Brazil v Serbia: Key moments as Brazil arrive at the World Cup
Catch up on all the action as it happened from Brazil v Serbia with Flashscore
90+8' That's all for today as the game is over.
87' It's time for a substitution. Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil) comes on in place of Raphinha.
87' Rodrygo (Brazil) receives a precise pass on the edge of the box and has an effort on goal. Unfortunately for him, his strike flies inches high over the bar. The ball goes out of play and Serbia will have a goal kick.
83' It is time for a substitution. Nemanja Maksimovic (Serbia) is on for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
83' Fred (Brazil) produces a ferocious strike from the edge of the box. His dangerous effort towards the left post is blocked by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who pulls off a superb save to keep the ball out of the net. The ball goes out of play and Brazil have been awarded a corner kick.
81' OFF THE CROSSBAR! Casemiro (Brazil) runs towards the goal to give his teammate support. He receives a fantastic pass and shoots from the edge of the box, but it crashes against the crossbar. It could have been a brilliant goal, unlucky.
79' The referee stops play so that a substitution can be made and Antony (Brazil) is coming onto the pitch as Neymar cannot continue after picking up an injury.
79' Richarlison will be replaced by Gabriel Jesus (Brazil).
75' Tite decides to make a substitution. Vinicius Junior will be replaced by Rodrygo (Brazil).
75' Substitution. Lucas Paqueta makes way for Fred (Brazil).
73' 2 - 0 GOAL! Vinicius Junior plays in Richarlison (Brazil), who shows great determination to get to the ball before a couple of defenders and from inside the box he shoots into the left side of the net! Great finish - 2:0.
66' Dragan Stojkovic prepares a substitution. Filip Mladenovic is replaced by Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia).
66' That will be all from Sasa Lukic who is being replaced by the fresh legs of Darko Lazovic (Serbia).
64' A yellow card for bad language! Sasa Lukic (Serbia) couldn’t remain silent and the result is obvious.
62' GOAL! 1 - 0 Vinicius Junior fires in a promising shot which ricochets off the goalkeeper back to Richarlison (Brazil) inside the box and he sends the ball into the back of the net. The score is 1:0.
62' Vinicius Junior (Brazil) latches on to a precise pass and finds himself one-on-one with the keeper. He fires a low shot towards the right side of the net, but Vanja Milinkovic-Savic leaps like a salmon to deny him.
60' Good touch by Alex Sandro (Brazil) as he latched on to an accurate pass before attempting to threaten the goalkeeper with his long-range shot. Unluckily for him, his attempt only rattles the left post.
57' Dragan Stojkovic has decided to make a change. Nemanja Radonjic (Serbia) replaces Andrija Zivkovic.
57' The referee signals that it is time for a substitution and Ivan Ilic (Serbia) comes onto the pitch so that Nemanja Gudelj can be given a rest.
49' This yellow card was deserved. The tackle by Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia) was quite harsh and Alireza Faghani didn't hesitate to show him a yellow card.
46' Excellent touch by Raphinha (Brazil)! He latches on to an inch-perfect pass deep into the box and unleashes a low drive towards the middle of the goal. The goalkeeper reacts superbly and makes a save.
46' The players are back out on the pitch following the half-time break and the second half is about to start.
Half-time
45+2' Alireza Faghani blows his whistle to signal the end of the first-half action.
7' Strahinja Pavlovic (Serbia) is shown a yellow card by the referee for making a challenge on his opponent, but he looks angry with the decision.
1' The match has just started.
Match preview
The much-fancied Seleção are the bookmakers’ premier pick to scoop the World Cup crown, and with a star-studded line-up boasting some of Europe’s premier entertainers, Brazil are certainly expected to be pleasing on the eye.
While off-field issues in Qatar threaten to overshadow football’s premier event, Brazil will be keen to ensure the focus remains on the pitch as they seek to extend a 15-match unbeaten World Cup group stage run (W12, D3) when they take on Serbia. Whatever the result, it will be a landmark day for boss Tite, who will become the first manager to lead Brazil at back-to-back World Cups since Telê Santana in 1982 and 1986.
With Brazil ranked #1 in FIFA’s rankings, they may be rubbing their hands to open their campaign against 25th-placed Serbia. The Serbians may have something to say about that, having come through their World Cup Qualification group unscathed (W6, D2), though they also had a similarly impressive qualifying record for the 2018 World Cup and went on to be eliminated in the group stage - a group they ironically also shared with Brazil.
That 2018 elimination came despite winning their group opener (1-0 vs Costa Rica), and with more attacking talent in Serbia’s line-up than ever before, boss Dragan Stojković may be quietly confident he can oversee Serbia’s first World Cup group stage progression as an independent nation. That attacking talent may be called upon here too, as Serbia conceded in each of their eight qualification games and boast just two clean sheets across their last three World Cup appearances (W2, L7).
Players to watch: Since his World Cup bow when Brazil hosted in 2014, Neymar has been directly involved in 42% of Brazil’s 19 goals in the tournament (G6, A2). One of 11 players in the Serbia squad to play in Serie A, Dušan Vlahović will partake in his first World Cup having scored the game opener in his last three competitive international goalscoring appearances.
Hot stat: Six of Serbia’s last seven World Cup games have been settled by a single-goal margin.
World Cup trivia: With this their 22nd appearance, Brazil are the only team to have taken part in every single World Cup since its original edition in 1930.
