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Cape Town - All the need-to-know facts on the international teams vying for glory in Group H at the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia.
SENEGAL
Honours: None
Past World Cup performance: Reached 2002 quarter-finals in only previous appearance
FIFA rankings: 28th
Main clubs: ASC Diaraf, AS Douanes, Generation Foot
Nickname: Teranga Lions
How they qualified: Won Africa Group D
Pre-World Cup friendlies: May 31: 0-0 v Luxembourg; June 8 v Croatia (Osijek); June 11 v South Korea (in Austria)
23-man World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Abdoulaye Diallo (Rennes/FRA), Alfred Gomis (SPAL/ITA), Khadim Ndiaye (Horoya/GUI)
Defenders: Saliou Ciss (Valenciennes/FRA), Lamine Gassama (Antalyaspor/TUR), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli/ITA), Kara Mbodj (Anderlecht/BEL), Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux/FRA), Salif Sane (Hanover/GER), Moussa Wague (Eupen/BEL)
Midfielders: Idrissa Gueye (Everton/ENG), Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham Utd/ENG, capt), Pape Alioune Ndiaye (Stoke City/ENG), Alfred Ndiaye (Wolverhampton Wanderers/ENG), Cheikh Ndoye (Birmingham City/ENG), Ismaila Sarr (Rennes/FRA)
Strikers: Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke/ENG), Balde Keita (Monaco/FRA), Moussa Konate (Amiens/FRA), Sadio Mane (Liverpool/ENG), Mbaye Niang (Torino/ITA), Diafra Sakho (Rennes/FRA), Moussa Sow (Bursaspor/TUR)
COLOMBIA
Honours: Copa America winners 2001
Past World Cup performance: Sixth participation.
Best result: quarter-finalists in 2014
FIFA ranking: 16th
Main clubs: Atletico Nacional, Millonarios
Nickname: Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers)
How they qualified: Finished fourth in CONMEBOL qualifying competition.
Provisional World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Arsenal/ENG), Camilo Vargas (Deportivo Cali), Ivan Arboleda (Banfield/ARG), Jose Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas)
Defenders: Yerri Mina (Barcelona/ESP), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham/ENG), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Farid Diaz (Olimpia/PAR), Bernardo Espinoza (Girona/ESP), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors/ARG), Stefan Medina (Monterrey/MEX), Johan Mojica (Girona/ESP), Oscar Murillo (Pachuca/MEX), William Tesillo (Leon/MEX), Cristin Zapata (Milan/ITA)
Midfielders: James Rodrguez (Bayern Mnich/GER), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate/ARG), Abel Aguilar (Deportivo Cali), Wilmar Barrios (Boca Juniors/ARG), Edwin Cardona (Boca Juniors/ARG), Yimmi Charr (Junior), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Juventus/ITA), Gustavo Cuellar (Flamengo/BRA), Jefferson Lima (Levante/ESP), Giovanni Moreno (Shangai Shenhua/CHN), Sebastin Prez (Boca Juniors/ARG), Carlos Sanchez (Espanyol/ESP), Mates Uribe (Amrica/MEX)
Forwards: Radamel Falcao Garca (Mnaco/FRA), Carlos Bacca (Villareal/ESP), Luis Fernando Muriel (Sevilla/ESP), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras/BRA), Tefilo Gutierrez (Junior), Jose Heriberto Izquierdo (Brighton/ENG), Duvn Zapata (Sampdoria/ITA)
POLAND
Honours: Olympic Gold 1972
Past World Cup performance: Eighth participation. Best result: Third place in 1974 and 1982
FIFA ranking: 10th
Main clubs: Legia Warsaw, Lech Poznan, Slask Wroclaw, Wisla Krakow, Gornik Zabrze, Ruch Chorzow
Nickname: Bialo-czerwoni (The White and Reds)
How they qualified: Finished top of Group E in European qualifying
Friendly matches before the World Cup: June 8 v Chile (Poznan), June 12 v Lithuania (Warsaw)
Provisional World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Bartosz Bialkowski (Ipswich Town/ENG), Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City/ENG), Lukasz Skorupski (Roma/ITA), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus/ITA)
Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Southampton/ENG), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria/ITA), Thiago Cionek (SPAL/ITA), Kamil Glik (Monaco/FRA), Marcin Kaminski (Stuttgart/GER), Tomasz Kedziora (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Michal Pazdan (Legia Warsaw)
Midfielders: Jakub Blaszczykowski (VfL Wolfsburg/GER), Pawel Dawidowicz (Palermo/ITA), Przemyslaw Frankowski (Jagiellonia Bialystok), Jacek Goralski (Ludogorets Razgrad/BUL), Kamil Grosicki (Hull City/ENG), Damian Kadzior (Gornik Zabrze), Grzegorz Krychowiak (West Bromwich Albion/ENG - on loan from Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Rafal Kurzawa (Gornik Zabrze), Karol Linetty (Sampdoria/ITA), Maciej Makuszewski (Lech Poznan), Krzysztof Maczynski (Legia Warsaw), Slawomir Peszko (Lechia Gdansk), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow/RUS), Sebastian Szymanski (Legia Warsaw), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli/ITA), Szymon Zurkowski (Gornik Zabrze)
Attackers: Dawid Kownacki (Sampdoria/ITA), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/GER), Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli/ITA), Krzysztof Piatek (Cracovia), Lukasz Teodorczyk (Anderlecht/BEL), Kamil Wilczek (Brondby/DEN)
Coach: Adam Nawalka
Now 60, Nawalka became Poland coach in 2013 and went on to lead them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 before they cruised through their qualifying group for a place in Russia.
He previously had a stint as assistant coach with the national team to Leo Beenhakker, and was coach of Gornik Zabrze before taking the reins of the Polish side by himself.
Nawalka's closest links, however, are with Wisla Krakow. He comes from the southern city and played for the club before finishing his career in the United States. He has had several stints in charge there since moving into coaching.
JAPAN
Honours: Asian Cup winners 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011. FIFA Confederations Cup runners-up 2001
FIFA World Cup history: Sixth participation
Best result: Last 16 (2002, 2010)
FIFA ranking: 60
Main clubs: FC Tokyo, Urawa Reds, Kashima Antlers
Nickname: Blue Samurai
How they qualified: Won Asian Group B
Friendly matches scheduled before World Cup: June 8 v Switzerland (Lugano), June 12 v Paraguay (Lausanne)
Provisional World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Metz/FRA), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka/JPN), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol/JPN)
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray/TUR), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Reds/JPN), Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds/JPN), Maya Yoshida (Southampton/ENG), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille/FRA), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg/GER), Gen Shoji(Kashima Antlers/JPN), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers/JPN).
Midfielders: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima/JPN), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca/MEX), Takashi Inui (Eibar/ESP), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund/GER), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka/JPN), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf/GER), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf/GER), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe/ESP), Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale/JPN), Kento Misao (Kashima Antlers/JPN), Yosuke Ideguchi (Leonesa/ESP).
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City/ENG), Yuya Osako (Werder Bremen/GER), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz/GER), Takuma Asano (Stuttgart/GER)
Coach: Akira Nishino (JPN)
