2022 FIFA World Cup Group G

Warm-up prior to the Brazil–Serbia match

Matches in Group G of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 24 November to 2 December 2022.^[1] The group consisted of Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. The top two teams, Brazil and Switzerland, advanced to the round of 16.^[2] This was unprecedented in World Cup history as Brazil won the group despite scoring fewer goals than each of their opponents. Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland also played in Group E at the previous FIFA World Cup.^[3]

Teams

Draw position	Team	Pot	Confederation	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings[4]
									March 2022[nb 1]	October 2022
G1	Brazil	1	CONMEBOL	CONMEBOL Round Robin winners	11 November 2021	22nd	2018	Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)	1	1
G2	Serbia	3	UEFA	UEFA Group A winners	14 November 2021	13th[nb 2]	2018	Fourth place (1930, 1962)[nb 3]	25	21
G3	Switzerland	2	UEFA	UEFA Group C winners	15 November 2021	12th	2018	Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)	14	15
G4	Cameroon	4	CAF	CAF third round winners	29 March 2022	8th	2014	Quarter-finals (1990)	37	43

Notes

1. The rankings of March 2022 were used for seeding for the final draw.
2. This is the third appearance of Serbia at the FIFA World Cup. However, FIFA considers Serbia as the successor team of Yugoslavia, who qualified on eight occasions, and Serbia and Montenegro, who qualified on two occasions.
3. Serbia's best result is the group stage in 2010 and 2018. However, FIFA considers Serbia as the successor team of Yugoslavia.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Switzerland	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	Cameroon	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
4	Serbia	3	0	1	2	5	8	−3	1

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group G, Brazil, advanced to play the runners-up of Group H, South Korea.
• The runners-up of Group G, Switzerland, advanced to play the winners of Group H, Portugal.

Matches

All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).^[1]

Switzerland vs Cameroon

The teams had never met before.

After a goalless first half, Breel Embolo scored the only goal of the match three minutes into the second period, finishing from six yards out after a cross from Xherdan Shaqiri on the right.^[5] Embolo did not celebrate the goal in respect to being born in Cameroon; he moved to Switzerland when he was six years old.^[6]

24 November 2022 (2022-11-24)

13:00

Switzerland	1–0	Cameroon
Embolo 48'	Report

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 39,089

Referee: Facundo Tello (Argentina)

Switzerland

Cameroon

GK 1 Yann Sommer RB 3 Silvan Widmer CB 5 Manuel Akanji  83' CB 4 Nico Elvedi  64' LB 13 Ricardo Rodriguez  90' CM 8 Remo Freuler CM 10 Granit Xhaka (c) RW 23 Xherdan Shaqiri  72' AM 15 Djibril Sow  72' LW 17 Ruben Vargas  81' CF 7 Breel Embolo  72' Substitutions: MF 20 Fabian Frei  72' FW 19 Noah Okafor  72' FW 9 Haris Seferovic  72' MF 25 Fabian Rieder  81' DF 18 Eray Cömert  90' Manager: Murat Yakin

GK 23 André Onana RB 19 Collins Fai  36' CB 21 Jean-Charles Castelletto CB 3 Nicolas Nkoulou LB 25 Nouhou Tolo DM 14 Samuel Gouet CM 8 André-Frank Zambo Anguissa CM 18 Martin Hongla  68' RF 20 Bryan Mbeumo  81' CF 13 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (c)  74' LF 12 Karl Toko Ekambi  74' Substitutions: MF 5 Gaël Ondoua  68' FW 10 Vincent Aboubakar  74' MF 7 Georges-Kévin Nkoudou  74' FW 6 Moumi Ngamaleu  81' Manager: Rigobert Song

Man of the Match: Yann Sommer (Switzerland)[7] Assistant referees: Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina) Gabriel Chade (Argentina) Fourth official: Saíd Martínez (Honduras) Reserve assistant referee: Walter López (Honduras) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico) Pau Cebrián Devís (Spain) Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Nicolás Taran (Uruguay)

Brazil vs Serbia

The teams had met once in the World Cup, in Brazil's 2–0 group stage victory in 2018. With Serbia playing as Yugoslavia, the sides had met 18 times, including four encounters in FIFA World Cup group stages: in 1930, 1950, 1954 and 1974, with one victory for each and two draws.

