We are into the second week of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar and there are some enticing ties in store on Monday with Brazil back in action in Group G after their opening victory against Serbia, while an interesting match-up between Portugal and Uruguay lies in store in Group H.
With four games in action, here is everything you need to know about Monday’s matches.
Cameroon v Serbia - Group G
Where: Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah
When: 10am (GMT) / 1pm (AST)
TV: ITV1, STV and ITV Hub
Last meeting: Serbia 4-3 Cameroon (Belgrade, 2010)
Cameroon’s last result: Lost 1-0 v Switzerland
Serbia’s last result: Lost 2-0 v Brazil
Cameroon squad: 1 Simon Ngapandouetnbu , 2 Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, 3 NicolasNkoulou, 4 Christopher Wooh, 5 Gael Ondoua, 6 Moumi Ngamaleu, 7 Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, 8 Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, 9 Jean-Pierre Nsame, 10 Vincent Aboubakar, 11 Christian Bassogog, 12 Karl Toko Ekambi, 13 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, 14 Samuel Gouet, 15 Pierre Kunde, 16 Devis Epassy, 17 Olivier Mbaizo, 18 Martin Hongla, 19 Collins Fai, 20 Bryan Mbeumo, 21 Jean-Charles Castelletto, 22 Olivier Ntcham, 23 Andre Onana, 24 Enzo Ebosse, 25 Nouhou Tolo, 26 Souaibou Marou
Serbia squad: 1 Marko Dmitrovic, 2 Strahinja Pavlovic, 3 Strahinja Erakovic, 4 Nikola Milenkovic, 5 Milos Veljkovic, 6 Nemanja Maksimovic, 7 Nemanja Radonjic, 8 Nemanja Gudelj, 9 Aleksandar Mitrovic, 10 Dusan Tadic, 11 Luka Jovic, 12 Predrag Rajkovic, 13 Stefan Mitrovic, 14 Andrija Zivkovic, 15 Srdan Babic, 16 Sasa Lukic, 17 Filip Kostic, 18 Dușan Vlahovic, 19 Uros Racic, 20 Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, 21 Filip Duricic, 22 Darko Lazovic, 23 Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, 24 Ivan Ilic, 25 Filip Mladenovic, 26 Marko Grujic
Preview: Cameroon will be disappointed with their flat performance against Switzerland last time out but they will be thankful that they were beaten by just one goal as the Swiss could’ve easily scored more. Cameroon looked devoid of ideas in the final third and they will need to come out all guns blazing against Serbia or they risk an early exit from the tournament.
The same goes for Serbia who despite a valiant effort, couldn’t keep out the ruthless Richarlison for Brazil in matchday one. We were given glimpses of how they can operate when they are on the break and they will need to take their opportunities against Cameroon to still give themselves a chance of qualification.
Sportsman stat: Serbia have lost eight of their 10 World Cup games as an independent nation (80%), the highest loss percentage of any side to have played at least 10 games in the competition
Betfred match odds: Cameroon 4/1, Serbia 8/11, draw 11/4
Favourites for first goalscorer: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia) 11/4, Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia) 7/2, Luka Jovic (Serbia) 9/2
Featured bet: Serbia and over 2.5 goals 7/4
To qualify from Group G: Cameroon 14/1, Serbia 11/8
South Korea v Ghana - Group H
Where: Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
When: 1pm (GMT) / 4pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
Last meeting: Ghana 4-0 (Miami, 2014)
South Korea’s last result: Drew 0-0 against Uruguay
Ghana’s last result: Lost 3-2 against Portugal
