



Robert Lewandowski Poland leading scorer





The 2018 World Cup features a plethora of countries with enough talent to make a run in the tournament. One thing it lacks, is a true "group of death."





What exactly is a "group of death?"

Is a group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament.

In the 2014 World Cup, the group of death was up for debate, but there were two distinct groups that had the toughest road.





Group B:

Spain

Netherlands

Chile

Australia





Group G:

Germany

Portugal

United States

Ghana





However, in this year's tournament, there is no group that contains three very good teams. Instead, Group H is the hardest group to predict. The group is made up of Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.





Poland is the top team in this group and they are led by one of the world's best strikers, Robert Lewandowski. The potent goal scorer, broke a European qualifying record scoring 16 goals. They are extremely well balanced, but won't cruise to victory because of how well balanced the other three teams are.





Most people believe Colombia is the best team in Group H. However, I think their best days are behind them. They had an impressive showing in the 2014 World Cup and made a run to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Brazil. Forward James Rodriguez's impressive tournament earned him a huge contract with Real Madrid. The star forward, who now plays for Bayern Munich has a ton of pressure on his shoulders to replicate his 2014 performance this year.





So if Poland is the top team in this group, who will be the second team to advance?

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Senegal! The African country is competing in its second World Cup, which ends a 16-year tournament drought. In the qualification stage, they were the top team in Africa Group D. This team is led by Sadio Mane, who is coming off a very successful season with Liverpool. The forward netted 23 goals and was a playmaker for The Reds. In addition, their defense is anchored by Kalidou Koulibaly, who plays club soccer with Napoli.



