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

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
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]

Belarus 0–0 France
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 12,920
Bulgaria 4–3 Luxembourg
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Sweden 1–1 Netherlands
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 36,128

France 4–1 Bulgaria
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 65,475
Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)
Luxembourg 0–1 Sweden
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Netherlands 4–1 Belarus
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 41,200

Belarus 1–1 Luxembourg
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 9,011
Referee: Tobias Welz (Germany)
Netherlands 0–1 France
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 50,220
Sweden 3–0 Bulgaria
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 21,777

France 2–1 Sweden
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 80,000
Bulgaria 1–0 Belarus
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Luxembourg 1–3 Netherlands
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Sweden 4–0 Belarus
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 31,243
Bulgaria 2–0 Netherlands
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Luxembourg 1–3 France
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Belarus 2–1 Bulgaria
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 6,150
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Netherlands 5–0 Luxembourg
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 41,300
Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)
Sweden 2–1 France
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 48,783

Bulgaria 3–2 Sweden
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
France 4–0 Netherlands
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 79,551
Luxembourg 1–0 Belarus
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 2,752
Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)

Belarus 0–4 Sweden
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 6,431
Netherlands 3–1 Bulgaria
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
France 0–0 Luxembourg
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Sweden 8–0 Luxembourg
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 50,022
Belarus 1–3 Netherlands
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 6,850
Bulgaria 0–1 France
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

France 2–1 Belarus
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 74,037
Luxembourg 1–1 Bulgaria
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Netherlands 2–0 Sweden
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 41,244

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

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

  1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 11 and 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  2. 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

  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.
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