Football World Cup 2018 / Qualification (UEFA)

The Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ) is sending 13 participants to the 2018 World Cup . Of the 55 European associations, except Russia, which is automatically qualified as the 14th European team as the host country, all members take part in the qualification .

The format of the qualification was decided at the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on March 22-23, 2015 in Vienna .

In the first round, the 54 teams played in nine groups of six teams. In the groups, each team played in a return match against the other teams in the group. The nine group winners qualified directly for the World Cup. The eight best runners-up played the remaining four places in the second round.

The draw took place on July 25, 2015 in the Constantine Palace in Strelna .

On May 13, 2016, Gibraltar and Kosovo were admitted to FIFA and were authorized to qualify for the World Cup. Kosovo was sorted into Group I and Gibraltar into Group H, as the Kosovo team should not play against the teams from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for the time being.

FIFA regulations

In accordance with FIFA regulations, the preliminary round matches can be played in the form of group matches or matches according to the cup system, in each case in return matches, or in exceptional cases in tournament form in one of the participating countries or on a neutral court. In the group games, three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. The following criteria are decisive:

1. higher number of points
2. better goal difference
3. higher number of goals scored
4. higher number of points from the direct encounters between teams with the same points and goals
5. better goal difference from the direct encounters between the teams with the same points and goals
6. higher number of goals from direct encounters between teams with equal points and goals
7. higher number of away goals from direct encounters between teams with the same points and goals if only two teams are affected.
8. lower number of minus points through yellow and red cards (yellow card 1 minus point, yellow-red card 3 minus points, red card 4 minus points, yellow and red card 5 minus points)
9. Drawing of lots

In the cup system, the higher number of away goals scored after both games are tied . If the number of away goals is the same, extra time is played. If no goal is scored in extra time, the match will be decided on penalties. If both teams score the same number of goals in extra time, the away team qualifies on the basis of the more away goals scored.

mode

The 52 teams registered at the time of the draw were drawn into nine groups, including seven groups of six and two groups of five teams. The nine group winners qualify directly for the final round. After the group stage, the remaining four starting places will be awarded in play-offs ( two-legged friendship) between the eight best runners-up in the group. The worst second in the group is eliminated. In order to be able to compare the performance of the runners-up, the games of the runners-up against the bottom of the group are not taken into account in the groups of six.

After Gibraltar and Kosovo were admitted to FIFA, UEFA had to determine the modalities for the inclusion of the two new members in the qualification. These were assigned to the two groups of five in such a way that, according to FIFA guidelines, Kosovo does not have to play against Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia (which is in a group of six). Since this means that all groups have six teams, it would not be necessary to delete the results of the group runner-up against the group sixth to determine the worst group runner-up. However, UEFA has confirmed that the rule to delete the results against the group sixth will remain in place.

Events

The schedule for the qualifying matches was based on the concept of the English week : a game day lasted three consecutive days. On so-called double game days (game days 2 and 3, 7 and 8, 9 and 10 as well as the play-off games) the games took place from Thursday to Tuesday. Two games were played on the double match days, so each team played either on Thursday and Sunday or on Friday and Monday or on Saturday and Tuesday (indication of the playing groups in subscript).

Gameday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
1				09/04/2016 CEF	09/05/2016 DGI	09/06/2016 ABH
2 and 3	10/6/2016 DGI	07.10.2016 ABH	10/08/2016 CEF	10/09/2016 DGI	10/10/2016 ABH	10/11/2016 CEF
4th		11/11/2016 CEF	11/12/2016 DGI	11/13/2016 ABH
5		03/24/2017 DGI	03/25/2017 ABH	03/26/2017 CEF
6th		06/09/2017 ABH	06/10/2017 CEF	06/11/2017 DGI
7 and 8	08/31/2017 ABH	09/01/2017 CEF	02.09.2017 DGI	03.09.2017 ABH	09/04/2017 CEF	05.09.2017 DGI
9 and 10	05/10/2017 CEF	06.10.2017 DGI	07.10.2017 ABH	10/08/2017 CEF	10/09/2017 DGI	10/10/2017 ABH
Play-off	11/09/2017	11/10/2017	11/11/2017	11/12/2017	11/13/2017	11/14/2017

Kick-off time was on Saturdays and Sundays at 18:00 ME (S) Z and 20:45 ME (S) Z and on the other days of the week at 20:45 ME (S) Z. All games in a group took place on the same day.

