Poland 1-2 Senegal: 5 things we learned as Group H explodes

REUTERS/Grigory Dukor 

Group H was one of the most finely poised before a ball was kicked. Looking at Group A, for example, it is easy to establish a team that definitely should progress and, conversely, one that definitely should not.

The last World Cup group to be played in Russia proved to be as many thought; the most unpredictable. 

Tuesday’s action left the two favourites to progress - Poland and Colombia - licking their wounds following 2-1 defeats to the underdogs, leaving less-favoured teams Japan and Senegal joint-top of the group.

Whilst the Senegalese played fairly well and were good value for their win against a rather lacklustre Polish side, they profited from a large slice of luck in both of their goals.

In the first half, Idrissa Gueye’s poorly struck shot deflected into the bottom corner after Wojciech Szczesny had already dived the other way and after the break, an amateurish back-pass from Grzegorz Krychowiak handed Mbaye Niang a goal on a silver platter.

Despite a rather a muted celebration, Aliou Cisse was the happiest man in the stadium.

Arguably the worst player on the pitch, Krychowiak grabbed a headed consolation goal from a free kick, but Poland could not mount a comeback in the remaining five minutes.

Here are five things we learned: