Group G Predictions 2022

Brazil, currently ranked no.1 in the FIFA World rankings feature in this team alongside Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. It is a very balanced group if one were to assume that Brazil will top the group it is anyone’s guess as to which other team will make it out in second. This is almost a repeat of the 2018 World Cup when Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia were in Group E alongside Costa Rica.

Brazil

It just won’t be a World Cup without Brazil. They have been at every iteration since its inception in 1930 and have won it a total of five times, the last of which was in 2002. Since then, they have always exited at the Quarter Final stage bar for that infamous 7-1 drubbing in the semi-finals against Germany in 2014.

Meanwhile, in the last Copa America, they lost in the final to Argentina. Despite the number of stars in the team, Neymar still commands most of the attention. At 30 years of age, this is Neymar’s last World Cup, certainly when he is anywhere close to his prime.

Despite his achievements for a Brazil player to truly etch his name in the history books, a legacy is truly seared in the country’s folklore with a World Cup win. Many disagree of course, especially since Neymar is honing down on Brazil’s top scorer lists. Pele is at 77 goals for his country while Neymar is at 75 and this World Cup might be when he edges on top of that list. Being Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer is no easy feat to achieve! Brazil made it through with a very good COMNEBOL qualifying campaign, winning 14 and drawing 3.

With world-class talent all across the pitch, it is difficult to look beyond this team as favourites for the cup.  Looking at their squad it is easy to see why as a great mix of youth and experience have the potential to do really well. The team has a strong Premier League contingent. Starting out at the back the two best goalkeepers in the world vie for a starting place. Alisson usually gets the nod ahead of Ederson and that will continue to be the case. New Manchester United duo Casemiro and Antony will hope that their new understanding at club level will be carried into Qatar.

Complimenting Neymar upfront is Gabriel Jesus who has been impressive for Arsenal so far this season. His new-found freedom playing for Arteta demonstrated that he’s as good at creating chances for those around him as he is scoring goals. And we must not forget Vinicius Junior, one of the best young players in the current generation. If it all comes together for Tite, Brazil could really be unstoppable and add a sixth trophy to their collection.

Serbia

Serbia have never made it past the group stages after three attempts in the World Cup and this will be their best chance yet. Their journey in the qualifying has been quite stellar. After missing out on the Euro 2020 they were on a mission to atone for that. They did so in style topping up the group ahead of Portugal thanks to a 2-1 win away at Lisbon on the final matchday. Their unbeaten qualifying campaign bodes well for Qatar however losses to Denmark and Norway in between might have served as a good reality check.

To navigate past the group stage their main rivals will be Switzerland. The latter progressed to the Round of 16 in the last World Cup ahead of Serbia as Shaqiri scored a 90th minute winner in their clash. This time round the head-to-head fixture will be on matchday three on the 2nd of December. Serbia are better equipped than four years ago and leading the line up front would be Aleksandar Mitrovic and Vlahovic. Mitrovic’s form in the past year has been phenomenal helping Fulham to return to the Premier League and finding no problems in scoring in England’s top competition. More was expected of Vlahovic at Juventus but the Italian’s team problems under Allegri go beyond just one player. Sergej Milikovic-Savic has long been admired by many of Europe’s top teams and his playmaking skills for Lazio will surely be on show in Qatar.

Switzerland

Switzerland’s qualifying campaign saw them pip Italy to the top spot. Both their head-to-head clashes ended in draws but that does not detract anything from their achievement. The Swiss have a habit of rising to the occasion and stunning a favourite as they did in the previous Euro Championships when they beat France in the Round of 16. A string of such results proves that there is more to the Swiss than meets the eye. That is because they don’t possess as much star power as other countries but the team collective is much more important with the likes of Xhaka, Shaqiri and Rodriguez providing that in large quantities.

This spine was present for previous World Cups in 2014 and 2018 and this might possibly be their last. The current Swiss boss, Murat Yakin took over as recently as July 2021 and while they had a good qualifying campaign they had some inconsistent results. The most prominent was a 4-0 loss to Portugal in the Nations League, however, they recovered well to win 1-0 just a week later against the same opponents. If they are in form, the Swiss are capable of any results though question marks about their ageing squad are valid.

Cameroon

Rounding off Group G is Cameroon. Since their Quarter Final run in 1990, they have never progressed past the group stage in the five times that they have participated. In 2018 they missed out and now would be eager to make amends.

They made it to Qatar by scoring a late-minute goal against Algeria in the playoffs causing a considerable upset. Complimenting this was a semi-final run in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations. Under Rigobert Song, Cameroon have built a reputation for being rigid defensively making them hard to beat. More of this is needed as despite their star players such as Choupo-Moting, Ekambi and Anguissa they are underdogs to progress to the Round of 16.

Conclusion

This group will serve, first and foremost to see how serious Brazil are in claiming their sixth World Cup. They are current favourites and no less than three wins are expected from the group stage. However, the two European countries Switzerland and Serbia will undoubtedly ask questions about their capabilities. Realistically, 2nd place is a fight between the Swiss and the Serbs while Cameroon will hope to replicate the heroes of 1990 and spring an upset or two to make it to the knockout stages.