Serbia World Cup squad 2022: All projected 26 players on Serbian national football team roster

 

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Serbia have established themselves as a solid World Cup force since 2010, with Qatar 2022 representing their third appearance from the last four tournaments.

Dragan Stojkovic also becomes the third manager to lead them at a World Cup as their reputation for sacking coaches shows little sign of slowing down.

Serbia impressed during qualification, finishing top of Group A ahead of Portugal. However, they face a battle to make it out of Group G at the tournament, with seasoned campaigners Switzerland and Cameroon aiming to challenge for a last-16 spot, in behind Brazil.

MORE: World Cup Group G: Serbia, Brazil, Cameroon and Switzerland in profile 

Projected Serbia World Cup squad 2022

Stojkovic will have until Friday, October 21 to submit an official preliminary list of 35-55 players to FIFA, from which he will select a final 26-man roster for Qatar by Monday, November 14.

Based on World Cup qualifying squads and friendly rosters over the past year, these are the names most likely to be on his preliminary list.

Position Player Club Age Caps Goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic Sevilla (SPA) 30 19 Goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic Torino (ITA) 25 6 Goalkeeper Marko Ilic Kortrijk (BEL)  24 1 Goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic Roma (ITA) 26 28 Defender Stefan Mitrovic Getafe (SPA) 32 34 Defender Strahinja Pavlovic RB Salzburg (AUS) 21 21 Defender Milos Veljkovic Werder Bremen (GER) 27 21 Defender Filip Mladenovic Legia Warsaw (POL) 31 19 Defender Aleksa Terzic Fiorentina (ITA) 23 5 Defender Srdan Babic Almeria (SPA) 26 2 Defender Erhan Masovic VfL Bochum (GER) 23 2 Defender Strahinja Erakovic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 21 1 Defender Nikola Milenkovic Fiorentina (ITA) 25 37 Defender Matija Nastasic Mallorca (SPA) 29 34 Defender Uros Spajic Kasimpasa (TUR) 29 20 Defender Marko Petkovic Honved (HUN) 30 4 Defender Mihailo Ristic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 26 9 Defender Milan Gajic CSKA Moscow (RUS) 26 1 Defender Nemanja Milunovic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 33 4 Defender Svetozar Markovic Partizan Belgrade (SER) 22 0 Defender Slobodan Urosevic Partizan Belgrade (SER) 28 3 Defender Milan Rodic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 31 7 Midfielder Dusan Tadic Ajax (NED) 33 90 Midfielder Filip Kostic Juventus (ITA) 29 50 Midfielder Stefan Mitrovic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 20 1 Midfielder Nemanja Maksimovic Getafe (SPA) 27 39 Midfielder Nemanja Radonjic Torino (ITA)  26 36 Midfielder Filip Duricic Sampdoria (ITA) 30 36 Midfielder Sasa Lukic Torino (ENG) 26 32 Midfielder Andrija Zivkovic PAOK (GRE) 26 28 Midfielder Darko Lazovic Verona (ITA) 32 25 Midfielder Lazar Samardzic Udinese (ITA) 20 0 Midfielder Sasa Zdjelar 27 3 Midfielder Mijat Gacinovic AEK Athens (GRE) 27 23 Midfielder Darko Brasanac Osasuna (SPA) 30 3 Midfielder Mihajlo Banjac Krasnodar (RUS) 22 0 Midfielder Ivan Ilic Verona (ITA) 21 5 Midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic Lazio (ITA) 27 35 Midfielder Nemandja Gudelj Sevilla (SPA 30 48 Midfielder Marko Grujic Porto (POR) 26 17 Midfielder Uros Racic Braga (POR) 24 9 Midfielder Veljko Birmancevic Toulouse (FRA) 24 3 Forward Aleksandar Katai Red Star Belgrade (SER) 31 10 Forward Lazar Randelovic Ural Yekaterinburg (RUS) 25 1 Forward Nemanja Jovic Partizan Belgrade (SER) 20 2 Forward Aleksandar Mitrovic Fulham (ENG) 28 76 Forward Luka Jovic Fiorentina (ITA) 24 28 Forward Dejan Joveljic LA Galaxy (USA) 23 2 Forward Djorde Jovanovic Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) 23 1 Forward Danijel Aleksic Basaksehir (TUR) 31 2 Forward Aleksandar Pesic Red Star Belgrade (SER) 30 1 Forward Dorde Despotovic Arsenal Tula (RUS) 30 0 Forward Dusan Vlahovic Juventus (ITA) 22 16 Final 26-man Serbia World Cup roster

Serbia face a real challenge in their curtain raiser in Qatar, up against Brazil on November 24, but first they'll play one final friendly against Bahrain on November 18.

