Very few of the groups in Russia 2018 could boast four legitimate competitors to enter the knockout rounds, but that’s exactly what Group H has to offer. With talent in each squad, anything could happen in Group H.

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Colombia (23-man final squad was announced on fourth June 2018)-
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Arsenal), Camilo Vargas (Deportivo Cali), Jose Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas)
Defenders: Cristian Zapata (Milan), Oscar Murillo (Pachuca), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Yerry Mina (Barcelona), Johan Mojica (Girona), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Wilmar Barrios (Boca Juniors), Carlos Sanchez (Espanyol), Abel Aguilar (Deportivo Cali), James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus), Mateus Uribe (America), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate)
Forwards: Carlos Bacca (Villarreal), Luis Muriel (Sevilla), Radamel Falcao (Captain) (Monaco), Jose Izquierdo (Brighton), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras)
Manager: Jose Pekerman

Quarterfinalists at Brazil 2014, Colombia will love to match their exploits. Led by very experienced Jose Pekerman since 2012, they arrive at this World Cup with a strong squad. They finished fourth in the South American qualifiers and are currently ranked 16th in the world.

While some players have retained their place from last World Cup, there are many new faces. However they have a settled XI.

They are defensively solid, have Cuadrado and Quintero to provide the creative spark in the midfield and Bacca to partner veteran Falcao on top.

James Rodriguez is their best player. The leading scorer of last World Cup arrives into this tournament following a strong season at Bayern where he scored eight goals and provided 13 assists.

While he was at his creative best last World Cup, he has added maturity and temperament to his game over last four years. With Falcao finding his scoring touch again (22 goals and four assists for Monaco last season), partnership of him and James at the top can be one of the most dreaded of this tournament.

It will be difficult to break this Colombian team down, with good physicality, size, technique and discipline.

Colombia may employ the youngest centre back pairing of Sanchez (21) and Mina (23). This is an opportunity for these two youngsters to raise their ever-increasing stock in the game.

While they will love to have a successful campaign, they have struggled to get results against the top teams. They came just short knocking Brazil out in 2014 and failed to beat Argentina, Brazil or Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers.

Their players need to believe that individually and collectively they can better any opposition. Another limitation may be that they are too top heavy. While they retained good defensive record at qualifiers, they seem short on quality defensive players.

Colombia are drawn in the most evenly matched groups of the tournament alongside Japan, Senegal and Poland. However experience and talent in this squad should propel them to the knockouts.

Japan (23-man final squad was announced on 31st May 2018)-
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Eiji Kawashima (Metz), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol)
Defenders: Naomichi Ucheda (Kashima Antlers), Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Wataru Endo (Urawa Red Diamonds), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Red Diamonds), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg SV), Maya Yoshida (Southampton)
Midfielders: Keisuke Honda (Pachuca), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Takashi Inui (Eibar), Makoto Hasebe (Captain) (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ryoto Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale)
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz 05), Yuya Osako (FC Koln)
Coach: Akira Nishino

One of the top teams of Asia, Japan are participating in their sixth consecutive World Cup. They have been consistent, quick and technically strong over the years.

They didn’t have the easiest qualifications to this tournament, finishing above Saudi Arabia by just a single point. However, they are in this tournament and will want to qualify for the knockouts.

Look at their squad and experience can be seen. An experienced core, many among them are participating in their third World Cup. Kawashima, Honda, Nagatomo, Okazaki and Hasebe played in 2010 and 2014. Defenders Sakai, Nagatomo and Yoshida have an experience of over 200 matches for their country. They may be the most experienced squad of the tournament.

Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa is the best player of this team. He has been a player reborn since re-joining the Germans from English giants Manchester United. Last season, he had good returns with six goals and seven assists in 27 appearances.

His finesse and talent alongside Honda’s class and Okazaki’s knack of scoring important goals (what he has continuously showed at Leicester City) holds key for Japan to get the goals to win matches.

Alongside, experience, Japan’s pace can cause many problems. They may be the fastest team of this tournament and will be scary on counter attacks with creativity and pace on the flanks.

While the squad bears a set look, difficult qualifying campaign and failure to get results in build up to the tournament saw sacking of Vahid Halilhodzic just two months prior to the tournament. New coach Akira Nishino, formerly of Gamba Osaka, will have his task cut out the rally the team together and inspire them to play to their potential.

Japan are drawn alongside Colombia, Poland and Senegal. This is the most balanced group of the tournament. It won’t be easy to reach the next round. Japan will want their experience to play a role to notch enough points and ensure qualification to the next round.

Poland (A 23-man final squad was announced on fourth June 2018)-
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Bartosz Bialkowski (Ispwich Town), Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City)
Defenders: Michael Pazdan (Legia Warsaw), Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Thiago Cionek (SPAL), Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Jareck Goralski (Ludogorets), Karol Linetty (Sampdoria), Grzegorz Krychowiak (West Bromwich Albion), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow), Jakub ‘Kuba’ Blaszczykowski (Wolfsburg), Slawomir Peszko (Lechia Gdansk), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Rafael Kurzawa (Gornik Zabrze)
Attackers: Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli), Robert Lewandowski (Captain) (Bayern Munich), Kamil Grosicki (Hull City), Lukasz Teodorczyk (Anderlecht), Dawid Kownacki (Sampdoria)
Coach: Adam Nawalka

Poland qualified for the tournament comfortably ahead of Denmark, winning eight out of ten fixtures. Qualifiers were a cakewalk except their 4-0 loss in Copenhagen.

