World Cup 2022 Previews: Groups G + H
Can a 2018 rehash go the same way for the World No. 1? Will Ronaldo's last ride go his way?
Today is our fourth and final group preview as part of our wider coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Keep an eye out for a World Cup predictor competition on the 19th, and as matches get underway on the 20th of November, we’ll get you coverage from the group stage midpoint and the end of every subsequent stage.
World Cup posting schedule:
November 15: Group A + B Preview
November 16: Group C + D Preview
November 17: Group E + F Preview
November 18: Group G + H Preview
November 19: World Cup Pick ‘em Contest
November 26: Group Stage Halfway
December 3: Round of 16 Preview
December 8: Round of 8 Preview
December 12: Semifinals Preview
December 16: Final/Third Place Preview
All ranks in parentheses from the most recent edition of the FIFA World Rankings dated October 6, 2022.
Group G
Brazil [BRA] (1)
Serbia [SRB] (21)
Switzerland [SUI] (15)
Cameroon [CMR] (43)
Schedule
11/24 | BRA-SRB, SUI-CMR
11/28 | BRA-SUI, CMR-SRB
12/2 | CMR-BRA, SRB-SUI
Squads
Brazil
Fixtures: Serbia (Nov. 24), Switzerland (Nov. 28), Cameroon (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Alisson, Ederson, Weverton.
Defenders: Dani Alves, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Alex Telles, Bremer, Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva.
Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes, Casemiro, Everton Ribeiro, Fabinho, Fred, Lucas Paqueta.
Attackers: Antony, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Neymar, Pedro, Raphinha, Richarlison, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior.
Serbia
Fixtures: Brazil (Nov. 24), Cameroon (Nov. 28), Switzerland (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrovic, Predrag Rajkovic, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
Defenders: Stefan Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Milos Veljkovic, Filip Mladenovic, Strahinja Erakovic, Srdjan Babic
Midfielders: Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Sasa Lukic, Marko Grujic, Filip Kostic, Uros Racic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Ivan Ilic, Andrija Zivkovic, Darko Lazovic
Forwards: Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Djuricic, Luka Jovic, Nemanja Radonjic
Switzerland
Fixtures: Cameroon (Nov. 24), Brazil (Nov. 28), Serbia (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel, Yann Sommer, Jonas Omlin, Philipp Kohn
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Eray Comert, Nico Elvedi, Fabian Schar, Silvan Widmer, Ricardo Rodriguez, Edimilson Fernandes
Midfielders: Michel Aebischer, Xherdan Shaqiri, Renato Steffen, Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Fabian Frei, Remo Freuler, Noah Okafor, Fabian Rieder, Ardon Jashari
Forwards: Breel Embolo, Ruben Vargas, Djibril Sow, Haris Seferovic, Christian Fassnacht
Cameroon
Fixtures: Switzerland (Nov. 24), Serbia (Nov. 28), Brazil (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Andre Onana, Devis Epassy, Simon Ngapandouetnbu
Defenders: Jean-Charles Castelletto, Enzo Ebosse, Collins Fai, Olivier Mbaizo, Nouhou Tolo, Nicolas Nkoulou, Christopher Wooh
Midfielders: Olivier Ntcham, Gael Ondoua, Martin Hongla, Pierre Kunde, Samuel Oum Gouet, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Jerome Ngom
Forwards: Nicolas Ngamaleu, Christian Bassogog, Bryan Mbeumo, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Jean-Pierre Nsame, Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko-Ekambi, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Souaibou Marou
The Group
Top-ranked Brazil is back again, hoping to have another strong campaign. Interestingly, this group serves as one hell of a reunion party: 2018’s Group E contained three of these four teams. The fourth, Cameroon, swapped in for Costa Rica - but in any case, that’s quite the little quirk. I don’t believe we’ve had this much carryover between groups before like this.
I think the obvious answer here is that Brazil goes through. They’re top for a reason, and though the rankings don’t always explain true quality, I think it does enough to establish a clear difference here for a squad that is insanely deep, more than maybe anyone else in the competition.
