Tomasz Kuszczak

Hertha BSC

Kuszczak was born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland. He joined German club Hertha BSC in 2000, spending a year with their reserve team before being promoted to the first team in 2001. He subsequently spent three seasons as the third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind Gábor Király and Christian Fiedler, and failed to make a single appearance in the Bundesliga. He was out of contract with Hertha when he was signed by West Bromwich Albion manager Gary Megson on 14 July 2004.

West Bromwich Albion

He made his debut for West Brom on 18 September 2004 in a Premier League match against Fulham at The Hawthorns, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He then played in a League Cup match against Colchester United on 21 September 2004, Albion losing 2–1. Kuszczak had only kept goal in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's game against Manchester United on the penultimate match day of the 2004–05 season, with the Baggies facing a tough relegation battle. He put in a striking performance, having to step in front of the goal after the first choice keeper Russell Hoult was injured in the first half. West Bromwich drew the match 1–1, with Kuszczak remaining unbeaten during his 68 minutes on the pitch. This performance helped Kuszczak earn his first man of the match award in the Premier League. The following week, in the season's last match against Portsmouth, Kuszczak had another impressive game, enabling West Bromwich to win 2–0, and hence stay up in the…

Kuszczak's international debut came on 11 December 2003 against Malta. Poland won the away game 4–0. Due to his impressive performances for West Bromwich Albion, he was called up to the 23-man Poland national football team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia on 30 May 2006, he conceded a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Neco Martínez. Kuszczak subsequently ended up as Artur Boruc's back-up during the tournament and did not play. Kuszczak was named in Poland's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but was forced to drop out after picking up a back injury and was replaced by Wojciech Kowalewski. A lack of club football at Manchester United had also seen him slide down the pecking order for his country of late, but he was recalled to the squad for the friendly matches against Romania and Canada by new coach Franciszek Smuda, playing in both matches with mixed results. Kuszczak was called up for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Moldova in September 2013, filling in for injured first choice goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, but remained an unused substitute. Kuszczak was again called up by Fornalik in October, for the friendly game at home to South Africa and the World Cup qualifier against England. He was tipped to start against South Africa but Fornalik opted for Przemysław Tytoń after becoming out of the fold at PSV Eindhoven. This game ended as a 1–0 win for the Poles, he was then an…

Following retirement, Kuszczak moved back to Poland, where he launched a construction company and graduated from college with a degree in sports journalism. On 20 September 2023, he joined Michał Probierz's staff at the Poland national team as a goalkeeping coach. On 18 March 2024, it was announced Kuszczak was no longer involved with the national team.

Club

International