Here's a projected look at who could conceivably make it onto the plane, assuming everyone is fit and available.

Position Player Club Age Caps Goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic Sevilla (SPA) 30 19 Goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic Torino (ITA) 25 6 Goalkeeper Marko Ilic Kortrijk (BEL)  24 1 Defender Stefan Mitrovic Getafe (SPA) 32 34 Defender Strahinja Pavlovic RB Salzburg (AUS) 21 21 Defender Milos Veljkovic Werder Bremen (GER) 27 21 Defender Filip Mladenovic Legia Warsaw (POL) 31 19 Defender Aleksa Terzic Fiorentina (ITA) 23 5 Defender Srdan Babic Almeria (SPA) 26 2 Defender Nikola Milenkovic Fiorentina (ITA) 25 37 Defender Matija Nastasic Mallorca (SPA) 29 34 Midfielder Dusan Tadic Ajax (NED) 33 90 Midfielder Filip Kostic Juventus (ITA) 29 50 Midfielder Nemanja Maksimovic Getafe (SPA 27 39 Midfielder Nemanja Radonjic Torino (ITA)  26 36 Midfielder Filip Duricic Sampdoria (ITA) 30 36 Midfielder Sasa Lukic Torino (ENG) 26 32 Midfielder Andrija Zivkovic PAOK (GRE) 26 28 Midfielder Darko Lazovic Verona (ITA) 32 25 Midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic Lazio (ITA) 27 35 Midfielder Nemandja Gudelj Sevilla (SPA) 30 48 Midfielder Marko Grujic Porto (POR) 26 17 Midfielder Uros Racic Braga (POR) 24 9 Forward Aleksandar Mitrovic Fulham (ENG) 28 76 Forward Luka Jovic Fiorentina (ITA) 24 28 Forward Dusan Vlahovic Juventus (ITA) 22 16 Serbia best player, strengths & weaknesses

All eyes will be on Aleksandar Mitrovic to spearhead Serbia's World Cup challenge, with the experienced striker one of the highest international goal scorers on display in Qatar.

The Fulham star will be key for Serbia, as his goals has often decided their fate, but Stojkovic is well stocked in midfield, with Nemanja Gudelj and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic forming a strong pairing.

Stars

Mitrovic will gather the bulk of the attention in Qatar but his attacking partners represent an ever brighter future than him.

Luka Jovic is starting to resurrect his career in Serie A, following a nightmare at Real Madrid, with Juventus star Dusan Vlahovic one of the most potent strikers in Italian football right now.

Weaknesses

There will be a lot of pressure on Milinkovic-Savic to lead Serbia's midfield, but the Lazio star has struggled to transfer his club form into the international sphere previously, and there is a notable lack of mobility in behind him.

Serbia World Cup group

Brazil look well placed to ease out of Group G, and on into the knockout stages, leaving a likely three-way battle for the other last-16 place.

There is little to separate Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon, based on experience, but they will all be confident of having an edge.

Serbia Group G fixtures and match schedule Date Match Time (ET) Stadium Thurs, Nov. 24 Brazil vs. Serbia 2 p.m. Lusail Stadium Mon, Nov. 28 Cameroon vs. Serbia 5 a.m. Al Janoub Stadium Fri, Dec. 2 Serbia vs. Switzerland 2 p.m. Stadium 974 Can Serbia replace players on World Cup roster?

Once the final 26-man roster is official, participating teams at the World Cup can only make changes before the first game of the tournament, and only in the case of extraordinary circumstances.

According to the official tournament rules, "a player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury or illness up until 24 hours before the start of his team's first match."

The team in question would need to submit a medical report to FIFA and if the world governing body determines "the injury or illness is sufficiently serious to prevent the player from taking part in the FIFA World Cup" then the replacement will be allowed. 

The replacement player must come from the preliminary list of players submitted to FIFA in October.