The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group H was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus, and Gibraltar.
The draw for the first round (group stage) was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.[1][2] Gibraltar was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Kosovo in May 2016,[3] and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in same group as Bosnia and Herzegovina for security reasons.[4][5]
The group winners, Belgium, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Greece, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best eight runners-up.
Russia was initially partnered with the five-team Group H, which enabled the 2018 World Cup hosts to play centralised friendlies against these countries on their "spare" match dates.[6] These friendlies would not have counted in the qualifying group standings. However, after the group was later expanded to include Gibraltar, these friendly matches were cancelled.
Standings
edit2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[7]
|
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 6 | +37 | 28 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 4–0 | 8–1 | 4–0 | 9–0 | ||
2 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 19 | Advance to second round | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | ||
3 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 13 | +11 | 17 | 3–4 | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | |||
4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 11 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | |||
5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 10 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | |||
6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 47 | −44 | 0 | 0–6 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 1–2 | — |
Matches
editThe fixture list prior to the inclusion of Gibraltar was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw.[1][8] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).[9]
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5–0 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Belgium | 4–0 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2–0 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Estonia | 0–2 | |
---|---|---|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Greece | 1–1 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Belgium | 1–1 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Gibraltar | 1–2 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Estonia | 1–0 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Greece | 1–2 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3–4 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Estonia | 1–2 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Greece | 4–0 | |
---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers
editThere were 109 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.63 goals per match.
11 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Toby Alderweireld
Michy Batshuayi
Nacer Chadli
Thorgan Hazard
Ermin Bičakčić
Dario Đumić
Kenan Kodro
Senad Lulić
Miralem Pjanić
Toni Šunjić
Avdija Vršajević
Demetris Christofi
Vincent Laban
Constantinos Laifis
Valentinos Sielis
Henri Anier
Ilja Antonov
Siim Luts
Sergei Mošnikov
Konstantin Vassiljev
Sergei Zenjov
Lee Casciaro
Anthony Hernandez
Liam Walker
Kostas Fortounis
Giannis Gianniotas
Petros Mantalos
Kostas Stafylidis
Georgios Tzavellas
Alexandros Tziolis
Zeca
1 own goal
Emir Spahić (against Belgium)
Ragnar Klavan (against Belgium)
Roy Chipolina (against Cyprus)
Scott Wiseman (against Greece)
Discipline
editA player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[11]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious offences)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to the play-offs, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:
Player | Team | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
---|---|---|---|
Marouane Fellaini | vs Gibraltar (10 October 2016) | ||
Edin Džeko | vs Gibraltar (25 March 2017) | ||
Mato Jajalo | |||
Senad Lulić | |||
Ognjen Vranješ | |||
Jason Demetriou | vs Estonia (25 March 2017) | ||
Pieros Sotiriou | |||
Jayce Olivero | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (25 March 2017) | ||
Kyriakos Papadopoulos | vs Belgium (25 March 2017) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) | ||
Sead Kolašinac | vs Greece (9 June 2017) | ||
Vincent Laban | vs Gibraltar (9 June 2017) | ||
Andreas Samaris | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) | ||
Panagiotis Tachtsidis | |||
Georgios Tzavellas | |||
Konstantinos Laifis | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (31 August 2017) | ||
Artjom Dmitrijev | vs Greece (31 August 2017) | ||
Karol Mets | |||
Sokratis Papastathopoulos | vs Estonia (31 August 2017) | ||
Axel Witsel | vs Greece (3 September 2017) | ||
Miralem Pjanić | vs Gibraltar (3 September 2017) | ||
Ragnar Klavan | vs Cyprus (3 September 2017) | ||
Erin Barnett | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 September 2017) | ||
Ervin Zukanović | vs Belgium (7 October 2017) | ||
Yannick Carrasco | vs Cyprus (10 October 2017) | ||
Anastasios Donis | vs Gibraltar (10 October 2017) | ||
Kostas Manolas | |||
Andreas Samaris |
Notes
edit- ^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
- ^ a b c d e Gibraltar play their home matches at Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé in Portugal instead of their regular stadium, Victoria Stadium, in Gibraltar.
- ^ Bosnia and Herzegovina were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Belgium on 7 October 2017) away from Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica due to a series of incidents during their home match against Greece.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016.
- ^ "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
- ^ "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA.com. 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Kosovo to play in Group I in European Qualifiers". uefa.org. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
- ^ "Kosovo and Gibraltar assigned to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying groups". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Fixture List – Centralised friendlies" (PDF). UEFA. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- ^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
- ^ "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
- ^ "Disciplinary Overview - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers (July 2017)" (PDF). FIFA.com. 27 July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2017.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013.
External links
edit- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1, FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup, UEFA.com
- Standings – Qualifying round: Group H, UEFA.com