Poland confident ahead of crunch Colombia World Cup match

Radamel Falcao scored his first World Cup goal as Colombia got their tournament in Russian Federation up and running with an impressive 3-0 victory that ended a lacklustre Poland side's hopes of reaching the last 16.

With James Rodriguez and Juan Quintero providing the ammunition from midfield and all time leading scorer Radamel Falcao opening his World Cup account up front, the Colombians dismantled a physical but limited Poland side.

Midfielder James Rodriguez, victor of the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, returned to the starting lineup after injury and played a part in two of the goals as Colombia got back on track after their opening loss to Japan.

After emerging triumphant from their first games last Tuesday, Senegal, which beat Poland 2-1, and Japan, which beat Colombia 2-1, are ranked equal first with four points apiece ahead of their last group-round matches.

Earlier on Sunday, Senegal and Japan, the other two countries in Group H, tied 2-2.

Rodriguez's short corner eventually found Quintero, whose smart through ball back to Rodriguez gave him time and space to curl a flawless left-footed cross that Mina rose to header powerfully past Szczesny on 40 minutes. They offered little in this game, with Robert Lewandowski anonymous.

Quintero proved the architect with a sublime through-ball, allowing Falcao to break free and prod a clever finish into the bottom corner.

"We lost against a very strong team and this is what we have to accept", said Poland coach Adam Nawalka.

"But we're not going to go insane, mentally we're in a good place but we need to continue to improve because we are ambitious and we want to continue in this World Cup as we hoped".

Mina's goal came late in the first half off a flawless cross from James Rodriguez.

The South Americans won the ball in their own left-back position and Rodríguez took it away from two Poland players before playing a stunning low pass in to Juan Cuadrado breaking through the middle.

There will be a weight of expectation on his shoulders when Colombia face Senegal in their final group game on Thursday. "So we fought, we tried to do our best, but at the moment we could not do anything more", the prolific Bayern Munich striker told Polish TV.

The Poles manufactured a chance against the run of play a few minutes later.