GROUP G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon
One of the more straight forward groups at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and one which five-time champions Brazil should progress from with relative ease.
Brazil enters this tournament as the world’s top ranked side and with one of their most attack-minded sides in recent history.
In fact, coach Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, known as Tite, has called up nine forwards in his 26-man squad (Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Richarlison, Raphinha, Antony, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Pedro and Rodrygo).
There’s also enough room for 39-year-old right-back Dani Alves, despite not playing a competitive match in more than two months.
Quality and flair exists throughout this Brazil team which is guaranteed to score goals and be highly entertaining in Qatar.
Along with Argentina, they’re the early favourites for the title.
Serbia will be quietly confident about their chances of making the knock-out stages in Group G.
They have the recent form to back it up too, outmuscling the likes of Portugal among others in qualifying for Qatar.
Like the Brazilians, they posses some impressive attacking talent through Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.
There’s also the highly touted Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to contend with in midfield.
There to challenge Serbia’s passage to the round of 16 are Switzerland.
The Swiss have had no trouble taking on bigger nations in recent years. They eliminated France from Euro 2020 and shocked Italy on their way to booking a ticket to Qatar.
They also recorded wins over Spain and Portugal earlier this year.
Veterans Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka remain regulars for the Swiss as does reliable goalkeeper Yan Sommer.
The shot stopper is part of a strong defensive unit that also features Premier League duo Manuel Akanji and Fabian Schar.
Cameroon’s World Cup preparations meanwhile are off to a bizarre start.
Head coach Rigobert Song seemed to struggle with pronouncing the names of players in his squad for Qatar during a press-conference (at times journalists had to help him with the squad announcement).
Fans here won’t have too much trouble recognizing familiar names like Brentford’s Bryan Mbuemo, Bayern Munich’s Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting and Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Brazil: The South Americans always promise eye-catching football but this generation of Brazilian players is probably their most talented since 2006. Neymar is the obvious leader of this team but look out for Real Madrid forward Rodrygo in key moments. At just 21 he’s already developed a knack for clutch goals.
Serbia: Dusan Vlahovic probably hasn’t quite lived up to expectations at Juventus just yet, but he’s certainly shown glimpses of his world class qualities.
The forward can score goals of all different shapes and sizes.
Switzerland: Feels a little underwhelming to name a centre-back as a player to watch but Manuel Akanji is a classy ball-playing defender. He’s grown leaps and bounds under the eye of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. He’ll be a real danger at set piece time for the Swiss too.
Cameroon: France’s wealth of talent has become Cameroon’s gain at the 2022 World Cup after Bryan Mbuemo chose to represent the Indominable Lions over Les Bleus (he had represented France at youth level). The 23-year-old will Cameroon’s most creative player..
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