Group stage

draw

Before the draw, the teams were divided into six pots based on the FIFA world rankings as of July 25, 2015. One team from each of these pots was drawn into a group. There were only five teams left for Groups H and I as Russia is already qualified as hosts and Gibraltar and Kosovo were not yet FIFA members at the time of the draw. On June 9, 2016, Gibraltar was assigned to Group H and Kosovo to Group I.

Group overview
Group A	FIFA Rank 1	Group B	FIFA rank	Group C	FIFA rank
1. Netherlands	005	1. Portugal	007th	1. Germany	002
2. France	022nd	2. Switzerland	018th	2. Czech Republic	020th
3. Sweden	033	3. Hungary	031	3. Northern Ireland	037
4. Bulgaria	068	4. Faroe Islands	074	4. Norway	067
5. Belarus	100	5. Latvia	087	5. Azerbaijan	108
6. Luxembourg	146	6. Andorra	202	6. San Marino	192
Group D	FIFA rank	Group E	FIFA rank	Group F.	FIFA rank
1. Wales	010	1. Romania	008th	1. England	009
2. Austria	015th	2. Denmark	024	2. Slovakia	015th
3. Serbia	043	3. Poland	030th	3. Scotland	029
4. Ireland	052	4. Montenegro	081	4. Slovenia	049
5. Moldova	124	5. Armenia	089	5. Lithuania	110
6. Georgia	153	6. Kazakhstan	142	6. Malta	158
Group G	FIFA rank	Group H.	FIFA rank	Group I.	FIFA rank
1. Spain	012	1. Belgium	003	1. Croatia	014th
2. Italy	017th	2. Bosnia and Herzegovina	026th	2. Iceland	023
3. Albania	036	3. Greece	044	3. Ukraine	027
4. Israel	051	4. Estonia	082	4. Turkey	048
5. North Macedonia	105	5. Cyprus	085	5. Finland	090
6. Liechtenstein	147	6. Gibraltar	-	6. Kosovo	-

¹ As of July 25, 2015

Group A

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	France	10	7th	2	1	018: 600	+12	23
2.	Sweden	10	6th	1	3	026: 900	+17	19th
3.	Netherlands	10	6th	1	3	021:120	+9	19th
4th	Bulgaria	10	4th	1	5	014:190	−5	13
5.	Luxembourg	10	1	3	6th	008:260	−18	06th
6th	Belarus	10	1	2	7th	006:210	−15	05

Game results

09/06/2016	Solna	Sweden	-	Netherlands	1: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/2016	Baryssau	Belarus	-	France	0-0
09/06/2016	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Luxembourg	4: 3 (1: 0)
07/10/2016	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Belarus	4: 1 (2: 0)
07/10/2016	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Sweden	0: 1 (0: 0)
07/10/2016	Saint-Denis	France	-	Bulgaria	4: 1 (3: 1)
10/10/2016	Baryssau	Belarus	-	Luxembourg	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/10/2016	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	France	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/10/2016	Solna	Sweden	-	Bulgaria	3: 0 (2: 0)
11/11/2016 1	Saint-Denis	France	-	Sweden	2: 1 (0: 0)
11/13/2016	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Belarus	1: 0 (1: 0)
11/13/2016	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Netherlands	1: 3 (1: 1)
03/25/2017	Solna	Sweden	-	Belarus	4: 0 (1: 0)
03/25/2017	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Netherlands	2: 0 (2: 0)
03/25/2017	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	France	1: 3 (1: 2)

06/09/2017	Baryssau	Belarus	-	Bulgaria	2: 1 (1: 0)
06/09/2017	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Luxembourg	5: 0 (2: 0)
06/09/2017	Solna	Sweden	-	France	2: 1 (1: 1)
08/31/2017	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Sweden	3: 2 (2: 2)
08/31/2017	Saint-Denis	France	-	Netherlands	4: 0 (1: 0)
08/31/2017	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Belarus	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2017	Baryssau	Belarus	-	Sweden	0: 4 (0: 3)
09/03/2017	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Bulgaria	3: 1 (1: 0)
09/03/2017	Toulouse	France	-	Luxembourg	0-0
07.10.2017	Solna	Sweden	-	Luxembourg	8: 0 (3: 0)
07.10.2017	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	France	0: 1 (0: 1)
07.10.2017	Baryssau	Belarus	-	Netherlands	1: 3 (0: 1)
10/10/2017	Saint-Denis	France	-	Belarus	2: 1 (2: 1)
10/10/2017	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Sweden	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/10/2017	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Bulgaria	1: 1 (1: 0)

¹The game was originally supposed to take place on November 13, 2016, but since the game was not played on the first anniversary of the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015 , the game was brought forward to November 11, 2016.