In this World Cup, Poland will want to perform to their potential. Nawalka has a good mixture of experience and youth who will want to prove their potential.

However, skipper Robert Lewandowski holds key to their campaign. Their best player, he is one of the most prolific strikers in the world.

With a keen eye for goal, he can be menacing on every chance he gets. This 29-year-old led Bayern Munich from the front to another Bundesliga title with 29 goals and two assists in 30 appearances.

Overall, he scored 41 goals and assisted three times for Bayern Munich last season. He is looking to seal a move away from the Germans. He will want to carry his form to the tournament and get a move of his choice.

Except Lewandowski, another Polish player to watch out for will be Napoli’s Zielinski. A very talented playmaker, his stock is consistently rising in the game. This tournament is an opportunity for this youngster to make himself a household name among football fans.

While a set core, good youngsters and Robert Lewandowski are their strengths, their players didn’t enjoy the best of domestic seasons last term.

Talented Krychowiak wasn’t assured a starting place at West Brom, Milik hardly featured after another injury setback, Kuba missed nearly the entire season, Grosicki lost his touch after a good start at Hull and first choice keeper Szczesny spent the entire season as deputy to legendary Gianluigi Buffon.

Poland are drawn alongside Colombia, Japan and Senegal. For their talent and quality, Colombia appear the likeliest to make it through the knockouts.

It can be anyone among Senegal, Japan and Poland who qualify from the group. Nawalka must ensure that his core performs well for Poland to have a good tournament.

Senegal (A 23-man preliminary squad was announced on 17th May 2018)-
Goalkeepers: Abdoulaye Diallo (Rennes), Khadim N’Diaye (Horoya), Alfred Gomis (SPAL)
Defenders: Saliou Ciss (Valenciennes), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Kara Mbodji (Anderlecht), Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux), Lamine Gassama (Alanyaspor), Moussa Wague (Eupen)
Midfielders: Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Salif Sane (Hannover 96), Cheikhou Kouyate (Captain) (West Ham United), Cheikh N’Doye (Birmingham City), Alfred N’Diaye (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Badou N’Diaye (Stoke City)
Forwards: Moussa Sow (Bursaspor), Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Moussa Konate (Amiens), Diafra Sakho (Rennes), Ismaila Sarr (Rennes), M’Baye Niang (Torino), Keita Balde (Monaco)
Coach: Aliou Cisse

With four wins and two draws in six qualifiers, Senegal cruised to their second World Cup.

Their World Cup debut in 2002 went into the folklore.

In their first match, they defeated defending champions France. Riding on that win, they qualified from a tough group consisting Uruguay and Denmark.

In Round of 16, they scored a golden goal to knock Sweden out. Finally, their run was stopped by Turkey in quarter-finals where they lost thanks to a solitary goal by Ilhan. For this World Cup, their team bears a much-settled look. There have numerous experienced players in their squad. In fact, 17 among them play in Europe’s big five leagues and 22 play in Europe.

Coach Cisse was a part of that fairy-tale campaign in 2002 and will now hope to match those exploits as the coach.

Their defence will be led by Napoli’s Koulibaly, captain Kouyate and Everton’s Gueye will form a solid centre midfield and Moussa Sow or Diafra Sakho will lead the attack.

However, their best player is Sadio Mane. Like Mohammad Salah, Mane’s performances are likely to decide Senegal’s World Cup campaign. He was one from Liverpool’s dreaded trio and scored 20 and assisted nine in 44 appearances last season. He will want to carry his Liverpool form on national duties.

Mane alongside Monaco’s Keita is likely to form the quickest wing duo of the tournament.
Physically imposing midfield and outstanding attackers are strengths of this Senegalese team.
However, they don’t appear the strongest at the back. None except Koulibaly seems top class.

As Sir Alex Ferguson once said, “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”. This attractive Senegalese team can struggle if their attackers are contained and defenders are brought under pressure.

Additionally, Cisse’s tactical decisions have raised many eyebrows so far. While he has very good attackers on paper, he has failed to get the best out of them.

If their attackers sparkle and Senegal play to their strengths, they can progress to the knockouts from this group.

Fixtures of Group H
Match Date Time Stadium
Colombia versus Japan 19th June 15:00 local time Mordovia Arena, Saransk
Poland versus Senegal 19th June 18:00 local time Otkritie Arena, Moscow
Japan versus Senegal 24th June 20:00 local time Central Stadium, Yakaterinburg
Poland versus Colombia 24th June 21:00 local time Kazan Arena, Kazan
Japan versus Poland 28th June 17:00 local time Volgograd Arena, Volgograd
Senegal versus Colombia 28th June 18:00 local time Cosmos Arena, Samara

Likely qualifiers from this group
1) Colombia
2) Poland