The biggest sporting event in the world continues with the Group G Serbia v Switzerland the H2H clash for second in Group G and a place in the knockout stage, of course presuming foolishly that Brazil can’t lose to Cameroon.
With so many games and so little time, our Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Centre tries to sum it all up as quickly as possible before and after the game and with just a hint of cynicism. If you wanted professional and/or good you’d be on the BBC website, not here. Essentially, we watch and follow the game so you don’t have to.
With answers to the key questions prior to the match and our Minutes that Mattered summary and stats post game, it is a real Who Cares guide to the 2022 World Cup for the person on the go.
Enjoy the Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Centre.
KICKOFF – FRIDAY 2ND DECEMBER – 22:00 (QATAR) 19:00 (UK) 06:00 (AEDT)
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Review
Switzerland have sealed progress into the knockout stage by defeating Serbia in a see-sawing game in Group G.
Minutes that Mattered
Welcome to the briefest of match summaries, like a minute by minute you find on professional websites except one that has only the minutes that matter. All wheat, no chaff.
And if the below isn’t enough, for those in Australia you can catch up via the SBS World Cup on Demand.
1’ Min No stuffing around in this game, Switzerland peppers the Serbian goal with three attempt by the 30th second of the game. The first from Granit Xhaka is cleared by a defender, the second from close range by Breel Embolo was saved by the keeper, as was a thunderous shot from the edge of the box by Xhaka again. Three shots on target by 30 seconds is nearly more than some teams managed for all of the tournament.
5’ Min Early chance for Serbia from a corner, the well taken corner kick finds Nikola Milenković who heads the ball with power but misses to the left.
10’ Min Serbia goes so close. A swerving left foot shot from Andrija Živković from the edge pf the penalty area crashes into the left post and the Swiss keeper saves the follow up shot from the rebound.
15’ Min it’s great end to end stuff from both sides. Serbia winning some corners and milking some free kicks, and Switzerland getting some good attacks on the counter.
19’ Min GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL FOR SWITZERLAND
After yet another break down the left for Switzerland it was Ricardo Rodriguez who flew down the left then sent it a low cross that initially bounced off a Serbian defender then fell to Djibril Sow who found Xherdan Shaqiri to his right, and Shaqiri beats the keeper and finds the net.
SERBIA 0 SWITZERLAND 1
Switzerland well and truly have the upper hand for second spot in Group G now.
26’ Min GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL FOR SERBIA
A goal of pure Aleksandr Mitrovic. A Serbia attack down the left sees a cross in the box from Dusan Tadic and it is put away in the bottom right corner of the goal by Mitrovic with ease. He made it look like he does it in his sleep. He may well do, we don’t have access to his dreams.
SERBIA 1 SWITZERLAND 1
Serbia needs to win and hope Cameroon don’t beat Brazil, so this goal helps but they must press on.
29’ Min Switzerland goes close again with Xherdan Shaqiri just missing to the right and he collected a cross field cross from inside the Swiss half.
31 Min GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL FOR SERBIA
Switzerland turn the ball over inside their own half, then a great run from Dušan Tadić through the Swiss defence and then finds Dušan Vlahović on the edge of the box who jinks past and through more Swiss defence then shoots to the right corner and scores. Serbia are now in second place in Group G.
SERBIA 2 SWITZERLAND 1
36’ Min Switzerland has another great chance on goal, but a powerful Swiss shot is blocked by defender Strahinja Pavlović, proving nowhere as brittle as a similarly named Australian dessert.
44’ Min GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL FOR SWITZERLAND
A nice exchange of passes ends with Silvan Widmer down the left, and he sends in a low cross into the box and Breel Embolo taps in on the six-yard box to score with ease. There’s a hint of offside but VAR didn’t ruin it so Switzerland could continue celebrating their return to second spot in Group G.
SERBIA 2 SWITZERLAND 2
A very entertaining half sees four goals and some good football, and it is well set up for a second half of the same as Serbia need to score again to better Switzerland to progress into the knockout stage.
