2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group C was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Germany, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, and San Marino.

The draw was for the first round (group stage) which was not 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, Germany, who finished with a 100% record, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Northern Ireland, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best 8 runners-up, where they lost to Switzerland and thus failed to qualify.[1]

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] Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Overall goal difference Overall goals scored Points in matches between tied teams Goal difference in matches between tied teams Goals scored in matches between tied teams Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams in home-and-away league format) Fair play points first yellow card: minus 1 point indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points direct red card: minus 4 points yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	10	0	0	43	4	+39	30	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup		—	2–0	3–0	6–0	5–1	7–0
2	Northern Ireland	10	6	1	3	17	6	+11	19	Advance to second round		1–3	—	2–0	2–0	4–0	4–0
3	Czech Republic	10	4	3	3	17	10	+7	15			1–2	0–0	—	2–1	0–0	5–0
4	Norway	10	4	1	5	17	16	+1	13			0–3	1–0	1–1	—	2–0	4–1
5	Azerbaijan	10	3	1	6	10	19	−9	10			1–4	0–1	1–2	1–0	—	5–1
6	San Marino	10	0	0	10	2	51	−49	0			0–8	0–3	0–6	0–8	0–1	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

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]

4 September 2016

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

San Marino	0–1	Azerbaijan
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Qurbanov  45'

San Marino Stadium, Serravalle

Attendance: 886

Referee: Sébastien Delferière (Belgium)

4 September 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Czech Republic	0–0	Northern Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Generali Arena, Prague

Attendance: 10,731

Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)

4 September 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	0–3	Germany
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Müller  16', 60' Kimmich  45'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 26,793

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

---

8 October 2016

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	1–0	Norway
Medvedev  11'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Olympic Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Liran Liany (Israel)

8 October 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Germany	3–0	Czech Republic
Müller  13', 65' Kroos  49'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

Attendance: 51,299

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

8 October 2016

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	4–0	San Marino
Davis  26' (pen.) K. Lafferty  79', 90+4' Ward  85'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 18,234

Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

---

11 October 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Czech Republic	0–0	Azerbaijan
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Municipal Stadium, Ostrava

Attendance: 12,148

Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

11 October 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Germany	2–0	Northern Ireland
Draxler  13' Khedira  17'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover

Attendance: 42,132

Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

11 October 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	4–1	San Marino
D. Simoncini  12' (o.g.) Diomande  77' Samuelsen  82' King  83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Stefanelli  54'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 8,214

Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

---

11 November 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Czech Republic	2–1	Norway
Krmenčík  11' Zmrhal  47'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	King  87'

Eden Arena, Prague

Attendance: 16,411

Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)

11 November 2016

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Northern Ireland	4–0	Azerbaijan
K. Lafferty  27' McAuley  40' C. McLaughlin  66' Brunt  83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 18,404

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

11 November 2016

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

San Marino	0–8	Germany
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Khedira  7' Gnabry  9', 58', 76' Hector  32', 65' Stefanelli  82' (o.g.) Volland  85'

San Marino Stadium, Serravalle

Attendance: 3,851

Referee: Artyom Kuchin (Kazakhstan)

---

26 March 2017

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	1–4	Germany
Nazarov  31'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Schürrle  19', 81' Müller  36' Gómez  45'

Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

26 March 2017

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

San Marino	0–6	Czech Republic
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Barák  17', 24' Darida  19', 77' (pen.) Gebre Selassie  26' Krmenčík  43'

San Marino Stadium, Serravalle

Attendance: 1,023

Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)

26 March 2017

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	2–0	Norway
Ward  2' Washington  33'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 18,161

Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (Turkey)

---

10 June 2017

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	0–1	Northern Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Dallas  90+2'

Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 27,978

Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Spain)

10 June 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Germany	7–0	San Marino
Draxler  11' Wagner  16', 29', 85' Younes  38' Mustafi  47' Brandt  72'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Nürnberg, Nuremberg

Attendance: 32,467

Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)

10 June 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	1–1	Czech Republic
Søderlund  55' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Gebre Selassie  36'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 12,179

Referee: Andre Marriner (England)

---

1 September 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Czech Republic	1–2	Germany
Darida  78'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Werner  4' Hummels  88'

Eden Arena, Prague

Attendance: 18,093

Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

1 September 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	2–0	Azerbaijan
King  31' (pen.) Sadygov  60' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 8,599

Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland)

1 September 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

San Marino	0–3	Northern Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Magennis  70', 75' Davis  78' (pen.)

San Marino Stadium, Serravalle

Attendance: 2,544

Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

---

4 September 2017

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	5–1	San Marino
Ismayilov  20', 57' Abdullayev  24' Cevoli  71' (o.g.) Sadygov  81'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Palazzi  74'

Bakcell Arena, Baku

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro)

4 September 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Germany	6–0	Norway
Özil  10' Draxler  17' Werner  21', 40' Goretzka  50' Gómez  79'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart

Attendance: 53,814

Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)

4 September 2017

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	2–0	Czech Republic
J. Evans  28' Brunt  41'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 18,167

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

---

5 October 2017

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	1–2	Czech Republic
Ismayilov  55' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Kopic  35' Barák  66'

National Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 16,200

Referee: Benoît Millot (France)

