Group H

Poland: Green Bay Packers

Robert Lewandowski of Poland (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

There really is only one player in the NFL that I could compare Poland’s captain and top goal scorer Robert Lewandowski to and that is Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Poland easily finished top of their qualifier winning eight out of 10 matches against Denmark, Montenegro, Romania, Armenia and Kazakhstan. They scored 28 goals, 16 of them coming from star striker Lewandowski.

But, just as the Packers are more than Aaron Rodgers, the Poles are more than just Lewandowski, at least in a few areas. They have plenty of experience on the back end with Kamil Glik, defender Lukasz Piszczek and midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. Mix those vets in with youngsters like attacking midfielders Piotr Zielinski and Karol Linetty and you have yourself a healthy supporting cast. The Packers likely resembled the current Polish line up a bit more when Jordy Nelson was still on the team. But offensive weapons like Davante Adams, Randall Cobb and now Jimmy Graham make up for it. On the defensive side, the Packers boats their young cornerbacks, so that style is a bit different than the Poles, but a mix of young an old around one supernova player nonetheless.

Rodgers and Lewandowski are onre considered the best to ever do it for their respective, historic squads. All they need to solidify their talented legacy are titles in gold.

Senegal: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Senegal manager Aliou Cisse is is a situation much like the one Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter is in. Cisse has options and depth up and down the roster, with a wealth of talented scorers, powerful midfielders and the kind of defensive back options to be aggressive on certain match-ups.

“The key area of strength, however, is in midfield, where Idrissa Gueye performs a key duty, snuffing out opposition attacks and protecting his defense.”

Gueye’s comparison for the Bucs, instead of using quarterback Jameis Winston, is actually closer to linebacker Lavonte David, who I think is more central to his unit’s success – and a more consistent force of good than Winston has been, to this point in his career.

Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter – Photo by: Getty Images

But Cisse and Koetter have even more in common than just the talented roster in front of them. Despite having weapons at his disposal, Cisse’s aptitude as a coach, particularly when it comes to tactical decisions, has been questioned, which again parallels with Koetter’s decision-making as a coach when it comes to scoring points and capitalizing on field position.

A comparison for Winston would be Senegal forward Sadio Mane, who has been a bit up and down, but when he’s on, he’s been a driving force to goals for Liverpool in the Premier League.

Colombia: Los Angeles Rams

Colombia has the talent to line up against any team and go head-to-head, and since head coach Sean McVay arrived in LA, the same can be said about the youthful Rams.

Colombia’s offensive firepower is lead by James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao, players who parallel well with Rams quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley. Both squad’s offenses can fire at a high rate, but both run through those two duos. on the defensive side, Colombia added two new defenders to the back line, Davinson Sanchez and Yerry Mina, much like the rams did in their secondary with Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters.

With dynamic duos on both offense and defense, and a squad of talented players around them, both Colombia and the Rams have bright futures in front of them, starting with 2018.

Japan: Washington Redskins

For the Washington Redskins, newly acquired quarterback Alex Smith will hav to play the same type of role Keisuke Honda does for Japan as the total glue for the offense, and a player who bring experience with his age for a group of young, changing players.

Outside of Honda for the Japanese squad, Eiji Kawashima, Keisuke Honda, Yuto Nagatomo, Shinji Okazaki and captain Makoto Hasebe all played in 2010 and 2014, and they’ll need to work together to overcome teams more talented than them. It will be up to Josh Norman, Ryan Kerrrigan and Trent Williams to join Smith in carrying a mixed team to their potential – whatever that may be.