Poland 1-2 Senegal: African nation into 4/5 favourites for Group H

Poland, the backed team pre-tournament for Group H success, now find themselves as the 11/1 outsiders, with 5/2 available on qualification to the Round of 16.

Playing in their first match on this stage since their memorable run to the quarter-finals in 2002, Senegal triumphed thanks to two goals that owed much to Polish generosity: a Thiago Cionek own goal and a horrible mix-up to let in Mbaye Niang for a tap-in.

A meaty Grzegorz Krychowiak header late on gave Poland a chance of a draw but they did not really deserve it and Senegal comfortably closed out the game.

The contest had been set up as a battle between two players who occupy the tier of talent just below the holy trinity of Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo: Poland's captain and talisman Robert Lewandowski and Senegal's main man, Sadio Mane.

In Monday's pre-match press conference, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse bristled at the suggestion the Liverpool star was not already considered one of the world's best and on Tuesday he helped underline the man-on-Mane narrative by dropping his captain, West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate, and giving the armband to his superstar.

Poland's line-up drama boiled down to one story - would their towering centre-back Kamil Glik be fit after injuring himself practising an overhead kick? The answer was no, which meant a start for Cionek. The significance of this would grow.

The match started against a backdrop of red and white flags, shirts and painted cheeks, as Polish fans outnumbered Senegal's by about 20 to one. Having belted out their own anthem, the Poles sportingly applauded Senegal's "Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons", or "Strum your koras, bang the balafons".