Country: Serbia
, Costa Rica and Switzerland" title="Group E also featuring Brazil, Costa Rica and Switzerland" />Group E also featuring Brazil, Costa Rica and Switzerland
Fixtures:
vs Costa Rica, June 17, at 5.30 pm IST (Samara)
vs Switzerland, June 22, at 11:30 pm IST (Kaliningrad)
vs Brazil, June 27, at 11:30 pm IST (Moscow)
FIFA ranking: 35
Previous World Cup: 2010
Last appearance: 2010 (eliminated in the league stage)
Best finish: Semi-finalists (1930, 1962).
Star players: Sergej Milinković-Savić (midfielder at SS Lazio), Alexander Kolarov (defender with AS Roma), Branislav Ivanović (defender at FC Zenit Saint Petersburg), and Nemanja Matić (midfielder at Manchester United).
Coach: Mladen Krstajic
Krstajic is a former international defender who represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was placed in caretaker charge after Slavoljub Muslin was sacked in October 2017. He had previously served on Muslin's coaching team and now faces a challenging task of guiding a team he has only joined recently.
Mladen Krstajić je odgovarao na mnogobrojna pitanja novinara u Bad Valtersdorfu. 🦅🇷🇸🦅
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA Serbia (@FSSrbije) June 6, 2018
📽: https://t.co/thcEo2KB5L#SrcemSvim #Orlovi#WorldCup #FSS pic.twitter.com/0jMW9BH8x2
Serbia qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018 with a 1-0 win over Ireland in the qualifier. They finished top of the group in the qualifiers with six wins from 10 games. However, they are not going to have it easy in the tournament as they face tough opponents like Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica in Group E.
Jedan tim 🇷🇸 #SrcemSvim
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA Serbia (@FSSrbije) June 5, 2018
👤 Dejan Savić 🚖#Orlovi #FSS⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#WorldCup @FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/079sT0Rlr3
Captain of Serbia since 2012, Branislav Ivanovic, recently reached 100 caps for the national team. Having won the UEFA Champions League and three English Premier League titles with Chelsea, he now plays his club football in Russia for Zenit St Petersburg. The team would be hoping for some impressive show by their skipper.
What are Serbia's chances this year?
Serbia is coming back after a gap of 8 years into the FIFA World Cup and will be eager to perform well and try making it to the round of 16. This will be their 12th appearance in the FIFA World Cup, having previously competed with Montenegro and even Yugoslavia.
👍🇷🇸 #SrcemSvim pic.twitter.com/uvSBUz3nrd
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA Serbia (@FSSrbije) June 6, 2018
Hence, the experience of playing at the big tournament and even presence of seasoned campaigners like Milinković-Savić, Kolarov, Ivanović and Matić make them a team to watch out for. Milinković-Savić is already being compared to Paul Pogba and the midfielder could turn out to be a nightmare for opponents on his day.
Areas of concern:
Coach Mladen Krstajic hasn't spent too much of time with the squad and it remains to be seen how he frames his strategies against the likes of Switzerland, Costa Rica and title contenders Brazil, who are second in the FIFA rankings.
📸✍ #Orlovi su posle utakmice delili autograme i fotografisali se sa navijačima Srbije. 🦅🇷🇸🦅#SrcemSvim #WorldCup #FSS pic.twitter.com/J3ujUjgtc3
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA Serbia (@FSSrbije) June 5, 2018
Wins against Switzerland (ranked sixth) and Costa Rica (25th ranked) will only guide them through to the next stage of the tournament and Brazil already looks a team to beat for any side. Looking at the Swiss team's recent performance, one feels that Serbia's the road for the round of 16 is going to a tough one.
Poluvreme | 🇷🇸 0-0 🇨🇱#SrcemSvim #Orlovi#WorldCup #FSS pic.twitter.com/lBve2T6HjP
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA Serbia (@FSSrbije) June 4, 2018
Prediction: Given Brazil and Switzerland team's recent form, it seems Serbia might not be able to qualify for the next stage. For better prospects in the group, they hope their experienced players fire against tough opponents.
Other teams and group analyses:
| Germany | Mexico | South Korea " title="Group F: Sweden | Germany | Mexico | South Korea " />Group F: Sweden | Germany | Mexico | South Korea
| Panama | Tunisia | England " title="Group G: Belgium | Panama | Tunisia | England " />Group G: Belgium | Panama | Tunisia | England
| Senegal | Colombia | Japan " title="Group H: Poland | Senegal | Colombia | Japan " />Group H: Poland | Senegal | Colombia | Japan