Serbia is among the top underdogs whom even the champions and favorites run out of plans to subdue. Over the years, they just have been the team out of whom even the strongest struggle to take the three points. In fact, looking at their stats against heavyweights starting from now to a couple of international tournaments back, they seem to have mastered holding title contenders to a draw and at times even upsetting them.
To compare that with their recent forms, it needs to be remembered that Serbia topped their European qualifiers group ahead of tournament favorites and Cristiano starrer, Portugal. Not only that they remained unbeaten throughout the qualifying campaign.
Some players whose names shouldn’t give need to explain this team’s strengths are Dusan Vlahovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Tadic, and Ivan Ilic. The former finished second in Serie A with 24 goals in the season 2021-22. The second is also trailing another top scorer from another top-tier league, EPL.
So what other names have Serbia officially picked up for their quest in FIFA World Cup 2022?
Official Serbia FIFA World Cup 2022 Squad
| Position | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Marko Dmitrovic | Sevilla (SPA) | 30 | 19 |
| Goalkeeper | Vanja Milinkovic-Savic | Torino (ITA) | 25 | 6 |
| Goalkeeper | Predrag Rajkovic | Mallorca (SPA) | 27 | 28 |
| Defender | Stefan Mitrovic | Getafe (SPA) | 32 | 34 |
| Defender | Strahinja Pavlovic | RB Salzburg (AUS) | 21 | 21 |
| Defender | Milos Veljkovic | Werder Bremen (GER) | 27 | 21 |
| Defender | Filip Mladenovic | Legia Warsaw (POL) | 31 | 19 |
| Defender | Strahinja Erakovic | Red Star Belgrade (SER) | 21 | 1 |
| Defender | Srdan Babic | Almeria (SPA) | 26 | 2 |
| Defender | Nikola Milenkovic | Fiorentina (ITA) | 25 | 37 |
| Midfielder | Dusan Tadic | Ajax (NED) | 33 | 90 |
| Midfielder | Filip Kostic | Juventus (ITA) | 29 | 50 |
| Midfielder | Nemanja Maksimovic | Getafe (SPA | 27 | 39 |
| Midfielder | Filip Duricic | Sampdoria (ITA) | 30 | 36 |
| Midfielder | Sasa Lukic | Torino (ENG) | 26 | 32 |
| Midfielder | Andrija Zivkovic | PAOK (GRE) | 26 | 28 |
| Midfielder | Darko Lazovic | Verona (ITA) | 32 | 25 |
| Midfielder | Sergej Milinkovic-Savic | Lazio (ITA) | 27 | 35 |
| Midfielder | Nemandja Gudelj | Sevilla (SPA) | 30 | 48 |
| Midfielder | Marko Grujic | Porto (POR) | 26 | 17 |
| Midfielder | Uros Racic | Braga (POR) | 24 | 9 |
| Midfielder | Ivan Ilic | Verona (ITA) | 21 | 5 |
| Forward | Aleksandar Mitrovic | Fulham (ENG) | 28 | 76 |
| Forward | Luka Jovic | Fiorentina (ITA) | 24 | 28 |
| Forward | Dusan Vlahovic | Juventus (ITA) | 22 | 16 |
| Forward | Nemanja Radonjic | Marseille (FRA) | 26 | 36 |
Serbia Group Table
Had it not been for Portugal and Uruguay in Group H or Spain and Germany in Group E, Serbia’s bracket where they will be competing against Brazil, Switzerland, and Cameroon, would definitely have been called the group of death.
Serbia Group Fixtures
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | Stadium |
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Brazil vs. Serbia | 2 p.m. | Lusail Stadium |
| Mon, Nov. 28 | Cameroon vs. Serbia | 5 a.m. | Al Janoub Stadium |
| Fri, Dec. 2 | Serbia vs. Switzerland | 2 p.m. | Stadium 974 |
Serbia Strengths
Confidence is enough in this Serbian side having progressed to Qatar via an impressive European qualifiers round. A devastating attacking line and veteran midfielders look almost guaranteed to capitalize on every other chance.
Defense is compact; the fact that demands extra attention on this is that under their current coach, Serbia has conceded only 2 times in 20 matches. Also, the nation has only lost three of them under the supervision of the existing manager. All these stats will be followed by the event in Qatar.
And as mentioned some players competing and doing more than good in the highest tier football competition in Europe is also what makes this team formidable akin to even the big contenders.
Serbia Weaknesses
Serbia failed to participate in Euro 2020 which has made some question if the team’s confidence that is necessary for the big events has lessened since.
Most of the defenders may still need some more caps to possess the experience that one needs to have in a tournament of this magnitude. It is sure to have its first biggest test of 2022 when competing against the front line of Brazil.
Their protectors have a subpar form with respect to their strikers. The thing is that World Cup in Qatar will be a whole new test for them.
Expectations On Serbia
As once a part of Yugoslavia, they might still have that DNA to generate the willingness and competency to go as far as possible in this sort of tournament.
They have accomplished attacking players on par with any top European or South American nation and if they manage to fire it at full capacity they are sure to run deep in the tournament and not just escape the group stage only.
In the 2022 world cup group stage, Serbia has the same two opponents, Brazil and Switzerland who they had in the initial stage of the 2018 edition. Only this time, they have Cameroon instead of Costa Rica. So the difficulty level is almost identical to the last world cup. However Serbia had failed to reach the knockouts in Russia and while it’s been four years since that, competition such as the world cups has a custom of repeating history in at least two or three of its editions.
Brazil will definitely remain the most robust of all to let them escape without defeat let alone share points with them. They don’t have much of a good history with Switzerland either.
In the absence of a five-time world champion in the group, Serbia’s progress out of the group would have been a realistic scenario. Switzerland coming in has definitely made the situation a bit too implausible.
The matches schedules arguably might have favored them. The first game against Brazil needles to say is the hardest on a whole other level. However, the next duel against Cameroon could be the time when Serbia can be Serbia. If that goes in their favor, in the final group stage clash against Switzerland, they will definitely be aware of their chances to advance further, to the fullest. Actually, it’s them vs Switzerland going for the second place if not the first. That said on paper there do exist chances for Serbia but once the round of 16 comes into the picture the god mode plus will definitely start for Serbia.
