Five-time World Cup winner Brazil (FIFA ranking #1) takes on Serbia (FIFA ranking #21)

And with that whistle, it's Brazil, bright and beautiful, kicking off the World Cup with an emphatic victory. An especially brilliant night for Brazilian striker Richarlison. 

90 mins: Antony moves past two Serbs and finds Rodrygo on the other edge. He takes a shot, slightly over. Tite makes another change, swapping Raphinha for Gabriel Martinelli, who's in pretty great form. 

80 mins: Tite takes key players off the field, with four changes for Brazil: Fred and Rodrygo replace Lucas Paqueta and Vinicius Jr. Gabriel Jesus and Antony replace Richarlison and Neymar. They have a big game to play against Switzerland on Monday. Energy conservation seems to be the Tite strategy. The young players gallop out of the bench with bustling spirit. 

Photo: Reuters

73 mins: ANOTHER GOAL! In a flash of moment, Richarlison bends and flicks a precise low cross into the post, aided by Vinicius playing into the box. Now that was worth the wait. Stunning. A contender for this year's FIFA Puskas Award perhaps? We think so. 

Photo: Reuters

62 mins: GOAL! It's been coming for Serbia. Neymar drives into the box, Vinicius takes it off him which is saved. But Richarlison takes it with a neat finish — his 8th goal for Brazil in 7 games this year. 

55 mins: A brilliant ball from Vinicius. Neymar hits the ball off-the-toe and misses. Brazil maintains possession with 3 of 6 attempts on target, against Serbia's 1 attempt off-target. 

50 mins; A foul against a charging Neymar leads to a free-kick. And it's saved leading to Brazil's 5th corner. The balls juggles around. Serbia's defense stands still. 

Half-time: Serbia put up a pretty sturdy performance in a spicy first half, and fended off Neymar's attempt to score directly off a corner kick. The game's been pretty physical so far too: Serbian midfielder tangled at Neymar's shirt incessantly, causing the Brazilian star player to stop and put his shirt back on in the middle of the game. 

40 mins: Paqueta makes the run and Raphinha reins in a low cross into the near post. Richarlison tries to get across but fails — barely any action from him. Serbia's grip is slowly wavering as Mitrovic struggles to hold the ball. Possession flips to 60 percent for Brazil. 

30 mins:  Terrific goalkeeping from Milinkovic-Savic. Raphinha throws the ball right into Savic's arms. Neymar continues buzzing around with the ball, doesn't find much success with it yet. Brazil increases possession to 53 percent. 

20 mins: The possession is looking close with Brazil at 51 percent and Serbia clutching 49 percent. Paqueta loses the ball to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic but Casemiro quickly salvages. 

Photo: AFP

15 mins: Neymar tries to score a goal from the corner. Milinkovic-Savic scampers and saves it. 

0 mins: It's on! The tournament's #1 ranked team sprints out to face-off the underdogs. Most of the stadium is painted in yellow and green. Serbia gets a decent applause. But the stadium seems to shake when we get to Neymar — echoing the clear favorites today. 

Line-ups: 

Brazil (4-2-1-3)

Alisson Becker; Danilo, Thiago Silva (capt), Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Lucas Paqueta, Casemiro; Neymar; Raphinha, Richarlison, Vinicius Junior

Coach: Tite (BRA)

Serbia (3-4-2-1)

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

Coach: Dragan Stojkovic (SRB)

Match facts: Brazil has not reached a final since 2002. Brazil exited the 2018 World Cup losing to Belgium in the Quarterfinals. Brazil remains unbeaten in all their 17 matches against Serbia since 1934.

Players to look out for: 

• Brazil's Neymar is coming into the competition in great form, said captain Thiago Silva. Neymar has scored 15 goals in 20 games for Paris St-Germain this season.
• Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli are also said to be in good form. Young stars Vinicius Junior, Richarlison de Andrade, and Raphael Dias Belloli (Raphinha), are also among favorites. 
• Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic, 28, was the top scorer in qualifying, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.