2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A
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 8 runners-up, where they defeated Italy and thus also qualified for the tournament.[1] France went on to win the World Cup, defeating Croatia in the final.
Standings
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[3]
|
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[6]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions are 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- CET (UTC+1) for matches on 11 and 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
- The France v Sweden match was moved from the original scheduled date of 13 November 2016 as it fell on the anniversary of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.
References
- "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.
- "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
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