Group B

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Portugal	10	9	0	1	032: 400	+28	27
2.	Switzerland	10	9	0	1	023: 700	+16	27
3.	Hungary	10	4th	1	5	014:140	± 0	13
4th	Faroe Islands	10	2	3	5	004:160	−12	09
5.	Latvia	10	2	1	7th	007:180	−11	07th
6th	Andorra	10	1	1	8th	002:230	−21	04th

Game results

09/06/2016	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Latvia	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/06/2016	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Hungary	0-0
09/06/2016	Basel	Switzerland	-	Portugal	2: 0 (2: 0)
07/10/2016	Budapest	Hungary	-	Switzerland	2: 3 (0: 0)
07/10/2016	Riga	Latvia	-	Faroe Islands	0: 2 (0: 1)
07/10/2016	Aveiro	Portugal	-	Andorra	6: 0 (3: 0)
10/10/2016	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Switzerland	1: 2 (0: 1)
10/10/2016	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Portugal	0: 6 (0: 3)
10/10/2016	Riga	Latvia	-	Hungary	0: 2 (0: 1)
11/13/2016	Budapest	Hungary	-	Andorra	4: 0 (2: 0)
11/13/2016	Faro / Loulé	Portugal	-	Latvia	4: 1 (1: 0)
11/13/2016	Lucerne	Switzerland	-	Faroe Islands	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/25/2017	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Faroe Islands	0-0
03/25/2017	Geneva	Switzerland	-	Latvia	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/25/2017	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Hungary	3: 0 (2: 0)

06/09/2017	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Hungary	1: 0 (1: 0)
06/09/2017	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Switzerland	0: 2 (0: 1)
06/09/2017	Riga	Latvia	-	Portugal	0: 3 (0: 1)
08/31/2017	Budapest	Hungary	-	Latvia	3: 1 (2: 1)
08/31/2017	postage	Portugal	-	Faroe Islands	5: 1 (2: 1)
08/31/2017	St. Gallen	Switzerland	-	Andorra	3: 0 (1: 0)
09/03/2017	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Andorra	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/03/2017	Budapest	Hungary	-	Portugal	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/03/2017	Riga	Latvia	-	Switzerland	0: 3 (0: 1)
07.10.2017	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Latvia	0-0
07.10.2017	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	-	Portugal	0: 2 (0: 0)
07.10.2017	Basel	Switzerland	-	Hungary	5: 2 (3: 0)
10/10/2017	Budapest	Hungary	-	Faroe Islands	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/10/2017	Riga	Latvia	-	Andorra	4: 0 (2: 0)
10/10/2017	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group C

→ Main article : Football World Cup 2018 / Qualification (UEFA) / Group C

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	10	10	0	0	043: 400	+39	30th
2.	Northern Ireland	10	6th	1	3	017: 600	+11	19th
3.	Czech Republic	10	4th	3	3	017:100	+7	15th
4th	Norway	10	4th	1	5	017:160	+1	13
5.	Azerbaijan	10	3	1	6th	010:190	−9	10
6th	San Marino	10	0	0	10	002:510	−49	00

Game results

09/04/2016	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Azerbaijan	0: 1 (0: 1)
09/04/2016	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Northern Ireland	0-0
09/04/2016	Oslo	Norway	-	Germany	0: 3 (0: 2)
10/08/2016	Hamburg	Germany	-	Czech Republic	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2016	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Norway	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2016	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	San Marino	4: 0 (1: 0)
10/11/2016	Ostrava	Czech Republic	-	Azerbaijan	0-0
10/11/2016	Hanover	Germany	-	Northern Ireland	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/11/2016	Oslo	Norway	-	San Marino	4: 1 (1: 0)
11/11/2016	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Norway	2: 1 (1: 0)
11/11/2016	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Germany	0: 8 (0: 3)
11/11/2016	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Azerbaijan	4: 0 (2: 0)
03/26/2017	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Czech Republic	0: 6 (0: 5)
03/26/2017	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Germany	1: 4 (1: 3)
03/26/2017	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Norway	2: 0 (2: 0)

