Group G: Team previews and breakdowns

Group F is home of the betting favorite to win the 2022 World Cup - Brazil, but despite how well the five-time champs have played and the ridiculous depth they have up front, this group is tough enough that it will required them to show up at their best early on. Both Serbia and Switzerland were drawn in the same group with Brazil in 2018 and now 2022 - Switzerland remains a quality team while Serbia has gotten a lot better, completing the group is Cameroon who comes in as a potential sacrificial lamb.

BRAZIL

They come in as one of the leading candidates to win it all and have the deepest roster among all 32 nations particularly in the attacking third.

Brazil has so many attacking options that Neymar may have to play in the middle.

Brazil dominated in South American qualifiers and have kept that form in the games leading into the World Cup.

Team's Philosophy: Brazil plays with a 4-3-3, while in the past they used the wing backs to push forward, Tite may very well opt to play with four center backs, similar to what France is doing as their best players in those positions are not at their best run of form.

In the middle Casemiro will be the disruptor while Neymar and Lucas Paqueta will be behind the front three to help in the build-up - up front expect to see Vinicius Jr. and likely Raphinha flank Richarlison.

This is how they could line-up:

Alex Telles if he's picked can push forward, on the other side you may have Eder Militao who has played that position in the past but is mostly used as a center back with Real Madrid.

Players to Watch: Vinicius is the most intriguing player to watch, due to his speed and one-on-one ability he will be exciting to watch, but still needs to get better and providing better service to his teammates and finishing in front of goal. Richarlison got hurt shortly before the tournament and while he is expected to be fit to play is worth keeping an eye in his performance.

Weakness: The wing back position - While there are no clear weak points with this team. One thing to watch is who starts at left back and right back, these are positions in which Brazil may struggle - and possibly have to resort to put a player not at their best or using a center back in one of those positions, something good wingers could attempt to try to use to their advantage.

Options off the bench: Fabinho in central midfield, Bruno Guimaraes as a creative midfielder, Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli in the wings and Gabriel Jesus up front - most teams would kill to have this players on their starting 11, Brazil has the luxury of having them as options that can come off the bench.

Expectations: Pure and simple, they're expected to win their sixth World Cup title that is the only expectation you can have with such a stacked team - but the bare minimum for the team is the semifinal.

SERBIA

Four years ago Serbia has a decent performance in the tournament beating Costa Rica and being competitive in their losses to Brazil and Switzerland, but now this team has gotten better and comes with intentions of spoiling someone's day.

In order to qualify Serbia had to beat Portugal on the road with a last-minute goal to win its group and send Portugal to the qualifying play-offs.

Team's philosophy: Throughout the tournament you will see a lot teams supposedly playing with only three at the back, but in reality their wingbacks are defenders, but in this case with Serbia that is really how they've played in their most recent games - A 3-5-2, with this setup the team has a lot of people in midfield to control the flow of the game, they keep 3 center backs to avoid being caught on the counter, and two strikers to ensure opposing defenses have to keep their focus.

This is how they could line-up:

Serbia is a very solid team that will pose a difficult challenges to pretty much anyone.

Players to watch: There is quite a few to list here - Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is the disruptor in the midfield, Dusan Tadic and Filip Kostic are dangerous players down the wings and both strikers Aleksander Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic are big threat up front.

Weaknesses: The main concern is the back-line while they're good as a unit, individually their not top players and this setup could potentially lead to them having to cover a lot of space.

Options off the bench: Nemanja Maksimović in the midfield and Nikola Milenković in the back.

Expectations: This team should be a contender to advance out of the group stage, their fight will be against Switzerland a team they lost to 2-1 in Russia, but this time around they may have the edge to beat them.

SWITZERLAND

One of the best generations of Swiss players led the team to 2 consecutive World Cups making it to the Round of 16, and while several team of that previous core are gone, Switzerland remains a tough team to beat.

Team's Philosophy: This team will most likely use a 4-2-3-1 setup, the defense are lead by players who play in the German Bundesliga, the middle will feature Arsenal's Granit Xhaka with an attacking midfielder and two wingers flanking the striker.

This is how they could line-up:

Switzerland feels comfortable with or without the majority of ball possession - but they should have the initiative with Cameroon and I expected them to take a more cautious approach against Brazil. It remains to be seen what they do against Serbia.

Players to watch: Breel Embolo, the Monaco striker has started in most recent games for Switzerland ahead of Haris Seferovic, even if Seferovic start Embolo would likely start on the wing. Also what Djibril Sow does in the midfield will have a big impact on how successful Switzerland can become.

Weakness: Wingers. Since I'm expecting Embolo to start up-front the likely wingers will be Xherdan Shaqiri and Ruben Vargas. Shaqiri hasn't been at his best and Vargas is an emerging talent and is where this team could struggle.

Options off the bench: Haris Seferovic, Denis Zakaria, Noah Okafor.

Expectations: Switzerland should be in contention for second place in the group along with Serbia, anything less than a win agaisnt Cameroon and competitive performances in the other two games will be a dissapointment.

Round of 16 is as far this team should be able to make it.

CAMEROON

The indomitable lions qualified in the most dramatic way possible to the World Cup - by scoring a goal in the fourth minute of added time in extra time against Algeria on the road.

But now the goal is for Cameroon to turn around their fortunes at the World Cup. Since reaching the quarterfinals in 1990 - Cameroon has only managed to win a single game in their last 15 World Cup matches - that win came 20 years ago against Saudi Arabia - since then Cameroon has lost 7 straight. Unfortunately it seems that trend won't change anytime soon.

Team's philosophy: Cameroon has a few intriguing players to watch - and in the most recent games have played with a 5-2-3 setup - one reason for this strategy is to have as much help in the back considering the talent their opponents have on the attack.

This is how they could lineup:

The full backs are expected to push forward and the team has a few attacking options that could make them dangerous in the final third.

Players to watch: At goal Andre Onana is a quality goalkeeper that recently made the move to Inter Milan. On the midfield keep an eye on Napoli midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and up front expect Vincent Aboubakar to be the striker with Karl Toko Ekambi and Bryan Mbeumo on the wings.

Weakness: With this setup the midfield would be fragile and have a lot of space to cover, but also the back-line doesn't have a lot of quality - they will definitely miss Joel Matip who retired from the national team at a young age.

Options off the bench: After the starting 11, there is not a whole lot of quality, the best option would be 33-year old striker from Bayern Munich Erik Choupo-Moting.

Expectations: In all honestly they are expected to finish last in their group - getting any points will be a success for Cameroon - their best opportunity could come in their opening game against Switzerland.