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 edit
| 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):[7]
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium
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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 | Greece
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10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 19 | Advance to second round | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | |
| 3 | Bosnia and Herzegovina
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10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 13 | +11 | 17 | 3–4 | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | ||
| 4 | Estonia
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10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 11 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 5 | Cyprus
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10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 10 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | ||
| 6 | Gibraltar
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10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 47 | −44 | 0 | 0–6 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 1–2 | — |
Matches edit
The 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 | Estonia |
|---|---|---|
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Belgium | 4–0 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2–0 | Cyprus |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Estonia | 0–2 | Greece |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Greece | 1–1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Belgium | 1–1 | Greece |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Gibraltar | 1–2 | Cyprus |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Estonia | 1–0 | Cyprus |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Greece | 1–2 | Belgium |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3–4 | Belgium |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Estonia | 1–2 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Greece | 4–0 | Gibraltar |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers edit
There 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 edit
A 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 | Belgium |
 vs Cyprus (6 September 2016) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (7 October 2016) |
vs Gibraltar (10 October 2016) |
| Edin Džeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
 vs Greece (13 November 2016) |
vs Gibraltar (25 March 2017) |
| Mato Jajalo | vs Belgium (7 October 2016) vs Greece (13 November 2016)
| ||
| Senad Lulić | |||
| Ognjen Vranješ | vs Estonia (6 September 2016) vs Greece (13 November 2016)
| ||
| Jason Demetriou | Cyprus |
vs Greece (7 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (13 November 2016) |
vs Estonia (25 March 2017) |
| Pieros Sotiriou | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (10 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (13 November 2016)
| ||
| Jayce Olivero | Gibraltar |
vs Cyprus (13 November 2016) |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (25 March 2017) |
| Kyriakos Papadopoulos | Greece |
 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016) |
vs Belgium (25 March 2017) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) |
| Sead Kolašinac | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
vs Belgium (7 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (25 March 2017) |
vs Greece (9 June 2017) |
| Vincent Laban | Cyprus |
vs Belgium (6 September 2016) vs Estonia (25 March 2017) |
vs Gibraltar (9 June 2017) |
| Andreas Samaris | Greece |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016) vs Belgium (25 March 2017) |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) |
| Panagiotis Tachtsidis | vs Belgium (25 March 2017)
| ||
| Georgios Tzavellas | |||
| Konstantinos Laifis | Cyprus |
vs Belgium (6 September 2016) vs Gibraltar (9 June 2017) |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (31 August 2017) |
| Artjom Dmitrijev | Estonia |
vs Belgium (9 June 2017) |
vs Greece (31 August 2017) |
| Karol Mets | vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (6 September 2016) vs Belgium (9 June 2017)
| ||
| Sokratis Papastathopoulos | Greece |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) |
vs Estonia (31 August 2017) |
| Axel Witsel | Belgium |
vs Gibraltar (31 August 2017) |
vs Greece (3 September 2017) |
| Miralem Pjanić | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
vs Greece (13 November 2016) vs Cyprus (31 August 2017) |
vs Gibraltar (3 September 2017) |
| Ragnar Klavan | Estonia |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (6 September 2016) vs Greece (31 August 2017) |
vs Cyprus (3 September 2017) |
| Erin Barnett | Gibraltar |
vs Belgium (31 August 2017) |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 September 2017) |
| Ervin Zukanović | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
vs Greece (9 June 2017) vs Gibraltar (3 September 2017) |
vs Belgium (7 October 2017) |
| Yannick Carrasco | Belgium |
vs Greece (3 September 2017) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (7 October 2017) |
vs Cyprus (10 October 2017) |
| Anastasios Donis | Greece |
vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) vs Cyprus (7 October 2017) |
vs Gibraltar (10 October 2017) |
| Kostas Manolas | |||
| Andreas Samaris | vs Belgium (3 September 2017) vs Cyprus (7 October 2017)
|
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