BRAZIL - SERBIA

Brazil should have an easy game here.

Expectations of Brazil are always sky-high and the favorites will be under massive pressure to live up to their star billing this winter. Tite’s side made light work of qualifying, but fell short in Copa America 2021 on home soil and failed to convince at the last World Cup in Russia 2018, where they lost 2-1 against Belgium in the quarter finals.

Neymar was billed as their talisman before the last two World Cups but he has struggled with injuries in recent seasons and has been overshadowed at club level by Kylian Mbappe. Fellow attackers Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus are talented players with plenty of international experience, and Jesus has taken a big stride forward since his switch to Arsenal. His improvement, allied to the impact of rising stars Vinicius Junior and Gabriel Martinelli, gives Brazil a better attacking balance than they had 4 years ago. And they can usually rely on keeping things tight at the back.

Thiago Silva remains a class act at the back despite his advancing years (still a fine player and inspirational leader), Casemiro and Fabinho are top-notch holding midfielders and there will be immense quality in goal whoever gets the nod between Alisson and Ederson, two world-class goalkeepers.

Plenty of successful teams base their achievements on solid defence, but there is always an expectation for Brazil to play with style and that has been their undoing at recent World Cups.

On the other hand, Serbia will be fighting with Switzerland for the 2nd position most probably.

They qualified impressively by finishing three points ahead of Portugal, who they came from behind to defeat 2-1 on the final matchday in Lisbon. Mitrovic has the hero with the winning goal, but might not even be guaranteed a starting berth in Qatar.

Serbia’s centre-forward options include Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic who has bagged 45 goals across the last two Serie A campaigns, and Fiorentina target man Luka Jovic, who sealed a summer transfer to Fiorentina after failing to nail down a regular starting berth at Real Madrid. While Serbia’s impressive array of forwards catch the eye, there is plenty of quality in other areas of the squad.

Options in defence include left-back Mihailo Ristic, who caught the eye enough to earn a summer move from Montpellier to Benfica, and versatile defender Nikola Milenkovic, who is a regular for Fiorentina. Anyway, they are lacking a genuine star at the back. Filip Kostic – one of the outstanding talents behind Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2021-22 Europa League success and a summer signing for Juventus – is effective as a left wing-back or as a left winger, and veteran Ajax attacking midfielder Dusan Tadic remains hugely influential. Tadic turns 34 during the World Cup but he topped the Eredivisie assists chart with 19 last season and may still have time to leave a major mark on the international stage.

Serbia are in a tough group and could go home early, but they also have the potential to reach the quarter-final. It’s a team who Have often struggled to realise their potential on the big stage.

After seeing Argentina’s defeat in the opening game against Saudi Arabia, I’m sure that Brazil will make a strong start of the tournament showing why they are the main title contenders. Serbia will set up to hit them on the counter, but Brazil has the quality needed at the back, in the midfield and upfront to beat Serbia, who although is a fast-improving team, are several steps below a team who has in my opinion, is the most talented squad in the tournament by far.

URUGUAY - SOUTH KOREA

For me Uruguay are the favorites to qualify as leaders in this group.

They were off the pace set by Brazil and Argentina in South American qualifying, but new manager Diego Alonso appears to have installed some optimism ahead of the World Cup finals. Alonso took over from veteran Oscar Tabarez, who was in charge for 15 years. Alonso has won 7 of his nine games at the helm.

In the previous World Cup they lost in quarter finals against the eventual winners France, but was another strong showing from Uruguay, who has reached at least the quarter finals in two of the last three World Cups.

Few nations in Qatar will be as experienced with Fernando Muslera, Diego Godin, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani sporting 559 caps between them. And they are supported by some exciting younger players, most notably Liverpool’s Darwin Nuñez and Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde. They boast three formidable striking options, and Fede Valverde has been one of the best players in world football this season.

Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur and Roma man Matias Vecino provide balance in midfield while stalwarts Godin and Jose Gimenez marshal the defence.

