Five-time winners and one of the absolute favorites to win this tournament, Brazil is inserted in Group G. Their group is a tricky one though, as they were paired together with two strong European squads, Serbia and Switzerland, as well as one of the strongest African sides, Cameroon.
Coincidentally, this group is almost the same as Brazil’s group from World Cup 2018. Back then, Brazil, Serbia, and Switzerland were also together, with Costa Rica instead of Cameroon.
Brazil topped the group, although they started with a draw against Switzerland. However, both Switzerland and Brazil managed to beat Serbia, leaving the Serbians out of the qualification.
Meanwhile, Cameroon missed the World Cup 2018. In fact, Cameroon qualified for 7 World Cups, but they only managed to get past the group stage once: in 1990, when they went all the way until the quarter-finals.
So, what can we expect from Group G of the World Cup 2022? Here is everything you need to know.
𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙂…
Only two can make it out of the group. Who are you backing? 👀 #FinalDraw | #FIFAWorldCup
🇧🇷 @CBF_Futebol | 🇷🇸 @FSSrbije | 🇨🇭 @nati_sfv_asf | 🇨🇲 @FecafootOfficie pic.twitter.com/bnfWQMVl8Z
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 3, 2022
QATAR WORLD CUP 2022 GROUP G CALENDAR:
24 November 2022: Switzerland – Cameroon
24 November 2022: Brazil – Serbia
28 November 2022: Cameroon – Serbia
28 November 2022: Brazil – Switzerland
2 December 2022: Serbia – Switzerland
2 December 2022: Cameroon – Brazil
BRAZIL
Brazil, 5x World Cup winners and the only nation to have participated in every World Cup, arrives as the overwhelming favorite.
They are ranked as the top team in the world, winning their qualification group with 14 wins and 3 draws, securing their spot in the world cup.
Their most recent big competition resulted in a loss to their biggest rival and World Cup opponent Argentina in the Copa America final.
Neymar, a star player for PSG, has already stated that this may be his final World Cup. Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), and Casemiro (Manchester United) will also compete for Brazil.
It’s not a big surprise that the Brazilian team is the favorite to win the World Cup because they are unquestionably among the best teams in recent years.
ClutchBuzz odds price them as the favorites to win the group at -227.
Brazil Possible World Cup Starting 11
Coach: Tite
Brazil World Cup Squad
Tite announced the final list of players going to the World Cup on the 7th of November. Here are the 26 players selected by the Brazilian manager.
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras).
Defenders: Dani Alves (Pumas), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Sevilla), Bremer (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (Chelsea).
Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (Lyon).
Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Neymar (PSG), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid).
SERBIA
This will be Serbia’s third World Cup appearance. Serbia was placed in group A with Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan in order to qualify for the World Cup.
The outcome hinged on the final match and final minutes when Serbia stunned Europe and defeated Portugal in the dying minutes to qualify for the World Cup while relegating Portugal to the playoffs.
Serbia was just promoted to the UEFA Nations League A after winning group 4.
The biggest names in Serbia are S. Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) and Mitrovic (Fulham), as well as players like Vlahovic and Kostic (Juventus) and Tadic (Ajax).
ClutchBuzz odds price them to win the group at +550.
Serbia World Cup Possible Starting 11
Coach: Dragan Stojkovic
SWITZERLAND
In their 12th World Cup appearance, Switzerland will be in a very good group and, ironically, will face
Serbia and Brazil once more, just as they did in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when they managed to qualify in second place behind Brazil.
Switzerland competed in Group C to qualify for the World Cup and shocked everyone by winning it with 5 wins and 3 draws.
Players like Xhaka (Arsenal), Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), and goalie Yan Sommer (Monchengladbach) will be relied upon by Switzerland.
ClutchBuzz odds price them to win the group at +550.
Switzerland World Cup Possible Starting 11
Coach: Murat Yakin
Switzerland World Cup Squad:
Murat Yakin announced the 26 picks for representing Switzerland in Qatar on the 9th of November 2022. Here are his choices.
CAMEROON
Cameroon has qualified for the FIFA World Cup more frequently than any other African side, doing so eight times in total.
The Indomitable Lions knew they couldn’t afford to miss this World Cup after being left out of the 2018 edition. With the nation’s legend Samuel Eto now president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, the standards have never been higher.
To attain this, Cameroon competed in group D of the qualifications, winning 5 games while losing 1, and eliminating the top team Ivory Coast. Cameroon eliminated top-ranked Algeria and advanced to the world cup by defeating them in the third round on away goals.
The Top Cameroon team includes Toko Ekambi (Lyon) and Onana of Inter Milan. They also count on national team hero Vicent Aboubakar (Al-Nassr) and Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), who opted to play for Cameroon instead of France, where he was born.
Cameroon will trust that the attack of the “Indomitable Lions” will be enough, even though their defense is not so good.
ClutchBuzz odds price them to win the group at +1100.
Cameroon World Cup Possible Starting 11
Coach: Rigobert Song
Cameroon World Cup Squad:
The 26 players from the Indomitable Lions were announced on the 9th of November. Here are the ones going to Qatar.
Goalkeepers: Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Marseille), Devis Epassy (Abha), Andre Onana (Inter Milan).
Defenders: Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris), Christopher Wooh (Rennes), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Collins Fai (Al-Tai), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese).
Midfielders: Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Pierre Kunde (Olympiacos), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona), Samuel Gouet (Mechelen), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli), Jerome Ngom (Colombe Dja).
Forwards: Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Vincent Aboubakar (Al-Nassr), Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Bayern Munich), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenhua), Marou Souaibou (Coton Sport).
FINAL THOUGHTS
The group should be won by Brazil. We expect Serbia will compete with Switzerland for second place, with Serbia revenging their defeat 4 years ago and finishing second. Switzerland is third, and Cameroon in fourth.
However, bear in mind that besides the almost certain qualification from Brazil, the other place is quite open-ended in this group. Cameroon, Switzerland and Serbia all have enough quality among their ranks to get through to the next stage.
It all depends on some luck and whether Cameroon’s attack will be enough to counter two well-organized teams (Serbia and Switzerland).
Credits on Featured Image: Oleg Bkhambri (Voltmetro), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
