Brazil vs Serbia: The favourites look to get started in style
Brazil take on Serbia in the second game of Group G as they clash inside Lusail Stadium.
It’s the second World Cup running that these two teams meet; Brazil got the better of the Eagles in a 2-0 group stage victory in Russia.
Rather bizarrely, Brazil, Serbia and fellow group G member Switzerland, were all drawn in the same group in the 2018 World Cup.
Brazil
After a disappointing showing by their standards in 2018, losing in the quarter-finals to Belgium, the Selecao will look to make good on their overwhelming talent in Qatar.
Brazil remain the all-time winningest World Cup team with five triumphs, but it’s been two decades since the Selecao have lifted the world’s greatest prize.
As the only nation to qualify for every World Cup finals, Brazil were imperious throughout CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. Virtually unchallenged, the Selecao stacked up an eye-watering 14 wins in 17 games, losing none.
This saw them set a new record for total points in a CONMEBOL qualifying campaign (45) and extend their World Cup qualifier unbeaten run to 29 games.
Brazil boasts an embarrassment of riches in almost every area of the pitch, the only weakness seemingly being at fullback. Neymar headlines a star-studded forward line, while all Brazil’s midfielders are based in England.
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Thiago Silva and Marquinhos look set to anchor the defense, while Tite has two of the best goalkeepers in world football to choose from in Ederson and Alisson.
Serbia
The Eagles have made two World Cup appearances since becoming independent in 2006. South Africa in 2010 was Serbia’s debut, making their return in 2018, but they are yet to make it into the knockout stages.
This year is seen as their best chance yet to progress through the group stages, and facing off against Brazil in their opening game is the perfect platform for Serbia to gauge their progress.
Like their opponents, the Serbians were dominant in World Cup qualifying. They went undefeated in eight games, scoring 18 goals and registering an impressive 2-1 win over Portugal in the process.
Aleksandar Mitrović was Serbia’s top scorer in qualifying, bagging eight goals and he has been on fire for Fulham in the lead up to the tournament. They’re not bereft of attacking options beyond him, with Juventus’ Dušan Vlahović and Filip Kostić in the ranks as well.
The quality of their team also runs into midfield with captain Dušan Tadić and midfield star Sergej Milinković-Savić providing cutting edge and guile for Serbia.
Serbia are one of the tournament’s hottest teams and don’t be surprised if they turn a few heads in Qatar, however Brazil may be a task too tall for the Eagles yet.
The game kicks off at 19:00 UK time on BBC.
