World Cup 2022 Group G Team Guides: Serbia

It has been 20 years since Brazil last won the World Cup. As the No. 1-ranked team in the world, it is certainly a favorite to win it all in Qatar. Four years ago, Seleção relied too much on Neymar and lost to Belgium in the quarterfinal, but with a deep roster of stars who play in the world’s top leagues, Tite’s team is expected to make it out of the group unscathed.

However, you can’t overlook competitive European sides in Switzerland, which Brazil tied in the 2018 group stage, and Serbia, which beat Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Portugal during qualifying. Cameroon is also an experienced group and battle-tested following a playoff win over Algeria.

Everything you need to know about Serbia:

Coach: Dragan Stojković

Highest finish: Fourth place (1930, 1962)

2018 finish: Group stage

FOX Bet odds: +10000

Key players: Dušan Tadić, Aleksander Mitrović, Luka Jović

What we’re excited to watch: This is a team that stunned Ronaldo and Portugal to qualify for the World Cup and is looking to advance out of the group stage for the first time. Can they carry that momentum forward and make a run?

What success looks like: Getting out of the group

Achilles’ heel: There’s a lot of talent here. But can Stojković get his squad to play together and catch lighting in a bottle?

X-Factor: Mitrović, the country’s all-time leading scorer, scored the game-winning goal against Portugal to solidify Serbia’s spot in the World Cup. He scored a record 43 goals for Fulham during the 2021-22 season and scored eight goals for Serbia during qualifying. Can he keep up this impressive streak and lead his country out of the group?

Three things you need to know about Serbia

Alexi Lalas provides three things you need to know about Serbia ahead of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

Full roster

Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrovic, Pedrag Rajkovic, Vanja Milinkovic Savic

Defenders: Stefan Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Milos Veljkovic, Filip Mladenovic, Strahinja Erakovic, Srdan Babic

Midfielders: Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic Savic, Sasa Lukic, Marko Grujic, Filip Kostic, Uros Racic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Ivan Ilic, Andrija Zivkovic, Darko Lazovic

Forwards: Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Duricic, Luka Jovic, Nemanja Radonjic

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.