Russia 2018 Preview - Group H

Phew! We've reached the end of the Russia 2018 groups, LOBers. I'll be honest - Group H is the least interesting group of the lot. Indeed, I may choose to do some gardening or painting in the basement while these matches are on. The only real interest here is that two of these sides are England's potential Round of 16 rivals.

Poland - Thanks to the prolific goal-scoring record of one Robert Lewandowski, Poland eased their way through a qualifying group that contained Denmark (who finished second), Montenegro and Romania. That said, Poland rival Russia for weakest seed in the tournament. Manager Adam Nawalka has no shortage of proven talent at his disposal; however, the side does have the feel of an cohort that's a bit past their sell-buy date. A good opening win against Senegal might set the tone for a reasonable campaign; however, getting out of this group would seem like the most that the Poles can hope for this time around.

Senegal - The Indomitable Lions were unbeaten in African qualifying for Russia 2018, but not without controversy. Senegal's defeat against South Africa was overturned after the referee was banned for life by FIFA for "match manipulation." Senegal will have a load of Scouse fans this summer, as their established star and team leader is Liverpool striker Sadio Mane, who ripped it up for the Lions in qualifying. Intriguingly, their entire midfield cohort, including skipper and Happy Hammer Cheik Kouyate, plays in England. As such, Senegal are perhaps the strongest of the African sides at Russia 2018. They'll be there or there abouts on the final day of group matches.

Colombia - Jose Pekerman's Colombian side just sneaked into the last qualification spot on that chaotic October night of final qualification matches last fall. The question is whether they'll be able to achieve the heights that they did last time around when they reached the 2014 quarterfinal stage and James Rodriguez was the break-out star of the tournament, earning him a big money move to Spain. The form of striker Radamel Falcao, who has battled injury over the years, will be key this time around. He has been rejuvenated at Monaco and looks set to tear up a weaker group like this one. He'll look to fill his boots against Japan in the opener.

Japan - Japan's presence in big tournaments is, by now, almost a given. Yet, they tend to wilt once they get there, with only two Round of 16 appearances, including one at home in 2002, to show for their efforts. They did well in qualifying, besting a group that contained both Saudi Arabia, who came second, and Australia, who were forced to qualify through a playoff. The Blue Samurai have a few recognizable names for those who follow the Champions League, most notably Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa. However, given that there top scorer, Shinji Okazaki, often comes off the bench for Leicester, one can understand the lack of quality in a squad full of players who grace the pitches for the likes of Kashima Antlers on the weekends. I'm afraid that this is not Japan's year.

Predictions - This is a tight one between Poland, Senegal, and Colombia, with Japan almost certain to be at the bottom of the group. I'll take a stab at it and say Colombia to top the group, Senegal to place and Poland to get edged out. But this one is likely to only be sorted out on the last day of the group stage. My tip is, skip the first matches in this group and tune in on Thursday, June 28 for the finale.