The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Netherlands, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, and Luxembourg.
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]
The group winners, France, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Sweden, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best eight runners-up.
Standings
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
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In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[3]
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Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
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1 | France | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 23 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
2 | Sweden | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 19 | Advance to second round | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 8–0 | 4–0 | |
3 | Netherlands | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 19 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 | ||
4 | Bulgaria | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 19 | −5 | 13 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | — | 4–3 | 1–0 | ||
5 | Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 6 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | ||
6 | Belarus | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 5 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |
Matches
The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw.[1][4] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).[5]
Bulgaria | 4–3 | Luxembourg |
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Sweden | 1–1 | Netherlands |
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Belarus | 1–1 | Luxembourg |
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Sweden | 4–0 | Belarus |
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Bulgaria | 2–0 | Netherlands |
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Belarus | 2–1 | Bulgaria |
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Sweden | 2–1 | France |
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Bulgaria | 3–2 | Sweden |
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Luxembourg | 1–1 | Bulgaria |
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Netherlands | 2–0 | Sweden |
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Goalscorers
There were 93 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.1 goals per match.
8 goals
6 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Alexei Rios
- Anton Saroka
- Mikhail Sivakow
- Maksim Valadzko
- Mihail Aleksandrov
- Stanislav Manolev
- Marcelinho
- Dimitar Rangelov
- Aleksandar Tonev
- Blaise Matuidi
- Kylian Mbappé
- Florian Bohnert
- Maxime Chanot
- Daniel da Mota
- Olivier Thill
- Davy Klaassen
- Georginio Wijnaldum
- Jimmy Durmaz
- Oscar Hiljemark
- Isaac Kiese Thelin
- Victor Lindelöf
- Christoffer Nyman
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[6]
- 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) |
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Kevin Malget | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) |
Dirk Carlson | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) | vs Netherlands (13 November 2016) | |
Kevin Strootman | Netherlands | vs Sweden (6 September 2016) vs France (10 October 2016) |
vs Luxembourg (13 November 2016) |
Paul Pogba | France | vs Netherlands (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (11 November 2016) |
vs Luxembourg (25 March 2017) |
Alexander Hleb | Belarus | vs Bulgaria (13 November 2016) | vs Sweden (25 March 2017) |
Aleksandar Aleksandrov | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (10 October 2016) vs Belarus (13 November 2016) |
vs Netherlands (25 March 2017) |
Alyaksandr Martynovich | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (25 March 2017) |
vs Bulgaria (9 June 2017) |
Aurélien Joachim | Luxembourg | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) vs France (25 March 2017) |
vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) |
Daniel da Mota | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) vs France (25 March 2017) | ||
Chris Philipps | |||
Svetoslav Dyakov | Bulgaria | vs Belarus (13 November 2016) vs Belarus (9 June 2017) |
vs Sweden (31 August 2017) |
Kevin Malget | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) |
vs Belarus (31 August 2017) |
Christopher Martins | vs Bulgaria (6 September 2016) vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) | ||
Bozhidar Chorbadzhiyski | Bulgaria | vs Belarus (9 June 2017) vs Sweden (31 August 2017) |
vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) |
Kevin Strootman | Netherlands | vs France (31 August 2017) | vs Bulgaria (3 September 2017) |
Ola Toivonen | Sweden | vs Luxembourg (7 October 2016) vs Bulgaria (31 August 2017) |
vs Belarus (3 September 2017) |
Egor Filipenko | Belarus | vs Bulgaria (9 June 2017) vs Sweden (3 September 2017) |
vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) |
Nikita Korzun | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (3 September 2017) | ||
Ivaylo Chochev | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (31 August 2017) vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) |
vs France (7 October 2017) |
Ivelin Popov | vs Luxembourg (6 September 2016) vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) | ||
Christoffer Nyman | Sweden | vs Netherlands (6 September 2016) vs Belarus (3 September 2017) |
vs Luxembourg (7 October 2017) |
Paul Pogba | France | vs Sweden (9 June 2017) vs Luxembourg (3 September 2017) |
vs Bulgaria (7 October 2017) |
Laurent Jans | Luxembourg | vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) vs France (3 September 2017) |
vs Sweden (7 October 2017) |
Syarhey Balanovich | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (31 August 2017) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) |
vs France (10 October 2017) |
Alexei Rios | vs Netherlands (7 October 2016) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) | ||
Mikalay Signevich | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) | ||
Georgi Kostadinov | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (31 August 2017) vs France (7 October 2017) |
vs Luxembourg (10 October 2017) |
Notes
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1, FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup, UEFA.com
- Standings – Qualifying round: Group A, UEFA.com