2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group H was one of the ten UEFA groups in the World Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Qatar. ^[1] Group H consisted of six teams: Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia. ^[2] The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. ^[3]

The group winners, Croatia, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Russia, advanced to the second round (play-offs), but they were later suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ^[4]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	10	7	2	1	21	4	+17	23	Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0	3–0
2	Russia [a]	10	7	1	2	19	6	+13	22	Advance to play-offs		0–0	—	1–0	2–1	6–0	2–0
3	Slovakia	10	3	5	2	17	10	+7	14			0–1	2–1	—	2–2	2–0	2–2
4	Slovenia	10	4	2	4	13	12	+1	14			1–0	1–2	1–1	—	2–1	1–0
5	Cyprus	10	1	2	7	4	21	−17	5			0–3	0–2	0–0	1–0	—	2–2
6	Malta	10	1	2	7	9	30	−21	5			1–7	1–3	0–6	0–4	3–0	—

Source: FIFA, UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. On 28 February 2022, FIFA suspended Russia from international competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ^[4]

Matches

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw. ^{[5] [6] [7]} Times are CET/CEST, ^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)

20:45 (21:45 UTC+2)

Cyprus	0–0	Slovakia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 0 ^{[8] [note 2]}

Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)

20:45

Malta	1–3	Russia
J. Mbong 56'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Dzyuba 23' Fernandes 35' Sobolev 90'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 0 ^{[9] [note 2]}

Referee: Peter Kjaesgaard (Denmark)

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)

20:45

Slovenia	1–0	Croatia
Lovrić 15'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana

Attendance: 0 ^{[10] [note 2]}

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

---

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)

15:00 (17:00 UTC+3)

Russia	2–1	Slovenia
Dzyuba 26', 35'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Iličić 36'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 13,008 ^[11]

Referee: Marco Di Bello (Italy)

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)

18:00

Croatia	1–0	Cyprus
Pašalić 40'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka

Attendance: 0 ^{[12] [note 2]}

Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)

20:45

Slovakia	2–2	Malta
Strelec 49' Škriniar 53'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Gambin 16' Satariano 20'

Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava

Attendance: 0 ^{[13] [note 2]}

Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

---

30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)

18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)

Cyprus	1–0	Slovenia
Pittas 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 0 ^{[14] [note 2]}

Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden)

30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)

20:45

Croatia	3–0	Malta
Perišić 62' Modrić 76' (pen.) Brekalo 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka

Attendance: 0 ^{[15] [note 2]}

Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Switzerland)

30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)

20:45

Slovakia	2–1	Russia
Škriniar 38' Mak 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Fernandes 71'

Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava

Attendance: 0 ^{[16] [note 2]}

Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

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1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

20:45

Malta	3–0	Cyprus
Attard 44', 54' J. Mbong 46'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 2,686 ^[17]

Referee: Fabio Maresca (Italy)

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Russia	0–0	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 18,708 ^[18]

Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (Israel)

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

20:45

Slovenia	1–1	Slovakia
Stojanović 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Boženík 32'

Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana

Attendance: 4,034 ^[19]

Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

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4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)

18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)

Cyprus	0–2	Russia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Yerokhin 6' Zhemaletdinov 55'

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 1,645 ^[20]

Referee: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain)

4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)

18:00

Slovenia	1–0	Malta
Lovrić 45' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana

Attendance: 4,571 ^[21]

Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)

20:45

Slovakia	0–1	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Brozović 86'

Tehelné pole, Bratislava

Attendance: 9,047 ^[22]

Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)

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7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)

20:45

Croatia	3–0	Slovenia
Livaja 33' Pašalić 66' Vlašić 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Poljud, Split

Attendance: 16,237 ^[23]

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)

20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Russia	2–0	Malta
Smolov 10' Bakayev 84' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 10,508 ^[24]

Referee: Ali Palabıyık (Turkey)

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)

20:45

Slovakia	2–0	Cyprus
Schranz 55' Koscelník 77'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Tehelné pole, Bratislava

Attendance: 6,762 ^[25]

Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)

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8 October 2021 (2021-10-08)

20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Cyprus	0–3	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Perišić 45+2' Gvardiol 80' Livaja 90+2'

AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, Larnaca

Attendance: 2,333 ^[26]

Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

8 October 2021 (2021-10-08)

20:45

Malta	0–4	Slovenia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Iličić 27', 60' Šporar 49' Šeško 67'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 3,967 ^[27]

Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)

8 October 2021 (2021-10-08)

20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Russia	1–0	Slovakia
Škriniar 24' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Ak Bars Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 9,588 ^[28]

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

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11 October 2021 (2021-10-11)

18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)

Cyprus	2–2	Malta
Papoulis 7' Sotiriou 80'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Z. Muscat 53' Degabriele 90+8'

AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, Larnaca

Attendance: 1,405 ^[29]