After a goalless first half, Richarlison opened the scoring for Brazil in the 62nd minute, when he followed up to finish after Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić saved Vinícius Júnior's low shot from the left, with Neymar initially creating the chance.^[8] Richarlison then made it 2–0 eleven minutes later when he controlled the ball from Vinícius Júnior before finishing to the left of the net with an over-the-shoulder acrobatic right-footed kick. Casemiro hit the woodwork and Fred also had a shot saved with Brazil running out comfortable 2–0 winners.^[9]

24 November 2022 (2022-11-24)

22:00

Brazil	2–0	Serbia
Richarlison 62', 73'	Report

Lusail Stadium, Lusail

Attendance: 88,103

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Brazil

Serbia

GK 1 Alisson RB 2 Danilo CB 4 Marquinhos CB 3 Thiago Silva (c) LB 6 Alex Sandro CM 5 Casemiro CM 7 Lucas Paquetá  75' RW 11 Raphinha  87' AM 10 Neymar  79' LW 20 Vinícius Júnior  75' CF 9 Richarlison  79' Substitutions MF 8 Fred  75' FW 21 Rodrygo  75' FW 18 Gabriel Jesus  79' FW 19 Antony  79' FW 26 Gabriel Martinelli  87' Manager: Tite

GK 23 Vanja Milinković-Savić CB 5 Miloš Veljković CB 4 Nikola Milenković CB 2 Strahinja Pavlović  7' DM 8 Nemanja Gudelj  49'  57' CM 16 Saša Lukić  64'  66' CM 20 Sergej Milinković-Savić RW 14 Andrija Živković  57' AM 10 Dušan Tadić (c) LW 25 Filip Mladenović  66' CF 9 Aleksandar Mitrović  83' Substitutions MF 24 Ivan Ilić  57' MF 7 Nemanja Radonjić  57' MF 22 Darko Lazović  66' FW 18 Dušan Vlahović  66' MF 6 Nemanja Maksimović  83' Manager: Dragan Stojković

Man of the Match: Richarlison (Brazil)[10] Assistant referees: Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) Mohammadreza Abolfazli (Iran) Fourth official: Maguette Ndiaye (Senegal) Reserve assistant referee: El Hadj Malick Samba (Senegal) Video assistant referee: Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar) Assistant video assistant referees: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore) Anton Shchetinin (Australia) Pol van Boekel (Netherlands) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Ashley Beecham (Australia)

Cameroon vs Serbia

The teams had faced each other once, a 2010 friendly won 4–3 by Serbia.

Jean-Charles Castelletto put Cameroon into the lead in the 29th minute, when he finished from close range off of a corner. In first-half stoppage time, Strahinja Pavlović equalized with a header, before Sergej Milinković-Savić brought Serbia ahead just two minutes later with a low finish into the corner of the net.^[11] Eight minutes into the second half, Aleksandar Mitrović put Serbia 3–1 up with a low finish after a passing move. Vincent Aboubakar scooped the ball over goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić to score Cameroon's second goal in the 63rd minute, awarded by the VAR after initially being deemed offside, before Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting completed the comeback three minutes later with a low shot after a pass from the right by Aboubakar. The match finished in an entertaining 3–3 draw.^[12]

This was Cameroon's first point in a World Cup match since 2002, ending an eight-game losing streak.^[13]

28 November 2022 (2022-11-28)

13:00

Cameroon	3–3	Serbia
Castelletto 29' Aboubakar 63' Choupo-Moting 66'	Report	Pavlović 45+1' S. Milinković-Savić 45+3' A. Mitrović 53'

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 39,789

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Cameroon

Serbia

GK 16 Devis Epassy RB 19 Collins Fai CB 21 Jean-Charles Castelletto CB 3 Nicolas Nkoulou  24' LB 25 Nouhou Tolo DM 18 Martin Hongla  55' CM 8 André-Frank Zambo Anguissa  81' CM 15 Pierre Kunde  67' RF 20 Bryan Mbeumo  81' CF 13 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (c) LF 12 Karl Toko Ekambi  67' Substitutions: FW 10 Vincent Aboubakar  55' FW 11 Christian Bassogog  30'  67' MF 5 Gaël Ondoua  67' MF 14 Samuel Gouet  81' MF 7 Georges-Kévin Nkoudou  81' Manager: Rigobert Song