5 October 2017

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	1–3	Germany
Magennis  90+3'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Rudy  2' Wagner  21' Kimmich  86'

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 18,104

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

5 October 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

San Marino	0–8	Norway
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Henriksen  8' King  14' (pen.), 17' Elyounoussi  39', 48', 68' Selnæs  58' Linnes  86'

San Marino Stadium, Serravalle

Attendance: 1,922

Referee: Andrew Dallas (Scotland)

---

8 October 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Czech Republic	5–0	San Marino
Krmenčík  8', 23' Kopic  27' Novák  71' Kadlec  83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Doosan Arena, Plzeň

Attendance: 5,625

Referee: Alex Troleis (Faroe Islands)

8 October 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Germany	5–1	Azerbaijan
Goretzka  8', 66' Wagner  54' Rüdiger  64' Can  81'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Sheydayev  34'

Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern

Attendance: 34,613

Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

8 October 2017

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	1–0	Northern Ireland
Brunt  71' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 10,244

Referee: Serhiy Boyko (Ukraine)

Goalscorers

There were 106 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.53 goals per match.

5 goals

• Thomas Müller
• Sandro Wagner
• Joshua King

4 goals

• Michal Krmenčík

3 goals

• Afran Ismayilov
• Antonín Barák
• Vladimír Darida
• Julian Draxler
• Serge Gnabry
• Leon Goretzka
• Timo Werner
• Kyle Lafferty
• Josh Magennis
• Mohamed Elyounoussi

2 goals

• Theodor Gebre Selassie
• Jan Kopic
• Mario Gómez
• Jonas Hector
• Sami Khedira
• Joshua Kimmich
• André Schürrle
• Chris Brunt
• Steven Davis
• Jamie Ward

1 goal

• Araz Abdullayev
• Maksim Medvedev
• Dimitrij Nazarov
• Ruslan Qurbanov
• Rashad Sadygov
• Ramil Sheydayev
• Václav Kadlec
• Filip Novák
• Jaromír Zmrhal
• Julian Brandt
• Emre Can
• Mats Hummels
• Toni Kroos
• Shkodran Mustafi
• Mesut Özil
• Antonio Rüdiger
• Sebastian Rudy
• Kevin Volland
• Amin Younes
• Stuart Dallas
• Jonny Evans
• Gareth McAuley
• Conor McLaughlin
• Conor Washington
• Adama Diomande
• Markus Henriksen
• Martin Linnes
• Martin Samuelsen
• Ole Selnæs
• Alexander Søderlund
• Mirko Palazzi
• Mattia Stefanelli

1 own goal

• Rashad Sadygov (against Norway)
• Chris Brunt (against Norway)
• Michele Cevoli (against Azerbaijan)
• Davide Simoncini (against Norway)
• Mattia Stefanelli (against Germany)

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)
Cristian Brolli	San Marino	vs Azerbaijan (4 September 2016)	vs Northern Ireland (8 October 2016)
Stefan Johansen	Norway	vs Germany (4 September 2016) vs Azerbaijan (8 October 2016)	vs San Marino (11 October 2016)
David Pavelka	Czech Republic	vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2016) vs Germany (8 October 2016)	vs Azerbaijan (11 October 2016)
Mirko Palazzi	San Marino	vs Northern Ireland (8 October 2016)	vs Norway (11 October 2016)
Matteo Vitaioli		vs Azerbaijan (4 September 2016) vs Northern Ireland (8 October 2016)
Shane Ferguson	Northern Ireland	vs Germany (11 October 2016) vs Azerbaijan (11 November 2016)	vs Norway (26 March 2017)
Haitam Aleesami	Norway	vs Azerbaijan (8 October 2016) vs Czech Republic (11 November 2016)	vs Northern Ireland (26 March 2017)
Sami Khedira	Germany	vs Norway (4 September 2016) vs Azerbaijan (26 March 2017)	vs San Marino (10 June 2017)
Davide Simoncini	San Marino	vs Norway (11 October 2016) vs Czech Republic (26 March 2017)	vs Germany (10 June 2017)
Matteo Vitaioli		vs Germany (11 November 2016) vs Czech Republic (26 March 2017)
Pier Filippo Mazza		vs Czech Republic (26 March 2017) vs Germany (10 June 2017)	vs Northern Ireland (1 September 2017)
Badavi Guseynov	Azerbaijan	vs Norway (1 September 2017)	vs San Marino (4 September 2017)
Maksim Medvedev		vs Northern Ireland (10 June 2017) vs Norway (1 September 2017)
Dimitrij Nazarov		vs Northern Ireland (11 November 2016) vs Norway (1 September 2017)
Giovanni Bonini	San Marino	vs Germany (10 June 2017) vs Northern Ireland (1 September 2017)	vs Azerbaijan (4 September 2017)
Tomáš Kalas	Czech Republic	vs Germany (1 September 2017) vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2017)	vs Azerbaijan (5 October 2017)
Michele Cervellini	San Marino	vs Germany (10 June 2017) vs Norway (5 October 2017)	vs Czech Republic (8 October 2017)
Davide Simoncini		vs Northern Ireland (1 September 2017) vs Norway (5 October 2017)

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 11 November 2016, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.

References

1. "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016.
2. "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
3. "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com.
4. "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
5. "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
6. "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 C, UEFA.com