Brazil and Serbia will round out the opening round of World Cup fixtures on Thursday night, as both nations open their account in Group G.
Brazil have won more World Cup titles than any other team, lifting the trophy five times. On the flip side, Serbia failed to progress from the group stage in 2010 and 2018.
It goes without saying that Brazil are expected to kick-start their campaign with a win on Thursday, but can Serbia cause an upset? Let’s take a closer look at both sides.
Brazil’s last defeat came against Argentina in the Copa America final back in July 2021. Since then, they have racked up an impressive 15-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
Remarkably, Tite’s side have also kept ten clean sheets in their previous 15 outings – conceding just five goals in the process. This run highlights their defensive solidity.
The Brazilians have won each of their past seven encounters, too, scoring 26 goals along the way (3.7 goals per game). This emphasizes their strength in attack.
With attacking superstars such as Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Antony and Gabriel Jesus in their ranks, Brazil look destined to score plenty of goals in Qatar.
As for Serbia, they enjoyed a 5-1 victory over Bahrain in a warm-up friendly on Friday. Dusan Tadic bagged a brace, while Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Duricic and Luka Jovic completed the scoring.
That means the Eagles head into the World Cup on a six-game unbeaten streak, having claimed five wins and one draw since their last loss.
Earlier this year, Serbia gained promotion in the Nations League after losing just one of their six matches. Impressively, they netted 13 goals in the process (2.2 goals per game).
Let’s not forget that Serbia also enjoyed an unbeaten World Cup qualification campaign, picking up six wins and two draws to finish ahead of Portugal in their group.
Head-to-head: Funnily enough, Brazil and Serbia met at the 2018 World Cup. The Brazilians won 2-0 in Russia, thanks to goals from Paulinho and Thiago Silva.
The only other meeting between the teams came in 2014, with Brazil winning 1-0 on that occasion. That means the Brazilians boast a 100% record against Serbia.
Team news: Brazil will be captained by 38-year-old centre-back Thiago Silva, while Liverpool’s Alisson is expected to start ahead of Man City’s Ederson in goal.
Serbia will be hoping that key striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is fit enough to start after missing Fulham’s last league game before the World Cup. Mitrovic has 50 goals in 76 games for his country.
Ultimately, Brazil head into the World Cup as favorites to lift the trophy. Serbia possess a threat in attack, but Tite’s side should be too strong for the Eagles.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Brazil will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to beating Serbia.
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