For Brazil, the victory was soured slightly by a back injury to defender Marcelo, who hobbled off the pitch in the opening minutes.

Although the scoreline might not have shown it, Brazil were barely troubled, save for a 10-minute period in the second half when Serbia laid siege to the South American side's goal.

Brazil coach Tite was delighted with his team's performance but said there was still room for improvement.

"I'm going to have a caipirinha tonight, I'll allow myself," he told a news conference. "The World Cup is made up of human relationships, you have to feel how the dressing room is established, how the players interact, the responsibility the joy, the pride, you try to balance things out. If you're hyper you try to slow it down if you're a bit low you try to hype it up. In terms of the emotion of the team, there is still more to grow."