GK 23 Vanja Milinković-Savić CB 4 Nikola Milenković  90+3' CB 5 Miloš Veljković  78' CB 2 Strahinja Pavlović  55' RM 14 Andrija Živković  78' CM 6 Nemanja Maksimović CM 16 Saša Lukić LM 17 Filip Kostić  90+2' AM 10 Dušan Tadić (c) AM 20 Sergej Milinković-Savić  78' CF 9 Aleksandar Mitrović Substitutions: DF 13 Stefan Mitrović  55' DF 15 Srđan Babić  78' MF 7 Nemanja Radonjić  78' MF 26 Marko Grujić  78' MF 21 Filip Đuričić  90+2' Other disciplinary actions: FW 11 Luka Jović  45+4' Manager: Dragan Stojković

Man of the Match: Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)[14] Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Ma Ning (China) Reserve assistant referee: Shi Xiang (China) Video assistant referee: Nicolás Gallo (Colombia) Assistant video assistant referees: Juan Soto (Venezuela) Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina) Leodán González (Uruguay) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Gabriel Chade (Argentina)

Brazil vs Switzerland

The teams had met nine times prior, including two draws coming in World Cup group stage matches: 2–2 in 1950 and 1–1 in 2018.

Brazil started the game without the injured Neymar, who was ruled out for the remainder of the group stage after spraining his ankle in the previous match.^[15] The only goal of the game was scored by Brazilian midfielder Casemiro in the 83rd minute, when his deflected right-footed shot from inside the penalty area struck the top corner of the net.

The win secured Brazil's passage to the knockout stage, and was their first victory in three attempts against Switzerland at the FIFA World Cup.^[16]

28 November 2022 (2022-11-28)

19:00

Brazil	1–0	Switzerland
Casemiro 83'	Report

Stadium 974, Doha

Attendance: 43,649

Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

Brazil

Switzerland

GK 1 Alisson RB 14 Éder Militão CB 4 Marquinhos CB 3 Thiago Silva (c) LB 6 Alex Sandro  86' DM 5 Casemiro CM 8 Fred  52'  58' CM 7 Lucas Paquetá  46' RF 11 Raphinha  73' CF 9 Richarlison  73' LF 20 Vinícius Júnior Substitutions: FW 21 Rodrygo  46' MF 17 Bruno Guimarães  58' FW 18 Gabriel Jesus  73' FW 19 Antony  73' DF 16 Alex Telles  86' Manager: Tite

GK 1 Yann Sommer RB 3 Silvan Widmer  86' CB 5 Manuel Akanji CB 4 Nico Elvedi LB 13 Ricardo Rodriguez CM 8 Remo Freuler CM 10 Granit Xhaka (c) RW 25 Fabian Rieder  50'  58' AM 15 Djibril Sow  76' LW 17 Ruben Vargas  58' CF 7 Breel Embolo  76' Substitutions: DF 2 Edimilson Fernandes  58' DF 11 Renato Steffen  58' MF 14 Michel Aebischer  76' FW 9 Haris Seferovic  76' MF 20 Fabian Frei  86' Manager: Murat Yakin

Man of the Match: Casemiro (Brazil)[17] Assistant referees: David Morán (El Salvador) Zachari Zeegelaar (Suriname) Fourth official: Saíd Martínez (Honduras) Reserve assistant referee: Walter López (Honduras) Video assistant referee: Drew Fischer (Canada) Assistant video assistant referees: Armando Villarreal (United States) Kathryn Nesbitt (United States) Fernando Guerrero (Mexico) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Mahmoud Abouelregal (Egypt)

Serbia vs Switzerland

See also: List of 2022 FIFA World Cup controversies § Serbian incidents

The teams had met once before, in Switzerland's 2–1 group stage victory at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. With Serbia playing as Yugoslavia, the two teams had met 13 times, including in the 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage, a 3–0 victory for Yugoslavia.

In an open and entertaining match, Andrija Živković struck the post early on for Serbia, before Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring for Switzerland via a deflection, becoming the first Swiss player to score at three different World Cups.^[18] Aleksandar Mitrović equalized just six minutes later with a header off of a Dušan Tadić cross, before a poor clearance by Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler allowed Dušan Vlahović to put Serbia in front. The first half would end 2–2 after Breel Embolo brought Switzerland level off of a Silvan Widmer cross.