06/10/2017	Oslo	Norway	-	Czech Republic	1: 1 (0: 1)
06/10/2017	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Northern Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)
06/10/2017	Nuremberg	Germany	-	San Marino	7: 0 (4: 0)
09/01/2017	Oslo	Norway	-	Azerbaijan	2: 0 (1: 0)
09/01/2017	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Northern Ireland	0: 3 (0: 0)
09/01/2017	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Germany	1: 2 (0: 1)
04.09.2017	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	San Marino	5: 1 (2: 0)
04.09.2017	Stuttgart	Germany	-	Norway	6: 0 (4: 0)
04.09.2017	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Czech Republic	2: 0 (2: 0)
05.10.2017	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Czech Republic	1: 2 (0: 1)
05.10.2017	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Germany	1: 3 (0: 2)
05.10.2017	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Norway	0: 8 (0: 4)
08/10/2017	Oslo	Norway	-	Northern Ireland	1: 0 (0: 0)
08/10/2017	Pilsen	Czech Republic	-	San Marino	5: 0 (3: 0)
08/10/2017	Kaiserslautern	Germany	-	Azerbaijan	5: 1 (1: 1)

Group D

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Serbia	10	6th	3	1	020:100	+10	21st
2.	Ireland	10	5	4th	1	012: 600	+6	19th
3.	Wales	10	4th	5	1	013: 600	+7	17th
4th	Austria	10	4th	3	3	014:120	+2	15th
5.	Georgia	10	0	5	5	008:140	−6	05
6th	Moldova	10	0	2	8th	004:230	−19	02

Game results

09/05/2016	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Austria	1: 2 (0: 2)
09/05/2016	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Ireland	2: 2 (0: 1)
09/05/2016	Cardiff	Wales	-	Moldova	4: 0 (2: 0)
10/06/2016	Vienna	Austria	-	Wales	2: 2 (1: 2)
10/06/2016	Dublin	Ireland	-	Georgia	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/06/2016	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Serbia	0: 3 (0: 2)
10/09/2016	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Austria	3: 2 (2: 1)
10/09/2016	Cardiff	Wales	-	Georgia	1: 1 (1: 0)
10/09/2016	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Ireland	1: 3 (1: 1)
11/12/2016	Vienna	Austria	-	Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)
11/12/2016	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Moldova	1: 1 (1: 0)
11/12/2016	Cardiff	Wales	-	Serbia	1: 1 (1: 0)
March 24, 2017	Dublin	Ireland	-	Wales	0-0
March 24, 2017	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Serbia	1: 3 (1: 1)
March 24, 2017	Vienna	Austria	-	Moldova	2: 0 (0: 0)

06/11/2017	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Wales	1: 1 (0: 1)
06/11/2017	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Georgia	2: 2 (2: 0)
06/11/2017	Dublin	Ireland	-	Austria	1: 1 (0: 1)
02.09.2017	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Ireland	1: 1 (1: 1)
02.09.2017	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Moldova	3: 0 (2: 0)
02.09.2017	Cardiff	Wales	-	Austria	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Vienna	Austria	-	Georgia	1: 1 (1: 1)
05.09.2017	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Wales	0: 2 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Dublin	Ireland	-	Serbia	0: 1 (0: 0)
06.10.2017	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Wales	0: 1 (0: 0)
06.10.2017	Dublin	Ireland	-	Moldova	2: 0 (2: 0)
06.10.2017	Vienna	Austria	-	Serbia	3: 2 (1: 1)
09.10.2017	Cardiff	Wales	-	Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Georgia	1: 0 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Austria	0: 1 (0: 0)

Group E

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Poland	10	8th	1	1	028:140	+14	25th
2.	Denmark	10	6th	2	2	020: 800	+12	20th
3.	Montenegro	10	5	1	4th	020:120	+8	16
4th	Romania	10	3	4th	3	012:100	+2	13
5.	Armenia	10	2	1	7th	010:260	−16	07th
6th	Kazakhstan	10	0	3	7th	006:260	−20	03

Game results

09/04/2016	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Armenia	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/04/2016	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Poland	2: 2 (0: 2)
09/04/2016	Cluj-Napoca	Romania	-	Montenegro	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2016	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Kazakhstan	5: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2016	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Romania	0: 5 (0: 4)
10/08/2016	Warsaw	Poland	-	Denmark	3: 2 (2: 0)
10/11/2016	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Romania	0-0
10/11/2016	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Montenegro	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/11/2016	Warsaw	Poland	-	Armenia	2: 1 (0: 0)
11/11/2016	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Montenegro	3: 2 (0: 2)
11/11/2016	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Kazakhstan	4: 1 (2: 1)
11/11/2016	Bucharest	Romania	-	Poland	0: 3 (0: 1)
03/26/2017	Cluj-Napoca	Romania	-	Denmark	0-0
03/26/2017	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Kazakhstan	2: 0 (0: 0)
03/26/2017	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Poland	1: 2 (0: 1)

