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2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round facts for kids

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The UEFA second round was contested by the best eight runners-up from the nine first round groups from the UEFA segment of the qualification tournament for the 2018 FIFA World Cup final tournament. The winners — Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland — of each of four home and away ties joined the group winners in the World Cup in Russia. These pairs of matches, also commonly known as the playoffs, were held in November 2017. The losers were Greece, Italy, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

The draw for the ties was held in Zürich on 17 October 2017, with the October 2017 FIFA World Rankings being used in deciding which of the teams would be seeded.

Qualified teams

The eight best runners-up from the UEFA first round qualified for the play-offs; at the time of the draw, with two groups having one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth-placed team in each First Round group were discarded in this ranking even after the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo, and with all groups now containing six teams. As a result, eight matches played by each team counted for the purposes of ranking the runners-up.

Ranking of the runner-up teams

The eight best runners-up were determined by the following parameters, in this order:

  1. Highest number of points
  2. Goal difference
  3. Highest number of goals scored
  4. Fair play points
  5. Drawing of lots
2018 world cup UEFA qualification
     Teams that qualified     Teams that might qualify     Teams that did not qualify

The UEFA 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament was held from 4 September 2016 and 14 November 2017 and was used to determine which European teams will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Robert Lewandowski was the top scorer, with 16 goals.

First round

The first round consisted of 9 groups made up of 6 teams each. The winners of each group directly qualified for the world cup, while the best runners-up moved on to the second round. The draw occurred on 25 July 2015 in Saint Petersburg.

Group A

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  France 10 7 2 1 18 6 +12 23 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Sweden 10 6 1 3 26 9 +17 19 Second round
3  Netherlands 10 6 1 3 21 12 +9 19
4  Bulgaria 10 4 1 5 14 19 -5 13
5  Luxembourg 10 1 3 6 8 26 –18 6
6  Belarus 10 1 2 7 6 21 –15 5

Group B

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Portugal 10 9 0 1 32 4 +28 27 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Switzerland 10 9 0 1 23 7 +16 27 Second round
3  Hungary 10 4 1 5 14 14 0 13
4  Faroe Islands 10 2 3 5 4 16 -12 9
5  Latvia 10 2 1 7 7 18 –11 7
6  Andorra 10 1 1 8 2 23 –21 4

Group C

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Germany 10 10 0 0 43 4 +39 30 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Northern Ireland 10 6 1 3 17 6 +11 19 Second round
4  Czech Republic 10 4 3 3 17 10 +7 15
5  Norway 10 4 1 5 17 16 +1 13
5  Azerbaijan 10 3 1 6 10 19 –9 10
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 2 51 –49 0

Group D

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Serbia 10 6 3 1 20 10 +10 21 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Republic of Ireland 10 5 4 1 12 6 +6 19 Second round
3  Wales 10 4 5 1 13 6 +7 17
4  Austria 10 4 3 3 14 12 +2 15
5  Georgia 10 0 5 5 8 14 –6 5
6  Moldova 10 0 2 8 4 23 –19 2

Group E

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Poland 10 8 1 1 28 14 +14 25 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Denmark 10 6 2 2 20 8 +12 20 Second round
3  Montenegro 10 5 1 4 20 12 +8 16
4  Romania 10 3 4 3 12 10 +2 13
5  Armenia 10 2 1 7 10 26 –16 7
6  Kazakhstan 10 0 3 7 6 26 –20 3

Group F

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  England 10 8 2 0 18 3 +15 26 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Slovakia 10 6 0 4 17 7 +10 18
3  Scotland 10 5 3 2 17 12 +5 18
4  Slovenia 10 4 3 3 12 7 +5 15
5  Lithuania 10 1 3 6 7 20 –13 6
6  Malta 10 0 1 9 3 25 –22 1

Group G

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Spain 10 9 1 0 36 3 +33 28 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Italy 10 7 2 1 21 8 +13 23 Second round
3  Albania 10 4 1 5 10 13 -3 13
4  Israel 10 4 0 6 10 15 -5 12
5  Macedonia 10 3 2 5 15 15 0 11
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 1 39 –38 0

Group H

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Belgium 10 9 1 0 43 6 +37 28 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Greece 10 5 4 1 17 6 +11 19 Second round
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 5 2 3 24 13 +11 17
4  Estonia 10 3 2 5 13 19 –6 11
5  Cyprus 10 3 1 6 9 18 -9 10
6  Gibraltar 10 0 0 10 3 47 –44 0

Group I

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Iceland 10 7 1 2 16 7 +9 22 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
2  Croatia 10 6 2 2 15 4 +11 20 Second round
3  Ukraine 10 5 2 3 13 9 +4 17
4  Turkey 10 4 3 3 14 13 +1 15
5  Finland 10 2 3 5 9 13 –4 9
6  Kosovo 10 0 1 9 3 24 –21 1

