Could Serbia be one of the surprise packages of this FIFA World Cup?
They failed to qualify for UEFA EURO 2020 and have never reached the knockout stages of the World Cup as an independent country, participating twice as Serbia, once as Serbia and Montenegro (at Germany 2006) and previously under the banner of Yugoslavia.
Their fortunes could be about to change, however, with head coach Dragan Stojkovic having steered the Eagles through UEFA qualifying for Qatar 2022 unbeaten as Group A winners, beating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal en route.
Richly talented, the Balkan side have nevertheless been drawn into a tough finals pool that includes Brazil, Switzerland and Cameroon, making their chances of progression hard to predict. They are intent on creating an upset, however, with their coach recently telling newspaper Tuttosport that Serbia aim to "become the loose cannon of the World Cup".
Stojkovic took up the reins from Ljubisa Tumbakovic, who was sacked in February 2021. Since then the former Red Star and Olympique Marseille midfielder has wasted no time in rebuilding the team and securing World Cup qualification in the space of just nine months. He has been helped by the most promising crop of Serbian players in recent generations, a group with bags of attacking quality and the potential to entertain, provided they all pull together on the pitch.
FIFA+ has picked out five of Serbia’s most intriguing players to watch during the upcoming global finals.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
Position: Central midfielder
Age: 27
Milinkovic-Savic is an all-rounder who combines raw strength with disarming class, a centre-forward’s physique (he is 1.91 metres tall) and the ball control of a No10. He can break down attacks, create chances, is tactically astute and has an eye for goal. In short, it is difficult to pick holes in his game and he will be one of Stojkovic's go-to players.
Serbia’s opening match of the 2022 showpiece against Brazil will trigger fond memories for Milinkovic-Savic, who starred in Serbia’s 2-1 win over the South Americans in the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015.
Milinkovic-Savic has since established himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie A and is courted by leading European clubs, having registered 11 goals and 12 assists for Lazio last season.
Also in the national squad is his younger brother Vanja, who keeps goal for Torino.
In the run-up to Russia 2018, Sergej brushed off comparisons with Zinedine Zidane, one of the World Cup’s greatest playmakers, telling FIFA: "I'm flattered, but I see myself as more of a Yaya-Toure."
His idols also include another defence-minded midfielder, fellow Serb Nemanja Matic, who recently transferred to Roma after retiring from international football. Milinkovic-Savic will face his hero in a fiery Rome derby to be played out on 6 November.
Dusan Tadic
Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 33
Captain of the Serbian national team, Dusan Tadic will turn 34 on 20 November - the opening day of the World Cup. The winger grew up in Vojvodina and spent four years playing for Southampton before moving to Ajax in 2018 where he has become a key player, helping the Eredivisie side reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2019. He wears the captain’s armband for club as well as country.
Tadic posted 16 goals and 22 assists for the Amsterdam giants last season, having bagged 22 and 25 respectively in the previous campaign. His creativity, unpredictability and selflessness will be instrumental to Serbia's trophy hopes in Qatar.
Even more than for his prodigious strike rate, Tadic is appreciated for his ability to bring out the best in his team-mates, which bodes well for the Balkan side’s centre-forwards Mitrovic, Vlahovic and Jovic. In addition, Tadic provided six assists during qualifying, most recently for Mitrovic’s late goal against Portugal, which confirmed Serbia as group winners on the road to Qatar 2022.
Dusan Vlahovic
Position: Striker
Age: 22
Dusan Vlahovic, at 22, is already one of Serie A's leading stars. Having transferred from Fiorentina to Juventus in late January, a move backed by Stojkovic himself, the striker needed no time to settle in, netting nine goals for his new employers on top of the 20 he bagged earlier in the campaign for La Viola.
This season the Belgrade-born striker has picked up where he left off, becoming one of the few standout performers in a stuttering Juventus side that is otherwise struggling for form and hampered by injuries.
Vlahovic is a centre-forward with a commanding physical presence and a knack for fashioning decisive opportunities. A ruthless scoring machine, he prefers taking the direct route to goal rather than patient build-up play, using feints, explosive bursts of pace and sheer strength to muscle his way into space and past opponents. Unsurprisingly, he is an admirer of Erling Haaland, whose footsteps he hopes to follow in: "It may be presumptuous, but with commitment, I can get there too."
For fans of physical, spectacular and edge-of-the-seat football, Vlahovic is definitely one to watch.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Position: Striker
Age: 27
An irrepressible target man and accomplished header of the ball, Mitrovic is an idol among Serbia fans. He is one of those players who literally strikes fear into opposing defences.
In 2015 when he was bought by Newcastle, his favourite boyhood club besides Partizan, he announced his arrival with the following warning for Premier League defenders: “They are going to kick me – and I will kick them back. I have picked up a few scars during games. It proves I am prepared to go in where it hurts. If it means I will score a goal, I will put my head anywhere.”
According to The Telegraph, his father said he “would be a criminal or a kick boxer” if he was not playing football.
Over the years Mitrovic has worked hard on his temperament, keeping excesses to a minimum and channelling his competitive drive. At almost 28 years old, the Smederevo-born striker is still at the top of his game and by no means ready to hand over the mantle to the up-and-coming Vlahovic. He was unstoppable for Fulham last season in the Championship with Fulham, posting 43 goals in 44 games, and is also in record-breaking form with the national team. His strike against Portugal that clinched direct qualification to Qatar 2022, bypassing the play-offs, was his 44th for Serbia, and he has since increased his tally to 46, keeping him well ahead in Serbia’s all-time scorers chart.
With the inclusion of Luka Jovic, who this year switched from Real Madrid to Fiorentina, Stojkovic has an array of strikers at his disposal. But choosing between Mitrovic and Vlahovic will be no easy task, which is why the Serbia coach often plays them in tandem. Mitrovic's aerial strength sets him apart from Juventus front man Vlahovic, who is more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Mitrovic has already achieved his four childhood dreams – playing for Partizan, scoring against Red Star, winning a top-flight title and becoming a fan idol – and enjoyed successful stints overseas, first with Anderlecht and now in England. One big stage that still beckons is the World Cup, where he will be eager to spearhead Serbia’s trophy charge.
Filip Kostic
Position: Wide midfielder
Age: 29
“He covers the whole of the left wing, up and down. Filip combines superior running ability with excellent precision in his crosses. When Kostic is on the pitch, you know that crosses are coming. And they are almost all dangerous.”
This was how Stojkovic described Kostic’s playing style to Tuttosport when asked about the winger’s transfer to Juventus in August. The signs are that I Bianconeri have potentially one of the most lethal attack pairings at Qatar 2022 in the making. Kostic and Vlahovic are tailor-made for each other and their World Cup preparations effectively started back in August, when the Serie A season kicked off. They have three months to hone their offensive partnership, which will no doubt feature prominently in Stojkovic’s plans.
Kostic's modus operandi is simple, linear and at times elementary: run the ball up the wing and cross it. He mainly operates on the left, preferring speed to dribbling, his crosses almost always drilled with laser-like precision onto the head or foot of a team-mate. It is no coincidence that the winger chalked up 13 assists last season, 14 in the previous campaign and 11 in 2019-20. With his consummate passing skills, the former Eintracht star will help Tadic provide plenty of ammunition for Serbia’s free-scoring strikers.
