World Cup Today: Ones to watch

It has been a surprising and interesting first few days of the World Cup. Today marks the last day where teams play their first game. I'm today's round of fixtures of Group H, Colombia face Japan. Later, in another Group H encounter, Poland will face Senegal followed by a Group A fixture where Egypt will face hosts Russia. Both teams have played their first games and are now onto Matchday 2.

Players to watch:

1. JAMES RODRIGUEZ
   The star of the 2014 World Cup, Colombian James Rodriguez will face the Japanese in their Matchday 1 fixture. All eyes will be on James, who is on loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid. There are some players who are just made for the World Cup, and James is surely one of them. It will be interesting to see James and Radamel Falcao playing together again. James scored 6 goals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and won the Golden Boot for his contribution.

1. ALEKSANDR GOLOVIN
   The hottest pick of Matchday 1, CSKA Moskva's Aleksandr Golovin has already managed to grab the attention of major scouts at the World Cup. The youngster has been impressive throughout the season and the performance that he delivered against Saudi Arabia was just a continuation of his splendid form. Russia will be facing a fairly tough opponent this time though, Egypt have lost their first game and will try their best to bounce back.

1. MOHAMED SALAH
   After spending 90 minutes on the bench in Egypt's opening fixture, Mohamed Salah will finally be playing today. Salah got injured in the Champions League final that Liverpool lost against Real Madrid. The Liverpool and Egypt hero will be eager to make an instant impact against the Russians today. A late Salah penalty got Egypt to their first World Cup in 30 years, and the man will be pumped up to continue with the form he is in today. If Egypt don't win this game, their qualifying fate will be in others' hands, definitely not something the Egyptians would want to happen.

In the other game, Senegal vs Poland, the key players to watch out for will be Sadio Mane and Robert Lewandowski. Two of the biggest attacking threats in world football, it will be a game worthy watching.