2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A is one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consists 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 will qualify directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Among the nine group runners-up, the eight best runners-up will advance to the play-offs, where they will be drawn into four home-and-away ties to determine the other four qualifiers.^[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) Goal difference 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	France	4	3	1	0	7	2	+5	10	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup	—	31 Aug '17	2–1	4–1	10 Oct '17	3 Sep '17
2	Netherlands	4	2	1	1	8	4	+4	7	Possible second round^{[lower-alpha 1]}	0–1	—	10 Oct '17	3 Sep '17	4–1	9 Jun '17
3	Sweden	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3	7		9 Jun '17	1–1	—	3–0	25 Mar '17	7 Oct '17
4	Bulgaria	4	2	0	2	6	10	−4	6		7 Oct '17	25 Mar '17	31 Aug '17	—	1–0	4–3
5	Belarus	4	0	2	2	2	6	−4	2		0–0	7 Oct '17	3 Sep '17	9 Jun '17	—	1–1
6	Luxembourg	4	0	1	3	5	9	−4	1		25 Mar '17	1–3	0–1	10 Oct '17	31 Aug '17	—

Updated to match(es) played on 13 November 2016. Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

↑ The eight best runners-up across all groups will advance to the second round (play-offs). The ninth-ranked runners-up will be eliminated.

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 v France

6 September 2016
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Belarus	0–0	France
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Borisov Arena, Barysaw
Attendance: 12,920
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

Bulgaria v Luxembourg

6 September 2016
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	4–3	Luxembourg
Rangelov 16' Marcelinho 65' I. Popov 79' Tonev 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Joachim 60', 62' Bohnert 90+1'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 4,202
Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)

Sweden v Netherlands

6 September 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Sweden	1–1	Netherlands
Berg 43'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Sneijder 67'

Friends Arena, Solna
Attendance: 36,128
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

France v Bulgaria

7 October 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

France	4–1	Bulgaria
Gameiro 23', 59' Payet 26' Griezmann 38'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	M. Aleksandrov 6' (pen.)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 65,475
Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)

Luxembourg v Sweden

7 October 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Luxembourg	0–1	Sweden
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Lustig 58'

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City
Attendance: 5,057
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Netherlands v Belarus

7 October 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Netherlands	4–1	Belarus
Promes 15', 31' Klaassen 56' Janssen 64'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Rios 47'

De Kuip, Rotterdam
Attendance: 41,200
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

Belarus v Luxembourg

10 October 2016
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Belarus	1–1	Luxembourg
Savitski 80'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Joachim 85'

Borisov Arena, Barysaw
Attendance: 9,011
Referee: Tobias Welz (Germany)

Netherlands v France

10 October 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Netherlands	0–1	France
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Pogba 30'

Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
Attendance: 50,220
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

Sweden v Bulgaria

10 October 2016
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Sweden	3–0	Bulgaria
Toivonen 39' Hiljemark 45' Lindelöf 58'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Friends Arena, Solna
Attendance: 21,777
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

France v Sweden

11 November 2016^{[note 2]}
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

France	2–1	Sweden
Pogba 58' Payet 65'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Forsberg 55'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

Bulgaria v Belarus

13 November 2016
18:00
(19:00 UTC+2)

Bulgaria	1–0	Belarus
I. Popov 10'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 1,994
Referee: Stephan Klossner (Switzerland)

Luxembourg v Netherlands

13 November 2016
18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Luxembourg	1–3	Netherlands
Chanot 44' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Robben 36' Depay 58', 84'

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

Sweden v Belarus

25 March 2017
18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Sweden	v	Belarus
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Friends Arena, Solna

Bulgaria v Netherlands

25 March 2017
20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Bulgaria	v	Netherlands
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Luxembourg v France

25 March 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Luxembourg	v	France
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City

Belarus v Bulgaria

9 June 2017
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Belarus	v	Bulgaria
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Netherlands v Luxembourg

9 June 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Netherlands	v	Luxembourg
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Sweden v France

9 June 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Sweden	v	France
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Friends Arena, Solna

Bulgaria v Sweden

31 August 2017
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	v	Sweden
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

France v Netherlands

31 August 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

France	v	Netherlands
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Luxembourg v Belarus

31 August 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Luxembourg	v	Belarus
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City

Belarus v Sweden

3 September 2017
18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Belarus	v	Sweden
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Netherlands v Bulgaria

3 September 2017
18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Netherlands	v	Bulgaria
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

France v Luxembourg

3 September 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

France	v	Luxembourg
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Sweden v Luxembourg

7 October 2017
18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Sweden	v	Luxembourg
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Friends Arena, Solna

Belarus v Netherlands

7 October 2017
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Belarus	v	Netherlands
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Bulgaria v France

7 October 2017
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	v	France
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

France v Belarus

10 October 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

France	v	Belarus
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Luxembourg v Bulgaria

10 October 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Luxembourg	v	Bulgaria
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City

Netherlands v Sweden

10 October 2017
20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Netherlands	v	Sweden
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Goalscorers

There have been 34 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.

3 goals

Aurélien Joachim

2 goals

1 goal

Discipline

A player is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:^[3]

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 (or will be) 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	Luxembourg	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)

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

1 2 3 "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015.
↑ "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015.
1 2 "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com.
↑ "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015.
↑ "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (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

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

AFC	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round (play-off for 5th place)

CAF	First Round Second Round Third Round

CONCACAF	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round Fifth Round

CONMEBOL	Round Robin

OFC	First Round Second Round (Nations Cup) Third Round

UEFA	First Round Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I Second Round (play-offs)

Play-offs	CONCACAF v AFC OFC v CONMEBOL

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