2018 World Cup Group H is one of the tightest of the tournament and three teams still have a realistic chance of qualifying going into the final round of matches.
Japan lead the group on 4 points, with Senegal in second place also on 4 points, Colombia in third on 3 points and Poland bottom of the group without a point to their name. Japan meet Poland in their final match knowing a draw will be enough to see them through.
The Japanese started this tournament as one of the favourites to face elimination at the group stages. Senegal, Colombia and Poland were all fancied to finish above Japan but the Blue Samurai have caused a shock.
They had a helping hand in their first match, seeing Colombia go down to ten men and winning a penalty inside the first few minutes of the game. With the match level at 1-1 going into the second half, Japan made the extra man count to secure a 2-1 win.
The second game against Senegal was tough and Japan twice fell behind to the African nation. However, the Japanese showed their fighting spirit and came back into the game on both occasions, picking up a point in a 2-2 draw.
Poland started their campaign with a match against Senegal and it was a game which lacked any real quality. The Poles struggled to create any good chances and Senegal opened the scoring with a deflected goal before individual errors allowed them a second. Poland scored from a set-piece but it was too little, too late.>
This meant Poland needed to at least avoid defeat against Colombia in their second match but were completely outclassed by their South American opponents.
Colombia took the match to Poland, who looked out of their depth and offered nothing themselves in the attacking third of the pitch. Robert Lewandowski was quiet and Colombia scored 3 goals without reply to send Poland crashing out of the 2018 World Cup with a match to spare.
Interestingly, there have been over 2.5 goals scored in each of Poland’s last twelve World Cup games.
Team news and Japan are likely to opt for the same starting XI from their previous match against Senegal. That means goal scoring hero, Keisuke Honda, must settle for a place on the substitutes bench.
Poland could make several changes to their team as they aim to leave the World Cup on a high. Arkadiusz Milik could start in attack with Kamil Glik coming into the central defence following injury.
Japan are the team on form and with the motivation to win this game. They need a point to qualify for the Round of 16 and have been very impressive in their previous two games. Given the form of the two teams and the situation of the game, Japan should come out on top, with over 2.5 goals scored.