New boss Diego Alonso has brought about an improvement in fortunes after Tabarez’s departure and another run to the last eight is eminently possible for a squad who are heading to Qatar with a nice blend of youth and experience.

On the other hand, South Korea has very few chances here. They have reached the knockout stage only once in the last four attempts.

Their star Heung-Min Son had a strong 2021-22 season for Tottenham, sharing the Premier League Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah on 23 goals. However, a fracture around his left eye required surgery just weeks before the finals to leave the Spurs forward arriving in Qatar as a huge injury doubt.

The majority of Son’s teammates play their league football domestically but there are some European-based talents outside Son in their 26. Beyond Son, there is a lack of star quality.

The most progressive of those is 23-year-old Woo- Yeong Jeong, who played a key role last season for Freiburg, with five goals in 32 league games. Napoli’s Min-Jae Kim has been an integral part of one the best defences in Europe this season and Wolves’s Hee- Chan Hwang is also likely to play a large part in any Taegeuk Warriors success.

South Korea’s Under-20s finished runners-up in the 2019 World Cup but only three from that squad have made full international appearances. Given the ease with which they qualified, Paulo Bento’s side have not faced any top- level opposition for a while and were soundly beaten 5-1 by Brazil in June when they did. They come up short against top-level opposition in the last 12 months.

This step up in class may catch them out and progress to the knockout stages looks unlikely, particularly if star man Son is not at full strength.

Uruguay should be able to beat this weak South Korean side and fight for the 1st position with Portugal.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

巴西-塞尔维亚

巴西队在这里应该会轻松取胜。

人们对巴西的期望总是很高，夺冠热门球队将面临巨大的压力，以达到他们在这个冬天的明星水平。蒂特的球队在预选赛中表现平平，但在2021年的美洲杯上却未能如愿，在2018年的俄罗斯世界杯上也未能令人信服，他们在1 / 4决赛中1 - 2不敌比利时。

在上两届世界杯前，内马尔被标榜为巴西队的护身术，但最近几个赛季他一直在与伤病作斗争，在俱乐部层面上，他被姆巴佩盖过了风头。同为攻击手的理查利森和加布里埃尔·热苏斯都是天才球员，拥有丰富的国家队经验，而热苏斯在转会阿森纳后取得了很大的进步。他的进步，加上后起之秀小维尼修斯和加布里埃尔·马蒂内利的影响，使巴西的进攻平衡比4年前更好。他们通常可以依靠在后场保持严密。

蒂亚戈·席尔瓦虽然年事已高，但在后卫线上依然表现出色(仍然是一名优秀的球员和鼓舞人心的领袖)，卡塞米罗和法比尼奥是顶尖的控球中场，无论谁能在阿里森和埃德森这两位世界级门将之间得到认可，都将在进球方面产生巨大的质量。

许多成功的球队都是建立在坚实的防守基础上取得成就的，但人们总是期望巴西队踢出有风格的比赛，这是他们在最近几届世界杯上的失败。

另一方面，塞尔维亚极有可能与瑞士争夺第二名的位置。

他们以领先葡萄牙队3分的成绩出线，令人印象深刻。在里斯本的最后一个比赛日，他们以2-1的比分落后葡萄牙队。米特罗维奇拥有一粒致胜进球的英雄，但他甚至可能无法保证在卡塔尔获得首发席位。

塞尔维亚中锋的选择包括尤文图斯前锋杜桑·弗拉霍维奇，他在最近两届意甲联赛中打进了45球，还有佛罗伦萨的目标人物卢卡·约维奇，他在皇马未能获得主力位置后，今夏转会佛罗伦萨。虽然塞尔维亚令人印象深刻的前锋阵容吸引了眼球，但球队的其他领域也有很多高质量的球员。

