What's up with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia at World Cups? For the second tournament in a row, following Russia in 2018, the ping pong balls of the FIFA draw placed these three nations together once again for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This time, Cameroon is the fourth nation along for the ride.
Brazil, with its five trophies and incredible depths of talent, is the betting favorite to win the whole thing and should easily advance from the group, leaving the other three to scrap for second place. Which brings us to Switzerland and Serbia, two national teams with a complicated past. Several Swiss players, including stars Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, have roots in Kosovo, a nation that fought for and later declared its independence from Serbia. Which led to a moment during their 2018 World Cup match when Shaqiri made a political gesture alluding to Kosovo, the ethnically Albanian province where he was born.
If, and it looks like they will, Switzerland and Serbia are playing for a place in the Round of 16 in the final group match on Dec. 2, you can expect that strange history to be a storyline once again.
FIFA Rankings
(as of October 6, 2022)
Brazil, 1
Switzerland, 15
Serbia, 21
Cameroon, 43
Population
(according to World Population Review)
Brazil: 215,688,157
Cameroon: 28,191,634
Switzerland: 8,762,400
Serbia: 7,190,638
World Cup history
Brazil
For generations of soccer fans, no country has been more associated with World Cup success than Brazil. They've won it a record five times, most recently in 2002, but haven't advanced past the semifinals since then. This year's squad will be looking to return the Jules Rimet Trophy to its rightful home where it resided following the 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 editions. The World Cup has made global legends out of Garrincha, Pelé and Ronaldo, singular names known for their beautiful play as much as they were for winning. But in recent tournaments, particularly 2014 when Brazil hosted for the first time in 64 years, they've been disappointing. That was the only tournament since 2002 where the Seleção advanced past the quarterfinals, and that team was promptly embarrassed 7-1 by Germany in the semifinal — the country's most famous World Cup match of the past two decades.
Switzerland
Switzerland is on an impressive run of qualifying for, and showing well at, every World Cup since Germany 2006. The Swiss have never advanced past the quarterfinals, last doing so while hosting the event in 1954, but have made the Round of 16 in 1994, 2006, 2014 and 2018. That's a pretty good standard for a country with less than 9 million people that has to survive the gauntlet of European qualifying just to make it to the finals. Consider that Switzerland didn't qualify at all from 1970 through 1990, and missed 1998 and 2002, and it's safe to say that this current run is a historic one.
Serbia
From 1930 until the 2006 World Cup, Serbia played under the flags of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro, before entering as an independent nation for the 2010 edition. Yugoslavia advanced to the semifinals twice, in 1930 and 1962. On its own, Serbia has qualified for the 2010 and 2018 editions, failing to advance past the group stage both times.
Cameroon
No African country has qualified for more World Cups than Cameroon, which has appeared at the tournament eight times beginning in 1982. The Indomitable Lions famously advanced to the quarterfinals in 1990, their only venture past the group stage. They'll be making a return to the World Cup in 2022 after missing the 2018 edition in Russia.
How they got here
Brazil
If you're wondering how Brazil earned the title of favorite at this year's World Cup, look no further than their domination of South American qualifying. An unblemished mark of 14 wins and 3 draws saw Brazil finish six points ahead of Argentina, which also did not lose. Brazil scored 40 goals while only allowing five, and had clean sheets in 13 of 17 matches.
Switzerland
Italy's pain is Switzerland's gain. The Swiss came out on top of Group C in European qualifying, which meant that Italy had to go to a playoff that it lost to North Macedonia to miss its second-straight World Cup. The Swiss put together a consistent campaign of five wins and three draws, including a pair of stalemates against the Italians, and beat Bulgaria 4-0 on the final day to punch their ticket to Qatar.
Serbia
Similar to Switzerland, Serbia advanced to Qatar without the stress of playoffs in European qualifying. Serbia finished ahead of Portugal in Group A, with Aleksandar Mitrović scoring a 90th-minute winner to vanquish Cristiano Ronaldo's squad on the last day of group play. Serbia achieved an unbeaten record of six wins and two draws, scoring 18 goals and conceding nine.
