As always, Brazil will go into this World Cup as one of the favourites and with high expectations back home that they can go all the way in Qatar.

Having not won the tournament since 2002, with the disappointment of their semi-final collapse on home soil in 2014 and quarter-final exit at the hands of Belgium in the last edition, hopes are high that 2022 could be their year.

A strong qualifying campaign built on the momentum of Brazil’s triumph at the 2019 Copa America in their own country, meaning they travel to the World Cup on the back of a run of seven consecutive victories, with the defeat to Argentina in last year’s Copa America final being their only loss in three years.

Which Chelsea players do Brazil have?

Thiago Silva is likely to captain Brazil in Qatar, as he shares those duties with fellow veteran Dani Alves and wore the armband during much of qualifying.

The 38-year-old will be one of his country’s most experienced players, having surpassed the 100-cap landmark during that qualification campaign, and only four players have ever made more than his current tally of 109 appearances for the Selecao.

It is expected that Thiago Silva will continue his long-standing partnership with former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Marquinhos in the centre of the Brazil defence, although manager Tite has experimented recently with the younger of those two in midfield and Thiago Silva playing alongside Eder Militao at the back.

Who else is in Brazil's squad?

Brazil manager Tite was one of the first to name his finalised World Cup squad publicly, on 7 November. Thiago Silva may be Chelsea’s only representative among those 26 selected players, but there are plenty of names who will be familiar to Blues supporters, with 12 of them playing their club football in the Premier League, although Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino was a surprise omission.

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras)

Defenders: Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Sevilla, loan from Manchester United), Bremer (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Dani Alves (UNAM Pumas), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United)

Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

What teams are in Brazil's group?

Brazil are in a Group G with a strong sense of deja vu, as three of the four teams were also drawn together in the group stage of the last World Cup. On that occasion, Brazil progressed to the knockout stages as group winners, joined by runners-up Switzerland, ahead of third-placed Serbia.

Thiago Silva scored in the 2-0 win over Serbia which ensured they would top the group, recovering from a 1-1 draw with the Swiss in their opening game. The fourth team in the group are Cameroon, who Thiago Silva captained Brazil to a 4-1 victory against at the same stage in 2014.

When are Brazil's fixtures?

Brazil v Serbia, Lusail, 24 November, 7pm

Brazil v Switzerland, Doha, 28 November, 4pm

Cameroon v Brazil, Lusail, 2 December, 7pm

How did Brazil qualify?

Brazil strolled through World Cup qualifying, going undefeated during their entire campaign and winning 14 of their 17 matches, including the country’s first win away in Paraguay since 1985.

That saw the Selecao finish top of the single South American table, six points clear of second placed Argentina and with a massive 21-point safety margin for qualification, despite Brazil and Argentina having played a game less than everyone else after their meeting in Sao Paulo was abandoned due to Covid concerns.

The light work Tite’s side made of qualification is underlined by the fact they started their campaign with a run of nine straight wins, and finished it with three consecutive 4-0 victories, over Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia, despite having already secured their spot in Qatar by that point.

What is Brazil's World Cup history?

No other country can match Brazil’s pedigree in the World Cup, being the only country to have taken part in all 21 previous tournaments and holding the record of lifting the trophy on five occasions. Impressively, they have made the last four in 11 out of 21 World Cups and only failed to get out of the group stage twice, in 1930 and 1966.

Bizarrely, that shock 1966 exit in England came in the middle of Brazil’s most successful era, as the legendary Pele inspired them to a trio of famous triumphs, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. After the third of those, they were allowed to keep the original Jules Rimet trophy, but have won the modern version twice too, beating Italy on penalties in the 1994 final and defeating Germany 2-0 in the 2002 decider.

With 2002 being their latest triumph, anything other than glory this time around will guarantee that Brazil match their longest gap between victories, from 1970 until 1994, by the time the next tournament comes around in North America in 2026.