2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

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 together with Bosnia and Herzegovina 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.

Standings

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): [6] Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Overall goal difference Overall 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 was 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	Iceland	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	Croatia	10	6	2	2	15	4	+11	20	Advance to second round		2–0	—	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0
3	Ukraine	10	5	2	3	13	9	+4	17			1–1	0–2	—	2–0	1–0	3–0
4	Turkey	10	4	3	3	14	13	+1	15			0–3	1–0	2–2	—	2–0	2–0
5	Finland	10	2	3	5	9	13	−4	9			1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	—	1–1
6	Kosovo	10	0	1	9	3	24	−21	1			1–2	0–6	0–2	1–4	0–1	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

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]

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	1–1	Turkey
Rakitić 44' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Çalhanoğlu 45+3'

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 0 ^{[note 2]}

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Finland	1–1	Kosovo
Arajuuri 18'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	V. Berisha 60' (pen.)

Veritas Stadion, Turku

Attendance: 7,571

Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Ukraine	1–1	Iceland
Yarmolenko 41'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Finnbogason 6'

Olympic Stadium, Kyiv

Attendance: 0 ^{[note 3]}

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

---

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Iceland	3–2	Finland
Árnason 37' Finnbogason 90+1' R. Sigurðsson 90+6'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Pukki 21' Lod 39'

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,548

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Kosovo	0–6	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mandžukić 6', 24', 35' Mitrović 68' Perišić 83' N. Kalinić 90+2'

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania) ^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 14,612

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Turkey	2–2	Ukraine
Tufan 45+1' Çalhanoğlu 81' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Yarmolenko 24' (pen.) Kravets 27'

Torku Arena, Konya

Attendance: 36,714

Referee: Manuel Gräfe (Germany)

---

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Finland	0–1	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mandžukić 18'

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 15,567

Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Ukraine	3–0	Kosovo
Kravets 31' Yarmolenko 81' Rotan 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Józef Piłsudski Stadium, Kraków (Poland) ^{[note 5]}

Attendance: 999

Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Iceland	2–0	Turkey
T. Bjarnason 42' Finnbogason 44'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)

---

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Croatia	2–0	Iceland
Brozović 15', 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 0 ^{[note 2]}

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00 ^{[note 6]}
(20:00 UTC+3)

Turkey	2–0	Kosovo
Yılmaz 51' Şen 55'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

New Antalya Stadium, Antalya

Attendance: 26,555

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Ukraine	1–0	Finland
Kravets 25'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Chornomorets Stadium, Odesa

Attendance: 26,482

Referee: Jorge Sousa (Portugal)

---

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

18:00 ^{[note 6]}
(20:00 UTC+3)

Turkey	2–0	Finland
Tosun 9', 13'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

New Antalya Stadium, Antalya

Attendance: 28,990

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Croatia	1–0	Ukraine
N. Kalinić 38'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 27,351

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Kosovo	1–2	Iceland
Nuhiu 52'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	B. Sigurðarson 25' G. Sigurðsson 35' (pen.)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania) ^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 6,832

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

---

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Finland	1–2	Ukraine
Pohjanpalo 72'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Konoplyanka 51' Besyedin 75'

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 8,723

Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Iceland	1–0	Croatia
Magnússon 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Kosovo	1–4	Turkey
Rrahmani 22'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Şen 7' Ünder 31' Yılmaz 61' Tufan 82'

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania) ^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 3,758

Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

---

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Finland	1–0	Iceland
Ring 8'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 15,835

Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	1–0 [note 7]	Kosovo
Vida 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 6,839

Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Ukraine	2–0	Turkey
Yarmolenko 18', 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

Attendance: 36,796

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

---

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Iceland	2–0	Ukraine
G. Sigurðsson 47', 66'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,769

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Kosovo	0–1	Finland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Pukki 83'

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania) ^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 2,446

Referee: Manuel Schüttengruber (Austria)

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Turkey	1–0	Croatia
Tosun 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir

Attendance: 28,600

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

---

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	1–1	Finland
Mandžukić 57'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Soiri 90'

Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka

Attendance: 7,578

Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland)

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Kosovo	0–2	Ukraine
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Paqarada 60' (o.g.) Yarmolenko 88'

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania) ^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 1,261

Referee: Craig Pawson (England)

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Turkey	0–3	Iceland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Guðmundsson 32' Bjarnason 39' Árnason 50'

New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir

Attendance: 30,390

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

---

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Finland	2–2	Turkey
Arajuuri 76' Pohjanpalo 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Tosun 57', 83'

Veritas Stadion, Turku

Attendance: 6,612

Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Iceland	2–0	Kosovo
G. Sigurðsson 40' Guðmundsson 68'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Ukraine	0–2	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Kramarić 62', 70'

Olympic Stadium, Kyiv

Attendance: 60,200

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Goalscorers

There were 70 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.33 goals per match.

6 goals

• Andriy Yarmolenko

5 goals

• Mario Mandžukić
• Cenk Tosun

4 goals

• Gylfi Sigurðsson

3 goals

• Alfreð Finnbogason
• Artem Kravets

2 goals

• Marcelo Brozović
• Nikola Kalinić
• Andrej Kramarić
• Paulus Arajuuri
• Joel Pohjanpalo
• Teemu Pukki
• Kári Árnason
• Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson
• Hakan Çalhanoğlu
• Volkan Şen
• Ozan Tufan
• Burak Yılmaz

1 goal

• Matej Mitrović
• Ivan Perišić
• Ivan Rakitić
• Domagoj Vida
• Robin Lod
• Alexander Ring
• Pyry Soiri
• Birkir Bjarnason
• Theódór Elmar Bjarnason
• Hörður Björgvin Magnússon
• Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson
• Ragnar Sigurðsson
• Valon Berisha
• Atdhe Nuhiu
• Amir Rrahmani
• Cengiz Ünder
• Artem Besyedin
• Yevhen Konoplyanka
• Ruslan Rotan