HALF TIME – SERBIA 2 SWITZERLAND 2
48’ Min GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL FOR SWITZERLAND
A beautiful exchange of passes between the Swiss players ends with a low shot from Remo Freuler that easily beats the keeper who goes the other way. The Swiss are back in charge of second place now, as Serbia will need to score two goals to top them.
SERBIA 2 SWITZERLAND 3
57’ Min Breel Embolo misses a golden chance to extend the Swiss team’s lead. He chips over the bar from about two metres out.
65’ Min Something’s brewing in the technical area and on the pitch. A reserve goalkeeper gets some action for a change when Serbia’s Predrag Rajković is yellow carded without being on the field. The referee being thoughtful for including the most underused players in sport. A few scuffles on the pitch break and football resumes. What started it off remains a mystery for now, but we’re sure FIFA will say not of it happened, and in front of a full crowd with no empty seats and watched by 17 billion people around the galaxy.
82’ Min Switzerland have a chance to really seal the game with a free kick on the edge of the box. The free kick hits the net…on the side. Serbia still need two goals which seems unlikely, and Aleksandr Mitrovic earns a yellow card in the lead up to the free kick.
90′ Min Seven minutes of added time are on offer for Serbia to steal the game and second spot in Group G, but to be honest we can;t see that happening as Switzerland have slowly taken the game away from Serbia since their third goal. Serbia look more and more tired.
90′ +2 Min Serbia do have a shot on goal but it doesn’t trouble the keeper as he sees it go over the crossbar.
90′ +4 Min A proper scuffle has broken out, and then another breaks out elsewhere up field. The referee hands out yellow cards but that doesn’t stop Xhaka and Mitrovic keep going at it. It’s wasted energy for Serbia who need two goals not punches in the head for the opposition
90′ +10 Min The game finally ends and Switzerland prevail to take take second spot in Group G. Granit Xhaka is still mouthing off at Serbian players at the end which is a nice place to leave our coverage.
Final Score
SERBIA 2
Mitrovic 26′ Vlahovic 35′
SWITZERLAND 3
Shaqiri 20′ Embolo 44′ Freuler 48′
HT 2-2
Player of the Match
Breel Embolo
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Stats
Coming soon.
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Starting Teams
SERBIA (3-4-1-2)
23 V Milinkovic-Savic
4 Milenkovic
5 Veljkovic
2 Pavlovic
14 Zivkovic
16 Lukic
20 S Milinkovic-Savic
17 Kostic
10 Tadic
18 Vlahovic
9 Mitrovic
SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1)
21 Kobel
3 Widmer
22 Schär
5 Akanji
13 Rodríguez
8 Freuler
10 Xhaka
23 Shaqiri
15 Sow
17 Vargas
7 Embolo
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Preview
Why should you care?
This is a replay of the 2018 World Cup Group Stage game that was won by Switzerland with late drama and some mild politics. This time there is advancement in the World Cup on the line too.
So with even more on the line, and a nice back story, this will be the game of choice of the Group G double header. As long as you’re don’t prefer Brazil and/or Cameroon.
Who should you care about?
Xherdan Shaqiri was the winning scorer back in 2018, and he will no doubt be a factor again in 2022.
For Serbia Aleksandr Mitrovic continues his golden run in 2022, with strong performances for Serbia at this World Cup. We think there’s at least one goal and a heroic goalline clearance in him for the big match v Switzerland.
Full 2022 World Cup Squads & Stats
Is there a barely interesting fact?
Switzerland have a W3 L3 record at the World Cup against other teams starting with S.
Who will win?
Serbia 2 Switzerland 1
Full 2022 World Cup Predictions
What does the Table look like?
Team / Played / Point / Goals Scored / Goals Conceded / Goal Difference
| Brazil | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| Serbia | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 |
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Review
Minutes that Mattered
Come back after the game for the briefest of match summaries, like a minute by minute except one that has only the minutes that matter.
Group G Serbia v Switzerland Match Stats
Coming after the match.