Serbia, who needed a victory to have a chance of reaching the knockout stage, then went behind again early into the second half, after Freuler finished off a Swiss team goal with a volley. The game became ill-tempered, similar to the sides' previous encounter in 2018, and saw both sets of players scuffle multiple times, primarily triggered after provocation towards the Serbian bench by Swiss captain Granit Xhaka, an ethnic Albanian.^[19] The eleven yellow cards distributed during the contest was the most shown in a World Cup match since the twelve given in the 2010 final. Switzerland ultimately retained their lead and won the match 3–2.^[20]

Their two group stage victories saw Switzerland progress to the knockout stage as runners-up for a third successive World Cup, while Serbia finished bottom and were eliminated in the first round for their fourth tournament in a row.

2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)

22:00

Serbia	2–3	Switzerland
A. Mitrović 26' Vlahović 35'	Report	Shaqiri 20' Embolo 44' Freuler 48'

Stadium 974, Doha

Attendance: 41,378

Referee: Fernando Rapallini (Argentina)

Serbia

Switzerland

GK 23 Vanja Milinković-Savić CB 4 Nikola Milenković  90+5' CB 5 Miloš Veljković  55' CB 2 Strahinja Pavlović  56' RM 14 Andrija Živković  78' CM 20 Sergej Milinković-Savić  47'  68' CM 16 Saša Lukić  90+10' LM 17 Filip Kostić AM 10 Dušan Tadić (c)  78' CF 9 Aleksandar Mitrović  82' CF 18 Dušan Vlahović  55' Substitutions: DF 8 Nemanja Gudelj  81'  55' FW 11 Luka Jović  55' MF 6 Nemanja Maksimović  68' MF 21 Filip Đuričić  78' MF 7 Nemanja Radonjić  78' Other disciplinary actions: GK 12 Predrag Rajković  66' Manager: Dragan Stojković

GK 21 Gregor Kobel RB 3 Silvan Widmer  15' CB 5 Manuel Akanji CB 22 Fabian Schär  90+9' LB 13 Ricardo Rodriguez CM 8 Remo Freuler CM 10 Granit Xhaka (c)  90+5' RW 23 Xherdan Shaqiri  69' AM 15 Djibril Sow  69' LW 17 Ruben Vargas  34'  83' CF 7 Breel Embolo  90+6' Substitutions: DF 2 Edimilson Fernandes  69' MF 6 Denis Zakaria  69' MF 16 Christian Fassnacht  83' FW 19 Noah Okafor  90+6' Manager: Murat Yakin

Man of the Match: Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)[21] Assistant referees: Juan Pablo Belatti (Argentina) Diego Bonfá (Argentina) Fourth official: Kevin Ortega (Peru) Reserve assistant referee: Jesús Sánchez (Peru) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Julio Bascunan (Chile) Nicolás Taran (Uruguay) Leodan Gonzalez (Uruguay) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Martín Soppi (Uruguay)

Cameroon vs Brazil

The teams had previously met six times, including in two World Cup group stage games, both won by Brazil: a 3–0 victory in 1994 and a 4–1 win in 2014.

Brazil, already assured a place in the knockout stage, made ten changes to their previous starting lineup. Despite the Brazilians having the majority of the game's chances, Cameroon would take the lead in second-half stoppage time, after Vincent Aboubakar ran into the penalty area to head the cross from Jerome Ngom Mbekeli on the right into the net's bottom corner from six yards out.^[22] Aboubakar celebrated the goal by removing his shirt, receiving a second yellow card and thus being sent off.^[23]

The match marked Brazil's first defeat in the group stage of a World Cup since losing to Norway in 1998. Despite their loss, Brazil clinched top spot in Group G on goal difference as they progressed to the knockout stage. Although they were still eliminated, Cameroon became the first African team to defeat Brazil at a World Cup, with this victory also being their first at the tournament since beating Saudi Arabia in 2002. This result also meant that no team finished the group stage of the World Cup with a perfect winning record for the first time since 1994.

