Brazil and Serbia meet for the second consecutive World Cup finals group stage, as the South Americans seek to restore themselves to the pinnacle of world football. When the two nations met in Moscow four years ago, former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho and current Chelsea defender Thiago Silva scored either side of half-time in a routine victory.
Fast forward to the present day, Tite becomes the first Brazil coach to lead the country at consecutive tournaments since Telê Santana in 1982 and 1986, and brings with him a fine blend of experience and fresh talent to Qatar, many of which ply their trade in the Premier League.
Silva remains in the fold for his national team, for which he made his debut in 2008, as does Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus, who features at his second World Cup finals.
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Making their World Cup debuts in this edition of the tournament are the Gunners’ Gabriel Martinelli, Tottenham’s Richarlison, and West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá.
With Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr completing a frightening selection of youthful forwards, all will be hoping to aid Neymar Jr, previously linked to move from Paris Saint Germain to Chelsea, in what will likely be his final World Cup for Brazil.
The attacker was tipped for great things when in the shoes of Martinelli in 2014, when making his debut his country hosted football’s greatest tournament. Though success at club level has not been translated to the international stage, despite contributing to 42% of Brazil’s goals in their last two World Cup finals.
2022 could yet be the year that sees this change, however, as Brazil now sit top of FIFA’s World Rankings, and befittingly enter Qatar 2022 as tournament favourites. According to ABC News statistics site FiveThirtyEight, A Seleção have a 22% chance of taking home the coveted trophy, 11% higher than closest predicted challengers Spain.
As a result, they have been handed a staggering 68% chance of winning their Group F opener, whilst Serbia chances of a shock victory sit at 11%. This comes in spite of emphatic form in qualifying for Qatar 2022, going unbeaten and winning six of their eight matches.
In the spirit of Saudi Arabia and Japan in recent days, the Eagles will hope that the perfect game plan will allow Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrović, who still needs to win his race for fitness ahead of Thursday, and Dušan Vlahović, formerly linked to Arsenal and most recently Newcastle United, can fire them to the most unlikely perfect start in Lusail.
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