1 own goal

• Leart Paqarada (against Ukraine)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences: ^[15]

• 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)
Aron Gunnarsson	Iceland	vs Ukraine (5 September 2016) vs Finland (6 October 2016)	vs Turkey (9 October 2016)
Niklas Moisander	Finland	vs Iceland (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (9 October 2016)	vs Ukraine (12 November 2016)
Hekuran Kryeziu	Kosovo	vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (9 October 2016)	vs Turkey (12 November 2016)
Emre Mor	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (9 October 2016)	vs Kosovo (12 November 2016)
Ivan Perišić	Croatia	vs Iceland (12 November 2016)	vs Ukraine (24 March 2017)
Thomas Lam	Finland	vs Kosovo (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (12 November 2016)	vs Turkey (24 March 2017)
Theódór Elmar Bjarnason	Iceland	vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Croatia (12 November 2016)	vs Kosovo (24 March 2017)
Enis Alushi	Kosovo	vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Turkey (12 November 2016)	vs Iceland (24 March 2017)
Eduard Sobol	Ukraine	vs Turkey (6 October 2016) vs Finland (12 November 2016)	vs Croatia (24 March 2017)
Paulus Arajuuri	Finland	vs Iceland (6 October 2016) vs Turkey (24 March 2017)	vs Ukraine (11 June 2017)
Alexander Ring		vs Croatia (9 October 2016) vs Turkey (24 March 2017)
Bernard Berisha	Kosovo	vs Turkey (11 June 2017)	vs Croatia (2 September 2017)
Burak Yılmaz	Turkey	vs Kosovo (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (11 June 2017)	vs Ukraine (2 September 2017)
Yaroslav Rakitskiy	Ukraine	vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Finland (11 June 2017)	vs Turkey (2 September 2017)
Jere Uronen	Finland	vs Turkey (24 March 2017) vs Iceland (2 September 2017)	vs Kosovo (5 September 2017)
Rúrik Gíslason	Iceland	vs Finland (2 September 2017)	vs Ukraine (5 September 2017)
Milan Badelj	Croatia	vs Iceland (12 November 2016) vs Turkey (5 September 2017)	vs Finland (6 October 2017)
Robin Lod	Finland	vs Iceland (2 September 2017) vs Kosovo (5 September 2017)	vs Croatia (6 October 2017)
Emil Hallfreðsson	Iceland	vs Finland (2 September 2017) vs Ukraine (5 September 2017)	vs Turkey (6 October 2017)
Bernard Berisha	Kosovo	vs Turkey (11 June 2017) vs Finland (5 September 2017)	vs Ukraine (6 October 2017)
Valon Berisha		vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Finland (5 September 2017)
Hakan Çalhanoğlu	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (5 September 2017)	vs Iceland (6 October 2017)
Viktor Kovalenko	Ukraine	vs Finland (11 June 2017) vs Iceland (5 September 2017)	vs Kosovo (6 October 2017)
Oleksandr Zinchenko		vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Iceland (5 September 2017)
Hekuran Kryeziu	Kosovo	vs Iceland (24 March 2017) vs Ukraine (6 October 2017)	vs Iceland (9 October 2017)
Caner Erkin	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (6 October 2017)	vs Finland (9 October 2017)
Artem Kravets	Ukraine	vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (6 October 2017)	vs Croatia (9 October 2017)
Ivan Ordets		vs Turkey (6 October 2016) vs Kosovo (6 October 2017)

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 12 November 2016 and 24 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
2. Croatia were sanctioned by FIFA to play two home matches (against Turkey on 5 September 2016 and against Iceland on 12 November 2016) without spectators for two cases of discriminatory chants by fans, which occurred during friendly matches against Israel on 23 March 2016 and against Hungary on 26 March 2016, having already been sanctioned for similar incidents by FIFA and UEFA. ^[9]
3. Ukraine were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Iceland on 5 September 2016) without spectators for racist behaviour in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against San Marino at Arena Lviv, Lviv. In addition, the Football Federation of Ukraine were ordered not to play any of its 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches at Arena Lviv. ^{[10] [11]}
4. Kosovo play their home matches at Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër in Albania instead of their regular stadium, City Stadium, Pristina in Kosovo. ^[12]
5. The Ukraine v Kosovo match was played in a neutral venue due to Ukraine's non-recognition of Kosovo's travel documents. ^[13]
6. The home matches of Turkey against Kosovo and Finland were changed to 18:00 CET (20:00 local time) due to the decision of the Turkish government to use the UTC+3 time zone all year round starting from September 2016.
7. The Croatia v Kosovo match was suspended after 21 minutes due to torrential rain, with the score 0–0 at the time. The match was resumed on 3 September, 14:30 UTC+2. ^[14]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016.
2. "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
3. "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA.com. 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
4. "Kosovo to play in Group I in European Qualifiers". uefa.org. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
5. "Kosovo and Gibraltar assigned to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying groups". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016.
6. "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
7. "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
8. "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
9. "FIFA sanctions several football associations after discriminatory chants by fans". FIFA.com. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016.
10. "Sanctions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee against Ukraine and Peru". FIFA.com. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016.
11. "FIFA rejects Ukraine appeal; sanctions for discrimination upheld". FIFA.com. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016.
12. ""Loro Boriçi", shtëpia e përkohshme e Kosovës". Radio Television of Kosovo. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
13. "Ukraine's national teams to play Kosovo at neutral venues". InSerbia. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
14. "Croatia v Kosovo qualifier to resume on Sunday". uefa.com. 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017.
15. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (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 I, UEFA.com