football Association National Team of the Century: 1919–2019 Ekstraklasa Hall of Fame: 2022