2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)

22:00

Cameroon	1–0	Brazil
Aboubakar 90+2'	Report

Lusail Stadium, Lusail

Attendance: 85,986

Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

Cameroon

Brazil

GK 16 Devis Epassy RB 19 Collins Fai  32' CB 4 Christopher Wooh CB 24 Enzo Ebosse LB 25 Nouhou Tolo  6' CM 8 André-Frank Zambo Anguissa CM 15 Pierre Kunde  28'  68' RW 20 Bryan Mbeumo  64' AM 13 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting LW 6 Moumi Ngamaleu  86' CF 10 Vincent Aboubakar (c)  81'  90+3' Substitutions: FW 12 Karl Toko Ekambi  64' MF 22 Olivier Ntcham  68' DF 2 Jerome Ngom Mbekeli  86' Manager: Rigobert Song

GK 23 Ederson RB 13 Dani Alves (c) CB 14 Éder Militão  7' CB 24 Bremer LB 16 Alex Telles  54' CM 15 Fabinho CM 8 Fred  54' RW 19 Antony  79' AM 21 Rodrygo  54' LW 26 Gabriel Martinelli CF 18 Gabriel Jesus  64' Substitutions: DF 4 Marquinhos  54' MF 22 Éverton Ribeiro  54' MF 17 Bruno Guimarães  85'  54' FW 25 Pedro  64' FW 11 Raphinha  79' Manager: Tite

Man of the Match: Devis Epassy (Cameroon)[24] Assistant referees: Kyle Atkins (United States) Corey Parker (United States) Fourth official: Ma Ning (China) Reserve assistant referee: Shi Xiang (China) Video assistant referee: Alejandro Hernández (Spain) Assistant video assistant referees: Juan Martinez (Spain) Pau Cebrián Devís (Spain) Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (Spain)

Discipline

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:^[2]

• first yellow card: −1 point;
• indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
• direct red card: −4 points;
• yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;

Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.

Team	Match 1				Match 2				Match 3				Points
Brazil					1				2				−3
Switzerland	2				1				4				−7
Cameroon	1				2				3	1			−9
Serbia	3				2				7				–12

See also

• Brazil at the FIFA World Cup
• Cameroon at the FIFA World Cup
• Serbia at the FIFA World Cup
• Switzerland at the FIFA World Cup

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Match Schedule" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
2. "Regulations – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
3. Kelner, Martha (1 December 2017). "England draw Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in 2018 World Cup group". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
4. "Men's Ranking". FIFA. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
5. "Switzerland 1 Cameroon 0: As it happened". The Guardian. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
6. "Switzerland 1 Cameroon 0". BBC Sport. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
7. "Embolo punishes birth country in Swiss triumph". FIFA. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
8. "Brazil 2 Serbia 0". BBC Sport. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
9. "Richarlison's stunning double sinks Serbia to get Brazil up and running". The Guardian. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
10. "Richarlison at the double as Brazil begin with a bang". FIFA. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
11. "World Cup 2022: Cameroon 3–3 Serbia recap". RTE Sport. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
12. "Choupo-Moting thwarts Serbia to cap Cameroon's wild World Cup comeback". The Guardian. 28 November 2022.
13. Gastelum, Andrew (28 November 2022). "Serbia, Cameroon Tie 3–3 in Game of the Tournament". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
14. "Goals galore in Cameroon–Serbia epic". FIFA. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
15. "Casemiro stunner ends Switzerland resistance to fire Brazil into last 16". The Guardian. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
16. "Brazil 1 Switzerland 0". BBC Sport. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
17. "Casemiro strikes late to send Brazil through". FIFA. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
18. "Shaqiri stepping up once more for Swiss". FIFA. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
19. "Game of cojones: Serbia suffer and give Granit Xhaka the last word". The Guardian. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
20. "Serbia 2-3 Switzerland: Remo Freuler scores winner to send Swiss through after epic four-goal first-half". Sky Sports. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
21. "Switzerland win five-goal thriller to seal last-16 spot". FIFA. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
22. "Aboubakar stuns Brazil with Cameroon winner but is sent off for celebration". The Guardian. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
23. "Cameroon 1 Brazil 0". BBC Sport. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
24. "Brazil bruised but through after Cameroon defeat". FIFA. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

External links

• Official website