06/10/2017	Warsaw	Poland	-	Romania	3: 1 (1: 0)
06/10/2017	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Armenia	4: 1 (2: 0)
06/10/2017	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Denmark	1: 3 (0: 1)
09/01/2017	Bucharest	Romania	-	Armenia	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/01/2017	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Poland	4: 0 (2: 0)
09/01/2017	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Montenegro	0: 3 (0: 1)
04.09.2017	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Denmark	1: 4 (1: 2)
04.09.2017	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Romania	1: 0 (0: 0)
04.09.2017	Warsaw	Poland	-	Kazakhstan	3: 0 (1: 0)
05.10.2017	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Poland	1: 6 (1: 3)
05.10.2017	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Denmark	0: 1 (0: 1)
05.10.2017	Bucharest	Romania	-	Kazakhstan	3: 1 (2: 0)
08/10/2017	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Romania	1: 1 (0: 0)
08/10/2017	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Armenia	1: 1 (0: 1)
08/10/2017	Warsaw	Poland	-	Montenegro	4: 2 (2: 0)

Group F.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	England	10	8th	2	0	018: 300	+15	26th
2.	Slovakia	10	6th	0	4th	017: 700	+10	18th
3.	Scotland	10	5	3	2	017:120	+5	18th
4th	Slovenia	10	4th	3	3	012: 700	+5	15th
5.	Lithuania	10	1	3	6th	007:200	−13	06th
6th	Malta	10	0	1	9	003:250	−22	01

Game results

09/04/2016	Vilnius	Lithuania	-	Slovenia	2: 2 (2: 0)
09/04/2016	Trnava	Slovakia	-	England	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/04/2016	Attard	Malta	-	Scotland	1: 5 (1: 1)
10/08/2016	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Slovakia	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/08/2016	London	England	-	Malta	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/08/2016	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Lithuania	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/11/2016	Trnava	Slovakia	-	Scotland	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/11/2016	Vilnius	Lithuania	-	Malta	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/11/2016	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	England	0-0
11/11/2016	London	England	-	Scotland	3: 0 (1: 0)
11/11/2016	Trnava	Slovakia	-	Lithuania	4: 0 (3: 0)
11/11/2016	Attard	Malta	-	Slovenia	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/26/2017	London	England	-	Lithuania	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/26/2017	Attard	Malta	-	Slovakia	1: 3 (1: 2)
03/26/2017	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Slovenia	1: 0 (0: 0)

06/10/2017	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Malta	2: 0 (1: 0)
06/10/2017	Glasgow	Scotland	-	England	2: 2 (0: 0)
06/10/2017	Vilnius	Lithuania	-	Slovakia	1: 2 (0: 1)
09/01/2017	Attard	Malta	-	England	0: 4 (0: 0)
09/01/2017	Vilnius	Lithuania	-	Scotland	0: 3 (0: 2)
09/01/2017	Trnava	Slovakia	-	Slovenia	1: 0 (0: 0)
04.09.2017	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Lithuania	4: 0 (1: 0)
04.09.2017	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Malta	2: 0 (1: 0)
04.09.2017	London	England	-	Slovakia	2: 1 (1: 1)
05.10.2017	London	England	-	Slovenia	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.10.2017	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Slovakia	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.10.2017	Attard	Malta	-	Lithuania	1: 1 (1: 0)
08/10/2017	Vilnius	Lithuania	-	England	0: 1 (0: 1)
08/10/2017	Trnava	Slovakia	-	Malta	3: 0 (1: 0)
08/10/2017	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Scotland	2: 2 (0: 1)

Group G

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Spain	10	9	1	0	036: 300	+33	28
2.	Italy	10	7th	2	1	021: 800	+13	23
3.	Albania	10	4th	1	5	010:130	−3	13
4th	Israel	10	4th	0	6th	010:150	−5	12
5.	Macedonia	10	3	2	5	015:150	± 0	11
6th	Liechtenstein	10	0	0	10	001:390	−38	00

