2018 FIFA World Cup- Serbia Profile

April 23, 2018 10:45

Serbs looking to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 1998

reuters

Serbia is heading to the World Cup after missing out on qualification for the 2014 tournament. The eastern European side is packed with talented players who play in some of the top leagues in Europe. After dropping out in the group stages in 2006 & 2010 can the Serbs go one step further and qualify for the knockout stages at Russia 2018?

**Trivia**

Serbia has only won once in their last seven World Cup games.

Serbia has taken on Brazil in the group stages on four previous occasions (1974,1954, 1950, 1930)

Serbian Milorad Arsenijević was the first ever person to represent & manage their country (1930 as a player, 1950 as a coach representing Yugoslavia)

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Brazil profile

Switzerland profile

Costa Rica profile

SERBIA TEAM PROFILE

Formation- 1919

President- Slaviša Kokeza

Website- http://www.fss.rs

FIFA Ranking- 37

World Cup Appearances- 11
How did they qualify?	Serbia finished top of European qualification group D, beating the likes of Ireland at Wales to get to Russia 2018.
Coach	Mladen Krstajić represented his country at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The former defender enjoyed a stint in the Bundesliga playing for Werder Breman & Schalke. Krstajic was appointed in October 2017 having previously been the assistant coach of Serbia.
Star Man	The experience of Serbian captain Branislav Ivanovic will be vital if Serbia is to make it out of the group stage. The former Chelsea defender is no stranger to playing in Russia, as he is currently representing Zenit St Petersburg.
Preparation (2018 matches)	Serbia 1 Morocco 2 Nigeria 0 Serbia 2 Serbia 0 Chile 1 Serbia 5 Bolivia 1
World Cup History	Serbia will be making their twelfth World Cup appearance in Russia. Their best ever finish came at the first ever World Cup in 1930 where they finished in fourth place, known then as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Group stage schedule	6/17 Costa Rica Vs Serbia	15:00 pm	beIN HD
	6/22 Serbia Vs Switzerland	21:00 pm	beIN HD
	6/27 Serbia Vs Brazil	21:00 pm	beIN HD
Squad list	Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic (Partizan Belgrade), Predrag Rajkovic (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Marko Dmitrovic (Eibar). Defenders: Aleksandar Kolarov (AS Roma), Branislav Ivanovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dusko Tosic (Guangzhou R&F), Antonio Rukavina (Villarreal), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Milan Rodic (Red Star Belgrade), Uros Spajic (Krasnodar), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina). Midfielders: Nemanja Matic (Manchester United), Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Marko Grujic (Liverpool), Adem Ljajic (Torino), Dusan Tadic (Southampton), Filip Kostic (Hamburg SV), Andrija Zivkovic (Benfica), Nemanja Radonjic (Red Star Belgrade). Strikers: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United), Aleksandar Prijovic (PAOK Salonika), Luka Jovic (Benfica).