Brazil vs Serbia: Tournament favorites take on dark horses

Tournament favorites Brazil will begin their quest for a sixth World Cup title as they take on a Serbia side some have anticipated as being this year’s dark horses. Four years ago, Croatia shocked the world with their run to the final, and now, in 2022, their neighbor just may be able to do likewise.

Brazil, naturally, are viewed as serious contenders once again to win it after experiencing disappointment in past competitions. The South American powerhouse have won an unprecedented five titles, and are just one of two teams to have won back to back titles (in 1958 and 1962). They are also the only country to have qualified for every single World Cup played from the inaugural event in 1930 and, not surprisingly, have an excellent record in this competition.

Brazil: A formidable record in the world’s most elite footballing competition

Indeed, the Selecao have not lost a World Cup group stage match since a surprise 2-1 defeat to Norway back in 1998, and since then have gone 15 sans defeat at this juncture. Four years ago, however, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by a Belgium side who went on to win third, and the less that is said about the painful episode of 2014 that saw them humiliated by Germany on home soil, the better. Qualifying for this event was a breeze, as they won 14 of their games during that journey and all in all, come into this competition on a seven game winning streak while conceding just twice. Overall, Brazil’s sole loss as of late was a 1-0 defeat to Argentina in the 2021 Copa America final, and depending on how things pan out for Lionel Messi and his colleagues, Brazil just may be able to get revenge on La Albiceleste for that result.

Currently the top ranked side in the world by FIFA, Neymar and his teammates will hope to live up to that expectation as they hope to win what would be their first World Cup since 2002. Of course, many teams will look to thwart that, and that includes upcoming opponents Serbia.

Serbia: One of the competition’s dark horses? They’ll need to overcome World Cup hoodoo…

Serbia are facing Brazil for the second consecutive time at a World Cup, but this appears to be a very different side than the one who lost 2-0 at the 2018 edition and ended up crashing out in the group stages. For starters, Dragan Stojković’s side secured automatic qualification by beating Portugal on the final matchday, and overall recorded a very impressive six wins and two draws along the way. In addition, showing that this wasn’t just a stroke of luck, Serbia then went on to secure promotion to League A in their UEFA Nations League campaign, and come into this competition having lost just two of their last nine matches across all competitions, which were back to back losses to Scandinavian sides Denmark and Norway in a friendly and the Nations League respectively.

However, despite enthusiasm around this side, which boasts stars like Aleksandar Mitrović, Dusan Vlahović, Sergej Milinković-Savić, and skipper Dušan Tadić, Serbia’s track records at World Cups is quite dismal, to say the least. They boast the unwanted record for the most losses in this competition by any European side, with defeats in seven of their last nine, and a loss in Thursday’s match will see them match the awful record of eight that Australia currently holds.

It’s safe to say that Serbia will be in for a real rest, especially as Brazil will come into this contest with a fully fit squad, while Mitrović, the man whose goal fired Serbia into this competition, is still battling an ankle injury and may not be able to to be involved from the start. However, as we have seen from Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina, as well as Japan’s victory against Germany – both in which they had to come from a goal down – this World Cup certainly is not done with its fair share of twists and turns.

So while it will be a challenge for Serbia, Brazil will naturally not come into this contest resting on their laurels as they will want to make a clear statement of intent following the dominant displays showed by the likes of France, England, and Spain so far at this year’s World Cup.