Game results

09/05/2016	Shkodra	Albania	-	Macedonia	2: 1 (1: 0) 1
09/05/2016	Haifa	Israel	-	Italy	1: 3 (1: 2)
09/05/2016	Léon	Spain	-	Liechtenstein	8: 0 (1: 0)
10/06/2016	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Israel	1: 2 (0: 2)
10/06/2016	Turin	Italy	-	Spain	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/06/2016	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Albania	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/09/2016	Jerusalem	Israel	-	Liechtenstein	2: 1 (2: 0)
10/09/2016	Shkodra	Albania	-	Spain	0: 2 (0: 0)
10/09/2016	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Italy	2: 3 (0: 1)
11/12/2016	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Italy	0: 4 (0: 4)
11/12/2016	Shkodra	Albania	-	Israel	0: 3 (0: 1)
11/12/2016	Granada	Spain	-	Macedonia	4: 0 (1: 0)
March 24, 2017	Palermo	Italy	-	Albania	2: 0 (1: 0)
March 24, 2017	Gijón	Spain	-	Israel	4: 1 (2: 0)
March 24, 2017	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Macedonia	0: 3 (0: 1)

06/11/2017	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Spain	1: 2 (0: 2)
06/11/2017	Haifa	Israel	-	Albania	0: 3 (0: 2)
06/11/2017	Udine	Italy	-	Liechtenstein	5: 0 (1: 0)
02.09.2017	Haifa	Israel	-	Macedonia	0: 1 (0: 0)
02.09.2017	Elbasan	Albania	-	Liechtenstein	2: 0 (0: 0)
02.09.2017	Madrid	Spain	-	Italy	3: 0 (2: 0)
05.09.2017	Reggio nell'Emilia	Italy	-	Israel	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Strumica	Macedonia	-	Albania	1: 1 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Spain	0: 8 (0: 4)
06.10.2017	Turin	Italy	-	Macedonia	1: 1 (1: 0)
06.10.2017	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Israel	0: 1 (0: 0)
06.10.2017	Alicante	Spain	-	Albania	3: 0 (3: 0)
09.10.2017	Shkodra	Albania	-	Italy	0: 1 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Jerusalem	Israel	-	Spain	0: 1 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Strumica	Macedonia	-	Liechtenstein	4: 0 (2: 0)

¹ The game on September 5, 2016 was canceled when the score was 1: 1 in the final phase of the second half due to bad weather and continued on September 6, 2016.

Group H.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	10	9	1	0	043: 600	+37	28
2.	Greece	10	5	4th	1	017: 600	+11	19th
3.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	5	2	3	024:130	+11	17th
4th	Estonia	10	3	2	5	013:190	−6	11
5.	Cyprus	10	3	1	6th	009:180	−9	10
6th	Gibraltar	10	0	0	10	003:470	−44	00

Game results

09/06/2016	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	Estonia	5: 0 (2: 0)
09/06/2016	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Belgium	0: 3 (0: 1)
09/06/2016	Faro / Loulé	Gibraltar	-	Greece	1: 4 (1: 4)
07/10/2016	Brussels	Belgium	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4: 0 (2: 0)
07/10/2016	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Gibraltar	4: 0 (0: 0)
07/10/2016	Piraeus	Greece	-	Cyprus	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/10/2016	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	Cyprus	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/10/2016	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Greece	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/10/2016	Faro / Loulé	Gibraltar	-	Belgium	0: 6 (0: 3) 3
11/13/2016	Brussels	Belgium	-	Estonia	8: 1 (3: 1)
11/13/2016	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Gibraltar	3: 1 (1: 0)
11/13/2016	Piraeus	Greece	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1: 1 (0: 1)
03/25/2017	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	Gibraltar	5: 0 (2: 0)
03/25/2017	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Estonia	0-0
03/25/2017	Brussels	Belgium	-	Greece	1: 1 (0: 0)

06/09/2017	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	Greece	0-0
06/09/2017	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Belgium	0: 2 (0: 1)
06/09/2017	Faro / Loulé	Gibraltar	-	Cyprus	1: 2 (1: 1)
08/31/2017	Liege	Belgium	-	Gibraltar	9: 0 (6: 0)
08/31/2017	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3: 2 (0: 2)
08/31/2017	Piraeus	Greece	-	Estonia	0-0
09/03/2017	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Cyprus	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2017	Piraeus	Greece	-	Belgium	1: 2 (0: 0)
09/03/2017	Faro / Loulé	Gibraltar	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0: 4 (0: 1)
07.10.2017	Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	Belgium	3: 4 (2: 1)
07.10.2017	Faro / Loulé	Gibraltar	-	Estonia	0: 6 (0: 3)
07.10.2017	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Greece	1: 2 (1: 2)
10/10/2017	Brussels	Belgium	-	Cyprus	4: 0 (1: 0)
10/10/2017	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1: 2 (0: 0)
10/10/2017	Piraeus	Greece	-	Gibraltar	4: 0 (1: 0)

³Belgian striker Christian Benteke scored the fastest goal in the history of World Cup qualification after seven seconds.

