2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) facts for kids
The UEFA 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was a big football tournament. It happened between September 4, 2016, and November 14, 2017. Its main goal was to figure out which football teams from Europe would get to play in the exciting 2018 FIFA World Cup. A famous player named Robert Lewandowski scored the most goals in this tournament, with 16 goals!
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How Teams Qualified for the World Cup
To get into the World Cup, European teams had to go through two main stages: the First Round and the Second Round.
First Round: Group Stage
The first part of the qualification was called the First Round.
- There were 9 groups, and each group had 6 teams.
- The team that finished first in each group automatically got a spot in the 2018 World Cup.
- The best second-place teams (runners-up) from these groups got another chance. They moved on to the Second Round.
- The teams were put into their groups during a special draw on July 25, 2015, in Saint Petersburg.
Here are a few examples of how the groups looked:
Group A Results
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Moves on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France |
10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 23 | Qualified for 2018 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 |  Sweden |
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 19 | Moved to 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 Results
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Moves on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Portugal |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 4 | +28 | 27 | Qualified for 2018 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 |  Switzerland |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 27 | Moved to 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 Results
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Moves on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany |
10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 4 | +39 | 30 | Qualified for 2018 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 |  Northern Ireland |
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 19 | Moved to 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 |
Ranking of Runners-Up
After the group stage, the second-place teams were ranked to see which ones would get to play in the Second Round. The team with the lowest points (Slovakia in this case) did not make it to the next stage.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Moves on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 27 | Moved to 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 | |
| 9 |  Slovakia |
10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 18 | Did not qualify |
Second Round: Play-offs
The best second-place teams from the First Round moved on to the Second Round. This stage was like a mini-tournament where teams played against each other in two matches (home and away).
- The draw for these matches happened on October 17, 2017, in Zurich.
- The teams that won these play-off matches earned their final spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup!
Here are the results of the play-off matches:
| Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland |
0–1 |  Switzerland |
0–1 | 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 |
Teams That Qualified
In the end, 14 European teams made it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. One of them, Russia, qualified automatically because they were the host country. The other 13 teams earned their spots through these qualification rounds.
| Team | How they Qualified | When they Qualified |
|---|---|---|
 Belgium |
Winners of Group H | September 3, 2017 |
| Croatia |
Won their Second Round match | November 12, 2017 |
| Denmark |
Won their Second Round match | November 14, 2017 |
 England |
Winners of Group F | October 5, 2017 |
| France |
Winners of Group A | October 10, 2017 |
| Germany |
Winners of Group C | October 5, 2017 |
 Iceland |
Winners of Group I | October 9, 2017 |
 Poland |
Winners of Group E | October 8, 2017 |
| Portugal |
Winners of Group B | October 10, 2017 |
 Russia |
Host country | December 2, 2010 |
 Serbia |
Winners of Group D | October 9, 2017 |
 Spain |
Winners of Group G | October 6, 2017 |
| Sweden |
Won their Second Round match | November 13, 2017 |
| Switzerland |
Won their Second Round match | November 12, 2017 |
See also
In Spanish: Clasificación de UEFA para la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2018 para niños
