Soccer-Vinicius Jr. to start for Brazil against Serbia

Tite will unleash Vinicius alongside Neymar, Richarlison and Raphinha, with only two genuine midfielders in Lucas Paqueta and Casemiro as Brazil begin their quest for a record-extending sixth World Cup trophy. Serbia, who were sweating on Aleksandar Mitrovic's availability due to an ankle injury, named their leading striker in the starting line-up.

(Adds details) LUSAIL, Qatar, Nov 24 (Reuters) -

Brazil coach Tite opted to start Vinicius Jr. in a four-man attack for their World Cup Group G opener against Serbia on Thursday. Tite will unleash Vinicius alongside Neymar, Richarlison and Raphinha, with only two genuine midfielders in Lucas Paqueta and Casemiro as Brazil begin their quest for a record-extending sixth World Cup trophy.

Serbia, who were sweating on Aleksandar Mitrovic's availability due to an ankle injury, named their leading striker in the starting line-up. He will play alongside Filip Kostic, who was also a last-minute question mark for coach Dragan Stojkovic due to injury, with striker Dusan Vlahovic on the bench.

Brazil: Alisson; Danilo, Thiago Silva (c), Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta, Neymar; Vinicius Jr., Raphinha, Richarlison.

Serbia: Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Milos Veljkovic, Filip Mladenovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Andrija Zivkovic, Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Sasa Lukic, Dusan Tadic (c), Aleksandar Mitrovic.