Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group G was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Spain, Italy, Albania, Israel, Macedonia, and Liechtenstein.

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]

The group winners, Spain, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Italy, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best eight runners-up.

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):[3]
  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Overall goal difference
  3. Overall goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
  8. 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
  9. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 10 9 1 0 36 3 +33 28 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup 3–0 3–0 4–1 4–0 8–0
2  Italy 10 7 2 1 21 8 +13 23 Advance to second round 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 5–0
3  Albania 10 4 1 5 10 13 −3 13 0–2 0–1 0–3 2–1 2–0
4  Israel 10 4 0 6 10 15 −5 12 0–1 1–3 0–3 0–1 2–1
5  Macedonia 10 3 2 5 15 15 0 11 1–2 2–3 1–1 1–2 4–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 1 39 −38 0 0–8 0–4 0–2 0–1 0–3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw.[1][4] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).[5]

Albania 2–1[note 2] Macedonia
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Report (MacedonianFootball)
Israel 1–3 Italy
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 29,300
Spain 8–0 Liechtenstein
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 12,139
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (Wales)

Italy 1–1 Spain
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 38,470
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Liechtenstein 0–2 Albania
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 5,864
Macedonia 1–2 Israel
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Report (MacedonianFootball)
Attendance: 6,500

Israel 2–1 Liechtenstein
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)
Albania 0–2 Spain
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Macedonia 2–3 Italy
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 19,195

Albania 0–3 Israel
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Liechtenstein 0–4 Italy
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 5,864
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Spain 4–0 Macedonia
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Italy 2–0 Albania
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Liechtenstein 0–3 Macedonia
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 4,517
Spain 4–1 Israel
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 20,321

Israel 0–3 Albania
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 15,150
Italy 5–0 Liechtenstein
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 20,514
Macedonia 1–2 Spain
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 20,675
Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)

Albania 2–0 Liechtenstein
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 5,500
Israel 0–1 Macedonia
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 11,350
Spain 3–0 Italy
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Italy 1–0 Israel
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Liechtenstein 0–8 Spain
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 5,864
Macedonia 1–1 Albania
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 3,493

Italy 1–1 Macedonia
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Liechtenstein 0–1 Israel
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Spain 3–0 Albania
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Albania 0–1 Italy
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Israel 0–1 Spain
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Attendance: 28,700
Macedonia 4–0 Liechtenstein
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)

Goalscorers

There were 93 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.1 goals per match.

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[9]

  • 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)
Giorgio Chiellini  Italy Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Israel (5 September 2016) vs Spain (6 October 2016)
Eytan Tibi  Israel Red card vs Macedonia (6 October 2016) vs Liechtenstein (9 October 2016)
Marco Parolo  Italy Yellow card vs Spain (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Macedonia (9 October 2016)
vs Liechtenstein (12 November 2016)
Nicolas Hasler  Liechtenstein Yellow card vs Spain (5 September 2016)
Yellow card vs Israel (9 October 2016)
vs Italy (12 November 2016)
Etrit Berisha  Albania Red card vs Israel (12 November 2016) vs Italy (24 March 2017)
vs Israel (11 June 2017)
Berat Djimsiti vs Italy (24 March 2017)
David Goresh  Israel Yellow card vs Macedonia (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Albania (12 November 2016)
vs Spain (24 March 2017)
Daniel Kaufmann  Liechtenstein Yellow card vs Spain (5 September 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (12 November 2016)
vs Macedonia (24 March 2017)
Yves Oehri Yellow card vs Albania (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (12 November 2016)
Ezgjan Alioski  Macedonia Yellow card vs Italy (9 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Spain (12 November 2016)
vs Liechtenstein (24 March 2017)
Ansi Agolli  Albania Yellow card vs Spain (9 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (24 March 2017)
vs Israel (11 June 2017)
Michele Polverino  Liechtenstein Yellow card vs Spain (5 September 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (11 June 2017)
vs Albania (2 September 2017)
Leonardo Bonucci  Italy Yellow card vs Spain (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Spain (2 September 2017)
vs Israel (5 September 2017)
Elif Elmas  Macedonia Yellow card vs Spain (11 June 2017)
Yellow card vs Israel (2 September 2017)
vs Albania (5 September 2017)
Burim Kukeli  Albania Yellow card vs Italy (24 March 2017)
Yellow card vs Macedonia (5 September 2017)
vs Spain (6 October 2017)
Mërgim Mavraj Yellow card vs Spain (9 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Macedonia (5 September 2017)
Odise Roshi Yellow card vs Italy (24 March 2017)
Yellow card vs Macedonia (5 September 2017)
Almog Cohen  Israel Yellow card vs Macedonia (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (5 September 2017)
vs Liechtenstein (6 October 2017)
Kire Ristevski  Macedonia Yellow card vs Spain (11 June 2017)
Yellow card vs Albania (5 September 2017)
vs Italy (6 October 2017)
Sergio Busquets  Spain Yellow card vs Italy (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Liechtenstein (5 September 2017)
vs Albania (6 October 2017)
Azdren Llullaku  Albania Yellow card vs Israel (12 November 2016)
Yellow card vs Spain (6 October 2017)
vs Italy (9 October 2017)
Taulant Xhaka
Marcel Büchel  Liechtenstein Yellow card vs Israel (9 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Israel (6 October 2017)
vs Macedonia (9 October 2017)
Franz Burgmeier Yellow card vs Albania (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Israel (6 October 2017)
Nicolas Hasler Yellow card vs Macedonia (24 March 2017)
Yellow card vs Israel (6 October 2017)
Stefan Spirovski  Macedonia Yellow card vs Italy (9 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Italy (6 October 2017)
vs Liechtenstein (9 October 2017)
Gerard Piqué  Spain Yellow card vs Italy (6 October 2016)
Yellow card vs Albania (6 October 2017)
vs Israel (9 October 2017)
David Silva Yellow card vs Macedonia (11 June 2017)
Yellow card vs Albania (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. ^ The Albania v Macedonia match was suspended after 76 minutes due to adverse weather conditions, with the score 1–1 at the time. The match was resumed on 6 September 2016, 14:00 UTC+2.[6]
  3. ^ The venue of the Albania v Israel match was moved from Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër to Elbasan Arena, Elbasan due to a planned terrorist attack.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b "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. ^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
  4. ^ "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Rain stops Albania v Macedonia with score at 1-1". BBC Sport. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Albania's World Cup qualifier against Israel moved for 'security reasons'". ESPN FC. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Kosovo arrests 19 in Islamic State plot to attack Israel soccer match". The Times of Israel. 17 November 2016. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.