The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group I was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Croatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland, and Kosovo.
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] Kosovo was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Gibraltar in May 2016, [3] and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in group H as the UEFA Emergency Panel considered that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should not play against Kosovo for security reasons. [4] [5]
The group winners, Iceland, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Croatia, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best 8 runners-up. This was the first time Ukraine was eliminated after the first round, as the team had been eliminated in 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 after the play-offs, and qualified in 2006.
| 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): [6]
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 22 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | ||
| 2 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 20 | Advance to second round | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 17 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |||
| 4 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 15 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 5 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 9 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | |||
| 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 24 | −21 | 1 | 1–2 | 0–6 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | — |
The fixture list prior to the inclusion of Kosovo was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw. [1] [7] Times are CET/CEST, [note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses). [8]
| Croatia | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Finland | 1–1 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Ukraine | 1–1 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Iceland | 3–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Kosovo | 0–6 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Turkey | 2–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Ukraine | 3–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Iceland | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Croatia | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Ukraine | 1–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Turkey | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Kosovo | 1–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Finland | 1–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kosovo | 1–4 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Finland | 1–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Croatia | 1–0 [note 7] | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Ukraine | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Iceland | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Kosovo | 0–1 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Turkey | 1–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Croatia | 1–1 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kosovo | 0–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Turkey | 0–3 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Finland | 2–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Iceland | 2–0 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Ukraine | 0–2 | |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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There were 70 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.33 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences: [15]
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:
| Player | Team | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aron Gunnarsson | vs Turkey (9 October 2016) | ||
| Niklas Moisander | vs Ukraine (12 November 2016) | ||
| Hekuran Kryeziu | vs Turkey (12 November 2016) | ||
| Emre Mor | vs Kosovo (12 November 2016) | ||
| Ivan Perišić | vs Ukraine (24 March 2017) | ||
| Thomas Lam | vs Turkey (24 March 2017) | ||
| Theódór Elmar Bjarnason | vs Kosovo (24 March 2017) | ||
| Enis Alushi | vs Iceland (24 March 2017) | ||
| Eduard Sobol | vs Croatia (24 March 2017) | ||
| Paulus Arajuuri | vs Ukraine (11 June 2017) | ||
| Alexander Ring | |||
| Bernard Berisha | vs Croatia (2 September 2017) | ||
| Burak Yılmaz | vs Ukraine (2 September 2017) | ||
| Yaroslav Rakitskiy | vs Turkey (2 September 2017) | ||
| Jere Uronen | vs Kosovo (5 September 2017) | ||
| Rúrik Gíslason | vs Ukraine (5 September 2017) | ||
| Milan Badelj | vs Finland (6 October 2017) | ||
| Robin Lod | vs Croatia (6 October 2017) | ||
| Emil Hallfreðsson | vs Turkey (6 October 2017) | ||
| Bernard Berisha | vs Ukraine (6 October 2017) | ||
| Valon Berisha | |||
| Hakan Çalhanoğlu | vs Iceland (6 October 2017) | ||
| Viktor Kovalenko | vs Kosovo (6 October 2017) | ||
| Oleksandr Zinchenko | |||
| Hekuran Kryeziu | vs Iceland (9 October 2017) | ||
| Caner Erkin | vs Finland (9 October 2017) | ||
| Artem Kravets | vs Croatia (9 October 2017) | ||
| Ivan Ordets |