Group I.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iceland	10	7th	1	2	016: 700	+9	22nd
2.	Croatia	10	6th	2	2	015: 400	+11	20th
3.	Ukraine	10	5	2	3	013: 900	+4	17th
4th	Turkey	10	4th	3	3	014:130	+1	15th
5.	Finland	10	2	3	5	009:130	−4	09
6th	Kosovo	10	0	1	9	003:240	−21	01

Game results

09/05/2016	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Turkey	1: 1 (1: 1)
09/05/2016	Kiev	Ukraine	-	Iceland	1: 1 (1: 1)
09/05/2016	Turku	Finland	-	Kosovo	1: 1 (1: 0)
10/06/2016	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Finland	3: 2 (1: 2)
10/06/2016	Konya	Turkey	-	Ukraine	2: 2 (1: 2)
10/06/2016	Shkodra	Kosovo	-	Croatia	0: 6 (0: 3)
10/09/2016	Tampere	Finland	-	Croatia	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/09/2016	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Turkey	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/09/2016	Krakow 1	Ukraine	-	Kosovo	3: 0 (1: 0)
11/12/2016	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Iceland	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/12/2016	Antalya	Turkey	-	Kosovo	2: 0 (0: 0)
11/12/2016	Odessa	Ukraine	-	Finland	1: 0 (1: 0)
March 24, 2017	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Ukraine	1: 0 (1: 0)
March 24, 2017	Antalya	Turkey	-	Finland	2: 0 (2: 0)
March 24, 2017	Shkodra	Kosovo	-	Iceland	1: 2 (0: 2)

06/11/2017	Tampere	Finland	-	Ukraine	1: 2 (0: 0)
06/11/2017	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Croatia	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/11/2017	Shkodra	Kosovo	-	Turkey	1: 4 (1: 2)
02.09.2017	Kharkiv	Ukraine	-	Turkey	2: 0 (2: 0)
02.09.2017	Tampere	Finland	-	Iceland	1: 0 (1: 0)
03.09.2017 2	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Kosovo	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Ukraine	2: 0 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Eskişehir	Turkey	-	Croatia	1: 0 (0: 0)
05.09.2017	Shkodra	Kosovo	-	Finland	0: 1 (0: 0)
06.10.2017	Rijeka	Croatia	-	Finland	1: 1 (0: 0)
06.10.2017	Eskişehir	Turkey	-	Iceland	0: 3 (0: 2)
06.10.2017	Shkodra	Kosovo	-	Ukraine	0: 2 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Turku	Finland	-	Turkey	2: 2 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Kiev	Ukraine	-	Croatia	0: 2 (0: 0)
09.10.2017	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Kosovo	2: 0 (1: 0)

¹Since the Ukraine to Kosovo does not recognize as an independent state and therefore no representatives of the Balkan republic on Ukrainian soil (including the delegation of the Kosovo Football Federation FFK ) receives, the game took place in Krakow, Poland. It was the first time that a European association renounced its home right for political reasons.

²The game between Croatia and Kosovo on September 2, 2017 was canceled after 27 minutes of play due to heavy rain. It was then continued on September 3rd.

Balance sheet

Qualified for the 2018 World Cup

Qualified for the play-off round

Qualification failed

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F.	Group G	Group H.	Group I.
France	Portugal	Germany	Serbia	Poland	England	Spain	Belgium	Iceland
Sweden	Switzerland	Northern Ireland	Ireland	Denmark	Slovakia	Italy	Greece	Croatia
Netherlands Bulgaria Luxembourg Belarus	Hungary Faroe Islands Latvia Andorra	Czech Republic Norway Azerbaijan San Marino	Wales Austria Georgia Moldova	Montenegro Romania Armenia Kazakhstan	Scotland Slovenia Lithuania Malta	Albania Israel North Macedonia Liechtenstein	Bosnia and Herzegovina Estonia Cyprus Gibraltar	Ukraine Turkey Finland Kosovo

Play-off games

Ranking of the runners-up

The best eight runners-up played in a play-off round from the four teams that qualified for the World Cup finals in addition to the top nine in the group. As the worst runners-up in the group, Slovakia could not qualify for the play-offs. The evaluation was based on the criteria for the evaluation in the group stage, with the exception of criteria 4–7, as the direct comparison cannot be used. The results against the respective sixth in the table were not included in the evaluation.

