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#4 Serbia
Serbia do not strike one as a typical plucky underdog. One of their centre-backs Branislav Ivanovic is a Premier League legend who won every English and European trophy there is to win while playing for Chelsea.
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Their midfield heartbeat is Nemanja Matic, a player in his prime who has played for two of Europe’s biggest clubs in Chelsea and Manchester United. They have one of Europe’s biggest talents in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. They also include players from European giants like Liverpool, Benfica, Roma and Villareal.
Despite this incredible talent, what made Serbia underdogs was their rather tough group. They had pre-tournament favourites Brazil, an experienced yet talented Swiss side and a doughty Costa Rican team that had shocked the world in 2014. Serbia started their tournament with a narrow yet convincing 1-0 win over Costa Rica.
Their dream start continued as Alexander Mitrovic gave them the lead against Switzerland. The Serbians expertly used their height advantage against the shorter but more talented Swiss as they created chance after chance.
Unfortunately for the Balkan team, the Swiss bounced back with an absolute peach of a goal from Granit Xhaka. Nonetheless, the Serbians did not choose to wilt under the pressure of a brilliant Swiss squad. They continued to attack and probably should have had a penalty as Mitrovic was wrestled to the ground. However, their eagerness to get the winner cost them as a counter-attack left their ageing defence exposed, allowing Xherdan Shaqiri to score the winner.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Serbs as a victory would have guaranteed them a spot in the Round of 16. All they needed after that loss was a victory against Brazil- easy enough right? Despite the enormous task in front of them, Serbia again put on a brave fight as they looked for a goal against the Selecao. It was not to be as goals from Coutinho and Thiago Silva doomed Serbia to an early exit. It was not to be for the Serbians and the World Cup has lost one of its most unique teams.
