Two years later, Krychowiak was called up to the U21 squad for the first time. He his first appearances in a 3–0 win against Albania U21 on 2 September 2011. This was followed up by captaining the U21 side in a 2–0 loss against Russia U21. On 11 October 2011, he scored his first Poland U21 goal, in a 4–3 win against Albania U21. Krychowiak then scored twice for the U21 side in a 4–2 win against Moldova U21 on 1 June 2012. He went on to make 11 appearances and scoring three times for Poland U21.