Serbia at the 2022 World Cup: Fixtures, results, squad, scorers

Friday, December 2, 2022

Defeats by Brazil and Switzerland ensured Serbia failed to make it out of the group stage at the FIFA World Cup.

Aleksandar Mitrović scored again in Serbia's final group game but defeat by Switzerland saw them eliminated Getty Images

Serbia's World Cup Group G fixtures

24 November: Brazil 2-0 Serbia (Richarlison 62 73)
28 November: Cameroon 3-3 Serbia (Castelletto 29, Aboubakar 63, Choupo-Moting 66; Pavlović 45+1, Milinković-Savić 45+3, Mitrović 53)
2 December: Serbia 2-3 Switzerland (Mitrović 26, Vlahović 35; Shaqiri 20, Embolo 44, Freuler 48)

See Mitrović send Serbia to the World Cup

Serbia's final 26-player squad

Goalkeepers: Predrag Rajković, Marko Dmitrović, Vanja Milinković-Savić

Defenders: Nikola Milenković, Stefan Mitrović, Strahinja Pavlović, Miloš Veljković, Filip Mladenović, Srđan Babić, Strahinja Eraković

Midfielders: Dušan Tadić, Filip Kostić, Nemanja Gudelj, Nemanja Maksimović, Nemanja Radonjić, Filip Djuričić, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Saša Lukić, Andrija Živković, Darko Lazović, Marko Grujić, Uroš Račić, Ivan Ilić

Forwards: Aleksandar Mitrović, Luka Jović, Dušan Vlahović

If one of the players initially included in a squad list picks up an injury or contracts COVID-19, he may be replaced up to the day before the relevant team's first match. In this situation, new call-ups do not necessarily have to feature on the 55-man release list. Any new player will be allocated the number of the player he is replacing in the squad.

How Serbia qualified

Group A: W6 D2 L0 F18 A9

Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland
Serbia 2-2 Portugal
Azerbaijan 1-2 Serbia
Serbia 4-1 Luxembourg
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Serbia
Serbia 3-1 Azerbaijan
Portugal 1-2 Serbia

Top scorer: Aleksandar Mitrović (8 goals)

Serbia coach: Dragan Stojković

Following five years managing his former club Nagoya Grampus, Stojković spent time at Guangzhou before taking the national team job in 2021.The former attacking midfielder made his playing debut for Yugoslavia in 1983 and went on to feature in the 1990 and 1998 World Cups, as well as UEFA EURO 2000. In 1990 his two goals against the Netherlands took his side into the quarter-finals, where they bowed out in a penalty shoot-out against Diego Maradona's Argentina.

Serbia captain: Dušan Tadić

Serbia's talismanic playmaker has earned 93 caps and scored 20 goals since first breaking into the senior side 14 years ago. That said, this will be only his second major tournament – he featured in all three of the Eagles' World Cup matches in 2018. He also wears the skipper's armband at Ajax, for whom he has made 140 appearances since joining four years ago.

Highlights: Serbia 3-1 Azerbaijan

Serbia's World Cup history (includes Yugoslavia)

Most appearances: Dragoslav Šekularac, Ivica Šurjak, Dragan Stojković, Dejan Stanković (9)
Top scorer: Dražan Jerković (4)
Best performance: Semi-finalists (1930, 1962)
2018 World Cup: Group stage

Competing as Serbia since 2006, they have qualified for two World Cups, reaching South Africa in 2010 and Russia in 2018, but are yet to make it past the group stage.

Winding the clock back to 1930, Yugoslavia reached the semi-finals of the first ever World Cup in Uruguay. However, they were knocked out by the hosts and eventual winners in Montevideo.

Serbia's EURO 2024 qualifying fixtures (Group G)

24/03/2023: Serbia vs Lithuania
27/03/2023: Montenegro vs Serbia
20/06/2023: Bulgaria vs Serbia
07/09/2023: Serbia vs Hungary
10/09/2023: Lithuania vs Serbia
14/10/2023: Hungary vs Serbia
17/10/2023: Serbia vs Montenegro
19/11/2023: Serbia vs Bulgaria