Group H leaders Japan, who drew 2-2 with Senegal and beat Colombia 2-1, will take on Poland, who have already been knocked out of the World Cup, in Volgograd on Thursday.

"We'll have to focus on Robert Lewandowski, keep him at bay. I hope that Lewandowski won't take a penalty kick in this match. I'm grateful to my teammates for helping me out in our previous matches, and I want to help them in the match against Poland," Kawashima told journalists.

29-year-old Lewandowski is Poland's all-time leading scorer with 55 goals to his name but has yet to score at a World Cup.