Lewandowski, James provide stardust in Group H

Aside from the hosts, the Poles — despite the presence of Robert Lewandowski up front — were the least glamorous of all the sides in Pot One when the draw was made last December.

They finished top of a qualifying group in which their main rivals were Denmark, and reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2016 — now Adam Nawalka’s side are hoping to take Poland to the knockout phase at a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

A strong squad spearheaded by Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski, but also featuring the likes of Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Borussia Dortmund right-back Lukasz Piszczek, and Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik, should be good enough to get them through this group.

Meanwhile, Colombia are aiming to build on their impressive showing in Brazil four years ago, when they reached the last eight.

James Rodriguez was one of the stars of that tournament and he is still there, while Radamel Falcao is fit this time to led the attack after a knee injury kept him out in 2014.

Colombia kick off their campaign against Japan in Saransk on June 19, and it is hard to know exactly what to expect of the Japanese given their build-up to the finals.

Veteran coach Vahid Halilhodzic was controversially sacked after qualifying the Blue Samurai for a sixth straight finals appearance.

Ex-Gamba Osaka boss Akira Nishino has replaced him and will hope to take a squad made up of a mix of home- and Europe-based players out of the group stage.

Senegal are dreaming of doing the same as they return to the tournament for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in 2002.

Aliou Cisse has a talented squad at his disposal, led by Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, and they could be dangerous outsiders, especially if they can take something from Poland in their opener in Moscow.

Whoever goes through could come up against Belgium or England in the last 16.