Referee: Dennis Higler (Netherlands)

11 October 2021 (2021-10-11)

20:45

Croatia	2–2	Slovakia
Kramarić 25' Modrić 71'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Schranz 20' Haraslín 45'

Gradski Vrt Stadium, Osijek

Attendance: 9,926 ^[30]

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

11 October 2021 (2021-10-11)

20:45

Slovenia	1–2	Russia
Iličić 40'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Diveyev 28' Dzhikiya 32'

Ljudski vrt, Maribor

Attendance: 6,524 ^[31]

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

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11 November 2021 (2021-11-11)

18:00 (20:00 UTC+3)

Russia	6–0	Cyprus
Yerokhin 4', 87' Smolov 55' Mostovoy 56' Sutormin 62' Zabolotny 82'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 10,108 ^[32]

Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland)

11 November 2021 (2021-11-11)

20:45

Malta	1–7	Croatia
Brozović 31' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Perišić 6' Ćaleta-Car 22' Pašalić 39' Modrić 45+1' Majer 47', 64' Kramarić 53'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 4,581 ^[33]

Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)

11 November 2021 (2021-11-11)

20:45

Slovakia	2–2	Slovenia
Duda 58' (pen.) Strelec 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Zajc 18' Mevlja 62'

Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava

Attendance: 2,726 ^[34]

Referee: Mattias Gestranius (Finland)

---

14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)

15:00

Croatia	1–0	Russia
Kudryashov 81' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadion Poljud, Split

Attendance: 30,257 ^[35]

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)

15:00

Malta	0–6	Slovakia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Rusnák 6', 16' Duda 8', 69', 80' De Marco 72'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 3,293 ^[36]

Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)

14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)

15:00

Slovenia	2–1	Cyprus
Zajc 48' Gnezda Čerin 84'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Kakoullis 89'

Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana

Attendance: 5,117 ^[37]

Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Russia)

Goalscorers

There were 83 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.77 goals per match.

4 goals

• Ondrej Duda
• Josip Iličić

3 goals

• Luka Modrić
• Mario Pašalić
• Ivan Perišić
• Artem Dzyuba
• Aleksandr Yerokhin

2 goals

• Andrej Kramarić
• Marko Livaja
• Lovro Majer
• Cain Attard
• Joseph Mbong
• Mário Fernandes
• Fyodor Smolov
• Albert Rusnák
• Ivan Schranz
• Milan Škriniar
• David Strelec
• Sandi Lovrić
• Miha Zajc

1 goal

• Josip Brekalo
• Marcelo Brozović
• Duje Ćaleta-Car
• Joško Gvardiol
• Nikola Vlašić
• Andronikos Kakoullis
• Fotis Papoulis
• Ioannis Pittas
• Pieros Sotiriou
• Jurgen Degabriele
• Luke Gambin
• Zach Muscat
• Alexander Satariano
• Zelimkhan Bakayev
• Igor Diveyev
• Georgi Dzhikiya
• Andrei Mostovoy
• Aleksandr Sobolev
• Aleksei Sutormin
• Anton Zabolotny
• Rifat Zhemaletdinov
• Róbert Boženík
• Vernon De Marco
• Lukáš Haraslín
• Martin Koscelník
• Róbert Mak
• Adam Gnezda Čerin
• Miha Mevlja
• Benjamin Šeško
• Andraž Šporar
• Petar Stojanović

1 own goal

• Marcelo Brozović (against Malta)
• Fyodor Kudryashov (against Croatia)
• Milan Škriniar (against Russia)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences: ^[38]

• 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:

Team	Player	Offence(s)	Suspended for match(es)
Croatia	Borna Barišić	vs Slovenia (24 March 2021) vs Slovakia (11 October 2021)	vs Malta (11 November 2021)
	Mateo Kovačić	vs Cyprus (27 March 2021) vs Cyprus (8 October 2021)	vs Slovakia (11 October 2021)
	Marko Rog	vs Portugal in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League (17 November 2020)	vs Slovenia (24 March 2021) [39]
	Domagoj Vida	vs Slovenia (24 March 2021) vs Malta (30 March 2021)	vs Russia (1 September 2021)
Cyprus	Kostakis Artymatas	vs Russia (4 September 2021) vs Croatia (8 October 2021)	vs Malta (11 October 2021)
	Andreas Avraam	vs Slovakia (7 September 2021) vs Croatia (8 October 2021)
	Constantinos Soteriou	vs Malta (1 September 2021)	vs Russia (4 September 2021)
Malta	Ryan Camenzuli	vs Slovakia (27 March 2021) vs Russia (7 September 2021)	vs Slovenia (8 October 2021)
	Joseph Mbong	vs Cyprus (1 September 2021) vs Slovenia (8 October 2021)	vs Cyprus (11 October 2021)
	Enrico Pepe	vs Slovenia (4 September 2021) vs Croatia (11 November 2021)	vs Slovakia (14 November 2021)
	Alexander Satariano	vs Slovenia (4 September 2021) vs Slovenia (8 October 2021)	vs Cyprus (11 October 2021)
Russia	Aleksei Miranchuk	vs Slovenia (27 March 2021) vs Malta (7 September 2021)	vs Slovakia (8 October 2021)
	Rifat Zhemaletdinov	vs Malta (24 March 2021) vs Slovakia (30 March 2021)	vs Croatia (1 September 2021)
Slovakia	Dávid Hancko	vs Cyprus (7 September 2021) vs Croatia (11 October 2021)	vs Slovenia (11 November 2021)
	Juraj Kucka	vs Russia (8 October 2021) vs Croatia (11 October 2021)
	Peter Pekarík	vs Croatia (4 September 2021) vs Slovenia (11 November 2021)	vs Malta (14 November 2021)
	Ivan Schranz	vs Slovenia (1 September 2021) vs Croatia (11 October 2021)	vs Slovenia (11 November 2021)
Slovenia	Jaka Bijol	vs Croatia (7 September 2021) vs Russia (11 October 2021)	vs Slovakia (11 November 2021)
	Miha Blažič	vs Slovakia (11 November 2021)	vs Cyprus (14 November 2021)
	Adam Gnezda Čerin	vs Slovakia (1 September 2021) vs Russia (11 October 2021)	vs Slovakia (11 November 2021)
	Josip Iličić	vs Cyprus (30 March 2021) vs Slovakia (1 September 2021)	vs Malta (4 September 2021)
	Jasmin Kurtić	vs Croatia (24 March 2021) vs Cyprus (30 March 2021)	vs Slovakia (1 September 2021)
		vs Malta (4 September 2021) vs Russia (11 October 2021)	vs Slovakia (11 November 2021)
	Miha Mevlja	vs Croatia (24 March 2021) vs Russia (27 March 2021)	vs Cyprus (30 March 2021)

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches until 27 March and from 31 October (matchday 1–2 and 9–10), and CEST (UTC+2) for matches from 28 March to 30 October 2021 (matchday 3–8).
2. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.

References

1. "UEFA preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup 2022: Draw procedures" (PDF). FIFA . 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
2. "FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition – Draw Results" (PDF). UEFA. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
3. "UEFA preliminary competition format for the FIFA World Cup 2022" (PDF). FIFA. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
4. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA . 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
5. "European Qualifiers for 2022 World Cup: all the fixtures". UEFA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
6. "Fixture List – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
7. "Fixture List by Group – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
8. "Cyprus vs. Slovakia" (JSON). UEFA. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
9. "Malta vs. Russia" (JSON). UEFA. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
10. "Slovenia vs. Croatia" (JSON). UEFA. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
11. "Russia vs. Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
12. "Croatia vs. Cyprus" (JSON). UEFA. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
13. "Slovakia vs. Malta" (JSON). UEFA. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
14. "Cyprus vs. Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
15. "Croatia vs. Malta" (JSON). UEFA. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
16. "Slovakia vs. Russia" (JSON). UEFA. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
17. "Malta vs. Cyprus" (JSON). UEFA. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
18. "Russia vs. Croatia" (JSON). UEFA. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
19. "Slovenia vs. Slovakia" (JSON). UEFA. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
20. "Cyprus vs. Russia" (JSON). UEFA. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
21. "Slovenia vs. Malta" (JSON). UEFA. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
22. "Slovakia vs. Croatia" (JSON). UEFA. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
23. "Croatia vs. Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
24. "Russia vs. Malta" (JSON). UEFA. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
25. "Slovakia vs. Cyprus" (JSON). UEFA. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
26. "Cyprus vs. Croatia" (JSON). UEFA. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
27. "Malta vs. Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
28. "Russia vs. Slovakia" (JSON). UEFA. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
29. "Cyprus vs. Malta" (JSON). UEFA. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
30. "Croatia vs. Slovakia" (JSON). UEFA. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
31. "Slovenia vs. Russia" (JSON). UEFA. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
32. "Russia vs. Cyprus" (JSON). UEFA. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
33. "Malta vs. Croatia" (JSON). UEFA. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
34. "Slovakia vs. Slovenia" (JSON). UEFA. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
35. "Croatia vs. Russia" (JSON). UEFA. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
36. "Malta vs. Slovakia" (JSON). UEFA. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
37. "Slovenia vs. Cyprus" (JSON). UEFA. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
38. "Regulations FIFA World Cup 2022 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
39. "Disciplinary matters" (PDF). UEFA . 24 March 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.

External links

• Official FIFA World Cup website
• Qualifiers – Europe, FIFA.com
• European Qualifiers, UEFA.com