South Korea squad: 1 Kim Seung-gyu, 2 Yoon Jong-gyu, 3 Kim Jin-su, 4 Kim Min-jae, 5 Jung Woo-yung, 6 Hwang In-beom, 7 Son Heung-min, 8 Paik Seung-ho, 9 Cho Gue-sung, 10 Lee Jae-sung, 11 Hwang Hee-chan, 12 Song Bum-keun, 13 Son Jun-ho, 14 Hong Chul, 15 Kim Moon-hwan, 16 Hwang Ui-jo, 17 Na Sang-ho, 18 Lee Kang-in, 19 Kim Young-gwon, 20 Kwon Kyung-won, 21 Jo Hyeon-woo, 22 Kwon Chang-hoon, 23 Kim Tae-hwan, 24 Cho Yu-min, 25 Jeong Woo-yeong, 26 Song Min-kyu
Ghana squad: 1 Lawrence Ani-Zigi, 2 Tariq Lamptey, 3 Denis Odoi, 4 Mohammed Salisu, 5 Thomas Partey, 6 Elisha Owusu, 7 Abdul Fatawa Issahaku, 8 Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, 9 Jordan Ayew, 10 Andre Ayew, 11 Osman Bukari, 12 Ibrahim Danlad, 13 Daniel Afriyie, 14 Gideon Mensah, 15 Joseph Aidoo, 16 Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, 17 Baba Rahman, 18 Daniel Amartey, 19 Inaki Williams, 20 Mohammed Kudus, 21 Salis Abdul Samed, 22 Kamaldeen Sulemana, 23 Alexander Djiku, 24 Kamal Sowah, 25 Antoine Semenyo, 26 Alidu Seidu
Preview: South Korea gave a great account of themselves against Uruguay in their tournament opener. They were organised, disciplined and looked a threat on the attack. They certainly gave Uruguay a run for their money and were rewarded with a hard-fought point which could prove crucial come the end of the group stage.
Ghana put up a fight against Portugal but it was not enough as they lost 3-2 on Thursday. The Black Stars will always look back and think what might have been when Inaki Williams slipped at the moment he could have pinched the ball from goalkeeper Diogo Costa to score and perhaps earn his nation a vital point. They’ve shown they can score goals and they will need to get off the mark against Ghana or their World Cup journey could come to an abrupt end.
Sportsman stat: South Korea have scored exactly twice in each of their three World Cup meetings with African nations, beating Tonga 2-1 in 2006, drawing 2-2 with Nigeria in 2010, and losing 4-2 to Algeria in 2014.
Betfred match odds: South Korea 8/5, Ghana 2/1, draw 21/10
Favourites for first goalscorer: Son Heung-min (South Korea) 7/2, Hwang Ui-jo (South Korea) 5/1, Inaki Williams (Ghana) 5/1
Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals 11/8
To qualify from Group H: South Korea 7/4, Ghana 6/1
Brazil v Switzerland - Group G
Where: Stadium 974, Doha
When: 4pm (GMT) / 7pm (AST)
TV: ITV1, STV and ITV Hub
Last meeting: Brazil 1-1 Switzerland (Rostov, 2018 World Cup)
Brazil’s last result: Won 2-0 v Serbia
Switzerland’s last result: Won 1-0 v Cameroon
Brazil squad: 1 Alisson, 2 Danilo, 3 Thiago Silva, 4 Marquinhos, 5 Casemiro, 6 Alex Sandro, 7 Lucas Paqueta, 8 Fred, 9 Richarlison, 10 Neymar, 11 Raphinha, 12 Weverton, 13 Dani Alves, 14 Eder Militao, 15 Fabinho, 16 Alex Telles, 17 Bruno Guimaraes, 18 Gabriel Jesus, 20 Vinicius Jr, 21 Rodrygo, 22 Everton Ribeiro, 23 Ederson, 24 Bremer, 25 Pedro, 26 Gabriel Martinelli
Switzerland’s squad: 1 Yann Sommer, 2 Edimilson Fernandes, 3 Silvan Widmer, 4 Nico Elvedi, 5 Manuel Akanji, 6 Denis Zakaria, 7 Brezel Embolo, 8 Remo Freuler, 9 Haris Seferovic, 10 Granit Xhaka, 11 Renato Steffen, 12 Jonas Omlin, 13 Ricardo Rodriguez, 14 Michel Aebischer, 15 Djibril Sow, 16 Christian Fassnacht, 17 Ruben Vargas, 18 Eray Comert, 19 Noah Okafor, 20 Fabian Frei, 21 Gregor Kobel, 22 Fabian Schar, 23 Xherdan Shaqiri, 24 Philipp Kohn, 25 Fabian Rieder, 26 Ardon Jashari
Preview: Brazil flaunted their attacking quality last time out in their victory over Serbia and Richarlison showed his importance to this side with a brace. A victory against the Swiss will book their place in the knockout stages but they have suffered a minor blow with Neymar being ruled out of their next two fixtures with an ankle injury.
