Group H
Poland (10)
Senegal (28)
Colombia (16)
Japan (60)
Group H, the
last group of the 2018 World Cup. To clarify, the letters have no correlation with
the strength of the teams that make up a group. Teams are picked on random
based on which pot they were assigned to. Yet, this group is fitting to be drawn
into Group H. This isn’t to say there isn’t world class quality players, but
the group has no traditional powerhouse team. Poland, Senegal, Colombia, and
Japan are the four national teams that make up group H. Japan has been the most
consistent, this will be their six consecutive world cup appearance. Poland will
be the historically more experienced team as this will be their 8th
world cup appearance. To use those fun facts as a perspective, Japan is the
team that will most likely finish last in the group while Poland is the highest
ranked team according to FIFA rankings. Yet, the best performance of any of the
four teams belongs to Senegal and Colombia. Senegal in their first world cup
appearance reached the quarterfinal stage in 2002. 2018 in Russia will be Senegal’s
second world cup appearance. Colombia were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the
host in 2014.
The
amazing aspect of this is that this group will have two teams that will reach
the round of 16. I am aware that each group will have two teams reaching the
latter stage, that’s how it works, but my excitement is two national teams that
are not house hold names will make the round of 16! That being said my
predictions for this group have shifted from day to day. Colombia will finish 1st
while second will be Senegal. Poland has a great striker in Robert Lewandowski
and can finish in second, but I am going with the unpredictability of Senegal
over the predictable Poland. The top 3 teams can all interchange which is why I
keep switching on which teams will advance. Japan is the only team I can clearly
see not making it out of the group. This is a Japanese national team that isn’t
as strong as their predecessors and from the players that I have been able to
keep up with have not played well, often, or are sidelined with an injury. But,
I could be wrong and I actually enjoy those moments.
I will stick
to these two national teams. Colombia and Senegal.
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