Ranking of runners-up

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Moves on to
1  Switzerland 10 9 0 1 23 7 +16 27 Second round
2  Italy 10 7 2 1 21 8 +13 23
3  Denmark 10 6 2 2 20 8 +12 20
4  Croatia 10 6 2 2 15 4 +11 20
5  Sweden 10 6 1 3 26 9 +17 19
6  Northern Ireland 10 6 1 3 17 6 +11 19
7  Greece 10 5 4 1 17 6 +11 19
8  Republic of Ireland 10 5 4 1 12 6 +6 19
2  Slovakia 10 6 0 4 17 7 +10 18

Second round

The best runners-up from the first round qualified for the second round. The draw occurred on 17 October 2017 in Zurich. The teams who win these matches will finally qualify for the world cup.

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland 0–1 Switzerland Switzerland 0–1 0–0
Croatia Croatia 4–1 Greece Greece 4–1 0–0
Denmark Denmark 5–1 Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 0–0 5–1
Sweden Sweden 1–0 Italy Italy 1–0 0–0

Qualified teams

Team Qualified as Qualified on
 Belgium Group H winners 3 September 2017
 Croatia Second round winners 12 November 2017
 Denmark Second round winners 14 November 2017
 England Group F winners 5 October 2017
 France Group A winners 10 October 2017
 Germany Group C winners 5 October 2017
 Iceland Group I winners 9 October 2017
 Poland Group E winners 8 October 2017
 Portugal Group B winners 10 October 2017
 Russia Host 2 December 2010
 Serbia Group D winners 9 October 2017
 Spain Group G winners 6 October 2017
 Sweden Second round winners 13 November 2017
 Switzerland Second round winners 12 November 2017

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Clasificación de UEFA para la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2018 para niños


Seeding and draw

The second round draw took place on 17 October 2017 at 14:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. Teams were seeded based on October 2017 FIFA World Rankings (shown below in brackets), with each tie seeing a seeded team drawn against an unseeded team. Each tie's order of legs was decided as part of the draw.

The draw was conducted by Mexican TV presenter Vanessa Huppenkothen with the assistance of former Spain international Fernando Hierro.

Pot 1 Pot 2

 Switzerland (11)
 Italy (15)
 Croatia (18)
 Denmark (19)

 Northern Ireland (23)
 Sweden (25)
 Republic of Ireland (26)
 Greece (47)

Playoffs

The first legs were played on 9–11 November, and the second legs were played on 12–14 November 2017.

Times are CET (UTC+1) as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Switzerland  1–0  Northern Ireland 1–0 0–0
Croatia  4–1  Greece 4–1 0–0
Denmark  5–1  Republic of Ireland 0–0 5–1
Sweden  1–0  Italy 1–0 0–0


9 November 2017 (2017-11-09)
20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)
 Northern Ireland  0–1  Switzerland Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 18,269
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
  • Rodríguez Goal 58' (pen.)
12 November 2017 (2017-11-12)
18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)
 Switzerland  0–0  Northern Ireland St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 36,000
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Switzerland won 1–0 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

9 November 2017 (2017-11-09)
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)
 Croatia  4–1  Greece Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Attendance: 30,013
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
  • Papastathopoulos Goal 30'
12 November 2017 (2017-11-12)
20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)
 Greece  0–0  Croatia Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 18,667
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Croatia won 4–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

11 November 2017 (2017-11-11)
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)
 Denmark  0–0  Republic of Ireland Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Attendance: 36,189
Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
14 November 2017 (2017-11-14)
20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)
 Republic of Ireland  1–5  Denmark Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Denmark won 5–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

10 November 2017 (2017-11-10)
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)
 Sweden  1–0  Italy Friends Arena, Solna
Attendance: 49,193
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)
  • Johansson Goal 61'
 Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
13 November 2017 (2017-11-13)
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)
 Italy  0–0  Sweden San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 72,696
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Sweden won 1–0 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Goalscorers

There were 13 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 1.63 goals per match.

3 goals
1 goal

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:

  • 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)
David Meyler  Republic of Ireland Booked vs Wales (24 March 2017)
Booked vs Wales (9 October 2017)		 vs Denmark (11 November 2017)
Mikael Lustig  Sweden Booked vs Netherlands (6 September 2016)
Booked vs Netherlands (9 October 2017)		 vs Italy (10 November 2017)
Corry Evans  Northern Ireland Booked vs Azerbaijan (11 November 2016)
Booked vs Switzerland (9 November 2017)		 vs Switzerland (12 November 2017)
Marco Verratti  Italy Booked vs Spain (2 September 2017)
Booked vs Sweden (10 November 2017)		 vs Sweden (13 November 2017)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Segunda ronda de la clasificación de UEFA para la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2018 para niños

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