Switzerland will be pleased with their positive start to the World Cup after they beat Cameroon on matchday one. Cameroon-born Breel Embolo was the match-winner and he is arguably the Swiss’ most important player because of the pace and physical presence he offers up front. Manager Murat Yakin will know that he might need a different game plan to try and handle Brazil but he heads into the match knowing what a positive result can do for their hopes.
Betfred match odds: Brazil 1/2, Switzerland 6/1, draw 10/3
Favourites for first goalscorer: Richarlison (Brazil) 3/1, Gabriel Jesus (Brazil) 10/3, Pedro (Brazil) 7/2
Featured bet: Over 2.5 Brazil goals 2/1
To qualify from Group G: Brazil 1/200, Switzerland 4/7
Portugal v Uruguay - Group H
Where: Lusail Stadium, Lusail
When: 7pm (GMT) / 10pm (AST)
TV: ITV1, STV and ITV Hub
Last meeting: Uruguay 2-1 Portugal (Sochi, 2018 World Cup)
Portugal’s last result: Won 3-2 v Ghana
Uruguay’s last result: Drew 0-0 v South Korea
Portugal squad: 1 Rui Patricio, 2 Diogo Dalot, 3 Pepe, 4 Ruben Dias, 5 Raphael Guerreiro, 6 Joao Palhinha, 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, 8 Bruno Fernandes, 9 Andre Silva, 10 Bernardo Silva, 11 Joao Felix, 12 Jose Sa, 13 Danilo Pereira, 14 William Carvalho, 15 Rafael Leao, 16 Vitinha, 17 Joao Mario, 18 Ruben Neves, 19 Nuno Mendes, 20 Joao Cancelo, 21 Ricardo Horta, 22 Diogo Costa, 23 Matheus Nunes, 24 Antonio Silva, 25 Otavio, 26 Goncalo Ramos
Uruguay squad: 1 Fernando Muslera, 2 Jose Gimenez, 3 Diego Godin, 4 Ronald Araujo, 5 Matias Vecino, 6 Rodrigio Bentancur, 7 Nicolas de la Cruz, 8 Facundo Pellestri, 9 Luis Suarez, 10 Giorgian de Arrascaeta, 11 Darwin Nunez, 12 Sebastian Sosa, 13 Guillermo Varela, 14 Lucas Torreira, 15 Federico Valverde, 16 Mathias Olivera, 17 Matias Vina, 18 Maxi Gomez, 19 Sebastian Coates, 20 Facundo Torres, 21 Edinson Cavani, 22 Martin Caceres, 23 Sergio Rochet, 24 Agustin Canobbio, 25 Manuel Ugarte, 26 Jose Luis Rodriguez
Preview: Portugal could seal their place in the round of 16 with a victory over Uruguay. They managed to hold off a fight from Ghana last time out and there were times where their attacking players linked up really well. They are only going to improve as a collective as the tournament progresses. They will face another tough test against Uruguay but if their attackers are as clinical as they were last time out, they could get the result they’re after.
As for Uruguay, they showed glimpses of their quality against South Korea but they were left frustrated by the Asian side’s defensive structure. They will be aware of the attacking threat Portugal possess, but they have explosive talent of their own and to put them in the best position for qualifying. A victory here could be crucial.
Sportsman stat: This is the second World Cup meeting between these sides with Uruguay eliminating Portugal at the group stage in Russia four years ago.
Betfred match odds: Portugal EVS, Uruguay 3/1, draw 12/5
Favourites for first goalscorer: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 10/3, Andre Silva (Portugal) 4/1, Goncalo Ramos (Portugal) 9/2
Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals 11/10
To qualify from Group H: Portugal 1/20, Uruguay 8/15
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
