by Rafał Kobza
On Sunday evening, October 12, 2025, Lithuania and Poland faced off in Kaunas. The visitors did their job, defeating Lithuania 2–0 and taking three expected points in the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
This article reviews how Lithuania’s leading domestic sports outlets covered the match.
Sportas.lt: “The Lithuanian team failed to meet the challenge”
The site published a concise report focused mainly on key match events and a written live commentary. Two photo galleries accompanied the piece — one with 30 images from the match and another with 22 photos showing Polish fans gathering in the city before kick-off.
15min.lt: “The mystery around Tusk and Ruginienė’s conversation and the Polish fans’ aggressive message to the Prime Minister”
15min.lt took a much broader approach, exploring both sporting and political contexts. Journalist Ramūnas Jakubauskas wrote about the political dimension of the match in Kaunas, attended by both countries’ prime ministers — Donald Tusk and Inga Ruginienė. The full article is subscriber-only and unlikely to please Polish fans, especially those in the away section.
From the preview available, the piece discusses an aggressive message from Polish fans directed at Tusk, as well as photos of fans posing at Vilnius’ Rossa Cemetery with a “Great Poland” flag — imagery the outlet described critically, condemning both the symbolism and the use of insults toward Poland’s prime minister.
In purely sporting coverage, Marius Bagdonas rated Lithuanian players’ performances in a separate, subscription-only article. The site also released a new episode of its Skrieja kamuolys podcast, focusing on Polish supporters, the future of coach Edgaras Jankauskas, and the Lithuanian team’s ongoing struggles.
Delfi.lt: “Polish journalist criticises Lithuania: a tragedy could have happened”
Delfi published six articles about the match and fan activity. The biggest stir came from Polish journalist Dariusz Dobek, who criticised what he saw as weak security at the stadium. On Poland’s Onet portal, Dobek wrote an article titled “This is how Lithuanians ‘took care’ of Donald Tusk’s safety — pure cabaret.”
He claimed that journalists faced no personal checks, that accreditation badges were not personalised, and that VIPs such as Tusk were seated only a few metres away from the press area — a setup he described as potentially dangerous.
Lithuania’s football federation swiftly rejected that claim, stating: “Anyone carrying large bags had to open them at security checkpoints. All Polish journalists collected their accreditations only after showing ID or proof of employment. The list of accredited media representatives was approved by the Polish Football Association. As for Donald Tusk, he was accompanied by a large security team and likely felt safe at the stadium.”
Other Delfi pieces examined Polish fan behaviour in the city and included an interview with Vilnius district mayor Robert Duchnevič, available behind a paywall. The site also quoted Lithuanian international Justas Lasickas, who was asked about playing in front of a mostly Polish crowd. “It doesn’t interest me,” he said. “I care about Lithuanian fans and the growing ‘Vytis Tribūna’. Even if there are ten thousand Poles on the other side, I’ll look only at our supporters.”
Osportas.lt: “Our team once again tried to look for positives, but admitted that the bitterness of defeat is becoming harder to bear”
Osportas.lt took a similar angle, covering both the political controversies and on-field events. One article featured post-match player reactions — searching for positives while confronting yet another loss. Captain Fedor Černych said: “I’ve played with about five Polish players, and when you see the clubs they’re at now, it brings back good memories. But there are no friends on the pitch. After the game we can talk and swap shirts. I spent six years there, so there are still many fond memories — maybe this time I’ll invite Lewandowski for a chat.”
This article originally appeared in Polish on Bałtycki futbol, here: https://baltyckifutbol.pl/litewskie-media-po-meczu-z-polska/
