The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group G was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Spain, Italy, Albania, Israel, Macedonia, and Liechtenstein.
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, Spain, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Italy, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best eight runners-up.
Standings edit
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was 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 | Spain
|
10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 3 | +33 | 28 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 8–0 | |
| 2 | Italy
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 23 | Advance to second round | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | |
| 3 | Albania
|
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 13 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Israel
|
10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 12 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | ||
| 5 | Macedonia
|
10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 4–0 | ||
| 6 | Liechtenstein
|
10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 39 | −38 | 0 | 0–8 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | — |
Matches edit
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]
| Italy | 1–1 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Macedonia | 1–2 | Israel |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) Report (MacedonianFootball) |
|
| Israel | 2–1 | Liechtenstein |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Macedonia | 2–3 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Liechtenstein | 0–3 | Macedonia |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Italy | 5–0 | Liechtenstein |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Italy | 1–0 | Israel |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Attendance: 15,507
Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)
| Macedonia | 1–1 | Albania |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Italy | 1–1 | Macedonia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Macedonia | 4–0 | Liechtenstein |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers edit
There were 93 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.1 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Ansi Agolli- Ledian Memushaj
Eliran Atar- Dan Einbinder
- Lior Refaelov
- Eytan Tibi
- Eran Zahavi
Federico Bernardeschi- Giorgio Chiellini
- Éder
- Manolo Gabbiadini
- Lorenzo Insigne
- Graziano Pellè
Maximilian Göppel
Arijan Ademi- Ezgjan Alioski
- Enis Bardhi
- Ferhan Hasani
- Visar Musliu
- Boban Nikolov
- Goran Pandev
- Stefan Ristovski
Aritz Aduriz- Asier Illarramendi
- Nacho Monreal
- Nolito
- Sergio Ramos
- Sergi Roberto
- Rodrigo
- Thiago
1 own goal
- Maximilian Göppel (against Spain)
- Peter Jehle (against Albania)
- Darko Velkovski (against Spain)
Discipline edit
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[9]
- 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giorgio Chiellini | Italy |
  vs Israel (5 September 2016) |
vs Spain (6 October 2016) |
| Eytan Tibi | Israel |
 vs Macedonia (6 October 2016) |
vs Liechtenstein (9 October 2016) |
| Marco Parolo | Italy |
vs Spain (6 October 2016) vs Macedonia (9 October 2016) |
vs Liechtenstein (12 November 2016) |
| Nicolas Hasler | Liechtenstein |
vs Spain (5 September 2016) vs Israel (9 October 2016) |
vs Italy (12 November 2016) |
| Etrit Berisha | Albania |
vs Israel (12 November 2016) |
vs Italy (24 March 2017) vs Israel (11 June 2017) |
| Berat Djimsiti | vs Italy (24 March 2017) | ||
| David Goresh | Israel |
vs Macedonia (6 October 2016) vs Albania (12 November 2016) |
vs Spain (24 March 2017) |
| Daniel Kaufmann | Liechtenstein |
vs Spain (5 September 2016) vs Italy (12 November 2016) |
vs Macedonia (24 March 2017) |
| Yves Oehri | vs Albania (6 October 2016) vs Italy (12 November 2016)
| ||
| Ezgjan Alioski | Macedonia |
vs Italy (9 October 2016) vs Spain (12 November 2016) |
vs Liechtenstein (24 March 2017) |
| Ansi Agolli | Albania |
vs Spain (9 October 2016) vs Italy (24 March 2017) |
vs Israel (11 June 2017) |
| Michele Polverino | Liechtenstein |
vs Spain (5 September 2016) vs Italy (11 June 2017) |
vs Albania (2 September 2017) |
| Leonardo Bonucci | Italy |
vs Spain (6 October 2016) vs Spain (2 September 2017) |
vs Israel (5 September 2017) |
| Elif Elmas | Macedonia |
vs Spain (11 June 2017) vs Israel (2 September 2017) |
vs Albania (5 September 2017) |
| Burim Kukeli | Albania |
vs Italy (24 March 2017) vs Macedonia (5 September 2017) |
vs Spain (6 October 2017) |
| Mërgim Mavraj | vs Spain (9 October 2016) vs Macedonia (5 September 2017)
| ||
| Odise Roshi | vs Italy (24 March 2017) vs Macedonia (5 September 2017)
| ||
| Almog Cohen | Israel |
vs Macedonia (6 October 2016) vs Italy (5 September 2017) |
vs Liechtenstein (6 October 2017) |
| Kire Ristevski | Macedonia |
vs Spain (11 June 2017) vs Albania (5 September 2017) |
vs Italy (6 October 2017) |
| Sergio Busquets | Spain |
vs Italy (6 October 2016) vs Liechtenstein (5 September 2017) |
vs Albania (6 October 2017) |
| Azdren Llullaku | Albania |
vs Israel (12 November 2016) vs Spain (6 October 2017) |
vs Italy (9 October 2017) |
| Taulant Xhaka | |||
| Marcel Büchel | Liechtenstein |
vs Israel (9 October 2016) vs Israel (6 October 2017) |
vs Macedonia (9 October 2017) |
| Franz Burgmeier | vs Albania (6 October 2016) vs Israel (6 October 2017)
| ||
| Nicolas Hasler | vs Macedonia (24 March 2017) vs Israel (6 October 2017)
| ||
| Stefan Spirovski | Macedonia |
vs Italy (9 October 2016) vs Italy (6 October 2017) |
vs Liechtenstein (9 October 2017) |
| Gerard Piqué | Spain |
vs Italy (6 October 2016) vs Albania (6 October 2017) |
vs Israel (9 October 2017) |
| David Silva | vs Macedonia (11 June 2017) vs Albania (6 October 2017)
|
Notes edit
- ^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 12 November 2016 and 24 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
- ^ The Albania v Macedonia match was suspended after 76 minutes due to adverse weather conditions, with the score 1–1 at the time. The match was resumed on 6 September 2016, 14:00 UTC+2.[6]
- ^ The venue of the Albania v Israel match was moved from Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër to Elbasan Arena, Elbasan due to a planned terrorist attack.[7][8]
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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Rain stops Albania v Macedonia with score at 1-1". BBC Sport. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016.
- ^ "Albania's World Cup qualifier against Israel moved for 'security reasons'". ESPN FC. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016.
- ^ "Kosovo arrests 19 in Islamic State plot to attack Israel soccer match". The Times of Israel. 17 November 2016. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.
External links edit
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1, FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup, UEFA.com
- Standings – Qualifying round: Group G, UEFA.com