Kawashima showpiece

Star player: Local link: Poland

The Poles sailed to qualification for this one through a tough group that included Denmark, Montenegro and Romania thanks to a record goals haul of 16 by Robert Lewandowski.

When they do qualify for World Cups, Poland tend to do well with two third-place finishes to their name.

Those came in 1974 and 1982 but they’ve not made it out of the group stage since 1986.

With one of the most lethal finishers in the tournament, they could surprise a few. Robert Lewandowski. Impressive goalkeepers have been the main export to the city from Poland for United but two outfielders come to mind at Dens.

Dariusz Adamczuk and Pietor Czachowski arrived at Dundee in 1993 but couldn’t prevent relegation – Adamczuk would be fondly remembered in his second spell, returning in 1996 before departing for Rangers in 1999. He played 11 times for Poland while Czachowski picked up 45 caps.

The ‘Mad Monk’ Grzegorz Szamotulski, Lukasz Zaluska and Rado Cierzniak were all top goalies at Tannadice while Jaroslaw Fojut had a decent spell in 2014-15. They have 15 caps between them.

Star player: Local link: Senegal

Just their second appearance at a finals since they exploded on to the scene in 2002 by beating world champions France in the opener in South Korea.

The West Africans would love to repeat their run to the last eight then and will fancy their chances of getting out of this group. Sadio Mane. French-born Morgaro Gomis played more than 200 games for Dundee United over two spells. Now 32, Gomis plays in Malaysia but picked up two international caps with Senegal in 2009 while at Tannadice.

for Japan while Morgaro Gomis (top) and Dariusz Adamczuk (below) are local links for Senegal and Poland.