Cameroon
Cameroon got here in the most dramatic way possible, scoring a goal in the 120th minute of a playoff second leg against Algeria. The Lions were down 1-0 after the first leg and looked on their way out when Algeria scored in the 118th minute to go up 2-1, but Karl Toko Ekambi had other plans. His goal sent the nation into raucous celebration, while leaving Algeria in disbelief.
The cast of characters
Brazil is bringing the main course and the side dishes to this Group G table. The others can bring a salad or a dessert if they wish. Of course, you know Neymar, who'll be making his third appearance at a World Cup as the flamboyant star. But he's got more help than ever. It starts in the back with goalkeeper Alisson, captain Thiago Silva and Marquinhos at center back and Casemiro in central midfield. Young stars Vinicius Jr., Raphinha and Rodrygo all have potential to go off, and others like Lucas Paquetá are starting to emerge as well. The question mark might be at center forward, where Richarlison has the No. 9 shirt and Gabriel Jesus is waiting in the wings. Interestingly, coach Tite opted to bring along 39-year-old fullback Dani Alves for vibes. Fans who came of age circa 2010 approve.
Looking at Switzerland, there are two names that even casual fans will recognize right off the bat. This current generation is built on Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, the latter of whom now plays in Major League Soccer with the Chicago Fire. But while Xhaka is currently thriving with first-place Arsenal, Shaqiri was an afterthought for most of his first MLS season, bagging seven goals and 11 assists for a team that didn't make the playoffs. Ricardo Rodriguez, the left back, is another player with 100 caps, but the Swiss will be hoping for a new star to emerge. Candidates include Manchester City center back Manuel Akanji and 22-year-old forward Noah Okafor.
Serbia is nothing if not physically imposing. Strahinja Pavlović provides a 6-foot-4 anchor as the left side of a three-man back line. Sergej Milinković-Savić and captain Dušan Tadić make up the creative engine in the midfield, and fans of the Premier League will recognize Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrović, who is the main attacking threat but comes to this World Cup nursing an ankle injury.
Cameroon is strong in attack, beginning with the aforementioned Karl Toko Ekambi. Captain Vincent Aboubakar is more of a true center forward, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting brings the pedigree of being one of the replacements for Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich. To get them service, Napoli creator André-Frank Zambo Anguissa will be crucial. This also has potential to be a second-favorite squad for MLS fans, as Seattle Sounders fan favorite Nouhou Tolo figures to be a starter, and Philadelphia Union defender Olivier Mbaizo is an option off the bench.
A name to remember (who might not be on your radar)
Breel Embolo, a center forward for Switzerland, comes to Qatar having scored seven goals in 15 league matches for Monaco this season, including five since the beginning of October. He also scored a goal in each of Switzerland's UEFA Nations League matches against Spain and the Czech Republic at the end of September. If he can continue that form at the World Cup, he'll give his country a good chance at rising past Serbia to make it back to the Round of 16 for the third straight tournament.
Phil West’s Mascot Fight Corner
Who would win in a battle royal among all four mascots?
Because they wear yellow, Brazil is known as the Canarinhos, for canaries, or even Canarinha, for little canary. Cameroon gets something a little more solid as the Indomitable Lions. (Indomitable: that’s a good adjective to throw in front of Lions.) Serbia’s another eagles team, or Orlovi if you want to be linguistically specific. Switzerland, on super boring brand, are the Rossocrociati, or Red Crosses.
Is it even a contest worth discussing? When you have Indomitable Lions in the mix, you have to have Dragons or Blazing Fire or Red Devils to even have a chance against it. Or Wizards. Can we rebrand the U.S. as the Wizards, maybe?
It’s Cameroon by miles.
Who is most likely to advance from the group?
So, who's going to finish second? Brazil is the odds-on favorite to win the World Cup, and should advance from this group easily. Each of the other three nations has an opportunity to get out of the group if things break the right way, but Switzerland looks on paper to have the best shot. Getting a result against Brazil, if any team can manage it, would be a huge step in the right direction. But the decider will likely be the finale between Serbia and Switzerland, a rematch of that famous 2018 match. Tensions should be high for the group decider.