后防线的选择包括左后卫米哈伊洛·里斯蒂奇，他吸引了足够的眼球，在夏天从蒙彼利埃转会到本菲卡，以及全能后卫尼古拉·米伦科维奇，他是佛罗伦萨的固定球员。不管怎样，他们缺少一名真正的球星。菲利普-科斯蒂奇是法兰克福队在2021-22赛季欧联杯取得成功的杰出天才之一，他在夏天被尤文图斯签下。科斯蒂奇作为左边后卫或左边锋都很有效力，而阿贾克斯的老将攻击型中场杜山-塔迪奇仍然有着巨大的影响力。塔迪奇在世界杯期间将年满34岁，但他上赛季以19次助攻荣登埃尔德维西队助攻榜榜首，他可能还有时间在国际舞台上留下重要的印记。

塞尔维亚正处于一个艰难的小组，可能会提前回家，但他们也有潜力进入1 / 4决赛。这是一支经常在大舞台上努力实现自己潜力的球队。

在看到阿根廷首战败给沙特阿拉伯后，我确信巴西将在本届杯赛中有一个强劲的开局，证明他们为什么是冠军的主要竞争者。塞尔维亚将准备反击，但巴西在后场、中场和前场都有能力击败塞尔维亚，尽管塞尔维亚是一支进步很快的球队，但在我看来，塞尔维亚是本届杯赛迄今为止最有天赋的球队。

乌拉圭-韩国

在我看来，乌拉圭最有希望成为小组头名。

他们在南美预选赛中落后于巴西和阿根廷，但新教练迭戈·阿隆索似乎在世界杯决赛圈前树立了一些乐观情绪。阿隆索接替了老将奥斯卡塔瓦雷斯，塔瓦雷斯负责了15年。阿隆索在他的9场比赛中赢得了7场胜利。

在上一届世界杯上，他们在1 / 4决赛中输给了最终夺冠的法国队，但乌拉圭的表现又一次强劲，在过去三届世界杯中，乌拉圭两次至少进入了1 / 4决赛。

很少有国家能像费尔南多·穆萨雷拉、迭戈·戈丁、路易斯·苏亚雷斯和艾丁森·卡瓦尼这样经验丰富，他们一共参加了559场比赛。他们还得到了一些令人兴奋的年轻球员的支持，最著名的是利物浦的达尔文Nuñez和皇家马德里的费德·巴尔韦德。他们拥有三个强大的前锋选择，费德·巴尔韦德是本赛季世界足坛最好的球员之一。

热刺的本坦科尔和罗马的维奇诺在中场保持平衡，而稳固的戈丁和希门尼斯则是后防线的主将。

在塔瓦雷斯离开后，新教练迭戈·阿隆索给球队带来了转机，对于这支年轻又有经验的球队来说，再次闯入八强是极有可能的。

另一方面，韩国在这里几乎没有机会。在过去四次尝试中，他们只有一次进入淘汰赛阶段。

他们的球星孙兴慜在2021-22赛季为热刺队打出了出色的表现，以23粒进球与穆罕默德·萨拉赫共同获得英超金靴。然而，就在决赛前几周，他左眼周围的骨折需要手术，这使得这位马刺前锋抵达卡塔尔的时候存在巨大的伤病问题。

孙兴慜的大部分队友都在国内联赛踢球，但在26名球员中，除了孙兴慜之外，也有一些来自欧洲的天才。除了孙兴慜，还缺少明星气质。

其中最进步的是23岁的禹永贞，他上赛季在弗莱堡队扮演了关键角色，在32场联赛中打进5球。那不勒斯的金珉在是本赛季欧洲最好的防线之一的重要组成部分，狼队的黄希灿也很可能在太极勇士的胜利中扮演重要角色。

韩国u20青年队在2019年世界杯上获得亚军，但这支球队中只有3人参加了全部国际比赛。考虑到出线的轻松，保罗·本托的球队已经有一段时间没有遇到任何顶级对手了，他们在6月份被巴西队以5-1完胜。在过去12个月里，他们在面对顶级对手时捉襟作肘。

这一级别的提升可能会让他们落后，进入淘汰赛看起来不太可能，特别是如果明星球员孙兴慜没有达到最佳状态。

乌拉圭队应该能够击败这支弱小的韩国队，和葡萄牙一起争夺第一名。