Serbia and Brazil wrap up their group play on Wednesday, June 27th with a 2pm game in Spartak Stadium in Moscow. Brazil, who is still favored to win the group according to our World Cup Betting odds, holds a significant advantage in this game, with a deep roster and a sense of unity that was missing during their 2014 run that ended in a 7-1 thrashing against Germany. Serbia meanwhile won their first game against Costa Rica but lost in dramatic fashion to Switzerland and now needs a win against Brazil to guarantee a spot in the next round. These two teams have played only one other time in history, a friendly back in 2014 that Brazil won 1-0.
Serbia
After winning their first game against Costa Rica 1-0, Serbia came out strong in their second match against Switzerland and scored an early goal by Aleksandar Mitrovic. They would keep up the torrid pace for much of the first half, but early on in the second half Granit Xhaka scored a surprise goal on a long blast to tie things up. From there the Swiss regained their swagger and took control of the match, keeping the ball out of Serbia's control for most of the second half. Xhaka finished the game with 71 passes, the most by any player in a single World Cup match since 1966. The effort paid off for the Swiss late in the game, when in the 90th minute with rain pouring down, Xherdan Shaqiri broke free on a long pass from Mario Gavranovic and slid the winning goal past Serbian goaltender Vladimir Stojkovic to vault Switzerland over Serbia in the standings.
Brazil
Brazil started the tournament out with a lot of swagger in the first half of their first match against Switzerland but was brought back down to earth in the second half when the Swiss out played them and ended up tying the game. Brazil was able to regroup and defeat Costa Rica in convincing fashion in the next match, but they will have to face a very desperate and determined Serbian team in the final match of the group stage. A loss by Brazil would cause them to miss the knockout round, which would be a complete disaster for this legendary soccer nation, and an even stiffer blow than their 7-1 loss in the semifinals to Germany in 2014. Serbia meanwhile will be going for a win, which would guarantee them entry into the group of 16, or at the very least a tie against Brazil and a Switzerland loss, where they could possibly get in on goal differential.
Match Overview
Historically, Serbia is a team that outdoes itself in soccer, producing talent and results that betray the size of the country. They have an excellent midfield starring Nemanja Matic and a rising star in Mitrovic and are dangerous on the counter attack. Unfortunately, that will not likely be enough to counter the overwhelming load of talent that Brazil has. With the additions of Casemiro and Gabriel Alves this year to an already deep squad, Serbia should be no more than a bump in Brazil's road for advancing to the 2018 World Cup final. Serbia may still make it out of the group stage if they get points out of Costa Rica and Switzerland but winning this game will be a tall task.