Ranking of the runners-up

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	group	Group sixth
1.	Switzerland	8th	7th	0	1	018: 600	+12	21st	B.	Andorra
2.	Italy	8th	5	2	1	012: 800	+4	17th	G	Liechtenstein
3.	Denmark	8th	4th	2	2	013: 600	+7	14th	E.	Kazakhstan
4th	Croatia	8th	4th	2	2	008: 400	+4	14th	I.	Kosovo
5.	Sweden	8th	4th	1	3	018: 900	+9	13	A.	Belarus
6th	Northern Ireland	8th	4th	1	3	010: 600	+4	13	C.	San Marino
7th	Greece	8th	3	4th	1	009: 500	+4	13	H	Gibraltar
8th.	Ireland	8th	3	4th	1	007: 500	+2	13	D.	Moldova
9.	Slovakia	8th	4th	0	4th	011: 600	+5	12	F.	Malta

Encounters

The eight best runners-up in the group were split into two pots based on their current position in the FIFA world rankings (with a position in the FIFA world rankings on October 16, 2017):

Pot with higher ranking		Pot with lower ranking
team	space	team	space
Switzerland	11	Northern Ireland	23
Italy	15th	Sweden	25th
Croatia	18th	Ireland	26th
Denmark	19th	Greece	47

The draw took place in Zurich on October 17, 2017 . Each of the four better placed teams in the world rankings was drawn against one of the worse placed teams. There was also a draw to see which team has home rights first.

The draw resulted in the following encounters, which took place between November 9 and 14, 2017:

	total		First leg	Return leg
Northern Ireland	0: 1	Switzerland	0: 1 (0: 0)	0-0
Croatia	4: 1	Greece	4: 1 (3: 1)	0-0
Denmark	5: 1	Ireland	0-0	5: 1 (2: 1)
Sweden	1-0	Italy	1: 0 (0: 0)	0-0

Thus, in addition to the respective group winners, Switzerland, Croatia, Denmark and Sweden also qualified for the World Cup.

List of goalscorers

space	player	Gates	templates	Game minutes
1	Robert Lewandowski	16	1	0900
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	15th	3	0765
3	Christian Eriksen	11	3	1080
4th	Romelu Lukaku	11	1	0629
5	André Silva	09	1	0783
6th	Marcus Berg	08th	2	0943
7th	Stevan Jovetić	07th	3	0632
8th	Eden Hazard	06th	5	0600
9	Konstantinos Mitroglou	06th	2	0870
10	Andrij Yarmolenko	06th	2	0900
As of November 15, 2017

Web links

• Official FIFA website for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup

Individual evidence

1. ↑ EXCO meeting in Vienna. In: uefa.com. UEFA , March 21, 2015, accessed March 28, 2015 . 
2. ^ New distribution concept for club competitions approved. In: uefa.com. UEFA, March 23, 2015, accessed March 28, 2015 . 
3. ↑ LOK Russia 2018 outlines plans for 2015. In: fifa.com. FIFA , November 21, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 . 
4. ↑ FIFA World Cup 2018 regulations. (PDF; 367 kB) In: fifa.com. FIFA, October 14, 2016, accessed October 10, 2017 . 
5. ↑ FIFA Congress moves football forward, first Secretary General appointed. In: fifa.com. FIFA, May 13, 2016, accessed May 14, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Qualifying groups of Kosovo and Gibraltar intended for the 2018 FIFA World Cup ™. In: fifa.com. FIFA, June 9, 2016, accessed June 10, 2016 . 
7. ↑ World Cup qualification: Albania against Macedonia canceled. In: www.sport1.de. Sport1, September 5, 2016, accessed September 6, 2016 . 
8. ↑ World Cup qualification Belgian Benteke scores fastest goal in history. In: berliner-zeitung.de. Berliner Zeitung , October 10, 2016, accessed on October 11, 2016 . 
9. ^ Thilo Neumann: Ukraine international match in Krakow 57 tickets sold. In: spiegel.de. Spiegel Online , October 10, 2016, accessed October 10, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Sport1: Rain: Game abandoned in Zagreb. In: sport1.de. Sport1 , September 2, 2017, accessed September 2, 2017 . 
11. ↑ World Cup play-off seedings confirmed. In: uefa.com. UEFA, October 16, 2017, accessed October 16, 2017 . 
12. ↑ Draw of the European playoff round of the World Cup qualification on October 17th. In: fifa.com. FIFA, September 6, 2017, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
13. ↑ European Qualifiers: World Cup play-off draw. In: uefa.com. UEFA, October 17, 2017, accessed October 17, 2017 . 
14. ↑ List of goalscorers. In: uefa.com. UEFA, accessed November 17, 2017 .