I have faith in Cameroon to outdo expectations here, and I think they’ll go through to the next round, followed by Serbia just missing out and Switzerland coming home fourth.
Group H
Portugal [POR] (9)
Ghana [GHA] (61)
Uruguay [URU] (14)
South Korea [KOR] (28)
Schedule
11/24 | POR-GHA, URU-KOR
11/28 | POR-URU, KOR-GHA
12/2 | KOR-POR, GHA-URU
Squads
Portugal
Fixtures: Ghana (Nov. 24), Uruguay (Nov. 28), South Korea (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa, Jose Sa, Rui Patricio
Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Joao Cancelo, Danilo Pereira, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva, Nuno Mendes, Raphael Guerreiro
Midfielders: Joao Palhinha, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Mario, Matheus Nunes, Vitinha, William Carvalho, Otavio
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Ricardo Horta, Goncalo Ramos, Andre Silva
Ghana
Fixtures: Portugal (Nov. 24), South Korea (Nov. 28), Uruguay (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Lawrence Ati, Danlad Ibrahim, Manaf Nurudeen
Defenders: Joseph Aidoo, Daniel Amartey, Baba Rahman, Alexander Djiku, Tariq Lamptey, Gideon Mensah, Denis Odoi, Mohammed Salisu, Alidu Seidu
Midfielders: Andre Ayew, Mohammed Kudus, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, Elisha Owusu, Thomas Partey, Salis Abdul Samed
Forwards: Daniel Afriyie, Jordan Ayew, Osman Bukari, Issahaku Abdul Fatawu, Antoine Semenyo, Kamal Sowah, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Inaki Williams
Uruguay
Fixtures: South Korea (Nov. 24), Portugal (Nov. 28), Ghana (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera, Sergio Rochet, Sebastian Sosa
Defenders: Ronald Araujo, Sebastian Coates, Martin Caceres, Guillermo Varela, Matias Vina, Mathias Olivera, Jose Maria Gimenez, Diego Godin, Jose Luis Rodríguez
Midfielders: Lucas Torreira, Matias Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Ugarte, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Nicolas de la Cruz, Federico Valverde , Facundo Pellistri, Agustin Canobbio, Facundo Torres
Forwards: Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez, Maximiliano Gomez, Edinson Cavani
South Korea
Fixtures: Uruguay (Nov. 24), Ghana (Nov. 28), Portugal (Dec. 2)
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-Gyu, Jo Hyeon-Woo, Song Bum-Keun
Defenders: Kim Min-Jae, Kim Young-Gwon, Kwon Kyung-Won, Cho Yu-Min, Kim Moon-Hwan, Yoon Jong-Gyu, Kim Tae-Hwan, Kim Jin-Su, Hong Chul
Midfielders: Jung Woo-Young, Son Jun-Ho, Paik Seung-Ho, Hwang In-Beom, Lee Jae-Sung, Kwon Chang-Hoon, Jeong Woo-Yeong, Lee Kang-In, Son Heung-Min, Hwang Hee-Chan, Na Sang-Ho, Song Min-Kyu.
Forwards: Hwang Ui-Jo, Cho Gue-Sung.
The Group
Up and down here. Ghana is the “minnow” of the tournament, colloquially speaking, but they’ve also been remarkably consistent, and ruling them out doesn’t seem like the smart play, despite a strong, strong group. Here’s another case where a top seed could find itself getting toppled - Portugal, strong as they may be, seems a bit of a paper tiger, and I’m intrigued to see who might capitalize.
I’m calling it as follows: Uruguay wins the group, with Ghana second. They’ll split with Korea, but go through on goal difference, and I think Portugal is gonna swing home bottom here. Despite the talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s but one man, and soccer is a game of 11 v 11. Far too many pieces at play for one person to establish dominance the way the Portuguese need.
And so we’ve reached the end… of the group stage previews. We’ll check back in around the halfway point, more or less, to see how things have gone. In the meantime, look out for our prediction contest, which will go live tomorrow, the 19th. Matches begin on the 20th. Enjoy the games!