Poland and Senegal start their 2018 World Cup route on Tuesday in Moscow, they will clash in Group H at Otkrytiye Arena. The two nations have never met before in an international football match. For Senegal this is only the second participation at a World Cup final tournament after having reached the quarter-finals back in 2002. Poland return to the World Cup after having failed to qualify for the last two editions and they are looking to get past the group stage for the first time since 1986.
Poland are hoping to have a new "golden generation" on their hands, after the one that had led them to great results at the World Cup in the 70s and 80s. Back then Poland finished third at the World Cup in 1974 and again in 1982 and last qualified from the group stage in 1986. Since then, the Polish fans have endured a long drought, but now Poland have qualified emphatically, winning eight matches out of ten and losing just one. Their last warm-up friendly match produced a 4-0 victory over Lithuania, with star striker Robert Lewandowski scoring twice.
Senegal have impressed everybody at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, they defeated France in the group stage and reached the quarter-finals but then failed to qualify for the following final tournaments. Now they finally managed to reach the final tournament after going unbeaten through the six matches of the last qualifying group in Africa and they have lost just one of their last ten matches in all competitions. They ended their warm-up friendlies campaign with a solid 2-0 victory over South Korea last week.
Probable line-ups:
Poland: Szczesny - Piszczek, Bednarek, Pazdan, Rybus - Linetty, Krychowiak - Blaszczykowski, Zielinski, Grosicki - Lewandowski
Senegal: N'Diaye - Gassama, Koulibaly, Sane, Sabaly - Gueye, Kouyate - Sarr, Mane, Niang - Sakho
My prediction: 1-1 draw, both sides are in good form and eager to impress.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Poland win - 2.35
Draw - 3.25
Senegal win - 3.40
Your feedback
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.
Comments (1)
sharpe
07/03/18, 03:07:03 PM
Poland were such a big disappointment at this tournament and this the game when it's all started. maybe many people thought Senegal are very good after the result...
Poland were such a big disappointment at this tournament and this the game when it's all started. maybe many people thought Senegal are very good after the result in this game but the truth is the Polish were really poor, playing very slow and without any idea in the game, for sure Senegal were the deserved winners in that.
Show more
