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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. Kosovo was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Gibraltar in May 2016, and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in group H together with Bosnia and Herzegovina for security reasons. 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. Standin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification (UEFA)
The European section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Russia, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Apart from Russia, who qualified automatically as hosts, a total of 13 slots in the final tournament were available for UEFA teams. The qualifying format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 22–23 March 2015 in Vienna. The qualification process started on 4 September 2016, almost two months after UEFA Euro 2016, and ended on 14 November 2017. Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland (for the first time), Poland, Portugal, Serbia, and Spain qualified in the first round by winning their groups. Croatia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland qualified by winning their playoffs. Four-time champions Italy did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, missing out on qualification for the first time since 1958 after losing in the playoffs t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hakan Çalhanoğlu
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (, born 8 February 1994) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Inter Milan and the Turkey national team, which he captains. He is well renowned as a free kick specialist, known for being effective from a multitude of angles and distances. He began his career at German second division club Karlsruher SC in 2010 and moved to top-flight side Hamburg two years later, spending another season back at his first club on loan. His performance in his first Bundesliga season earned him a €14.5 million transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in 2014. He played for three seasons there, totalling 28 goals in 115 official appearances. In 2017, he signed for Milan for an initial €20 million fee. Milan Fans later started to hate the player after he left for their local rivals. Born in Germany, Çalhanoğlu opted to represent Turkey at international level, from under-16 level onwards. He made his senior debut in 2013 and was part of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex
The Olympic National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium; uk, Національний спортивний комплекс "Олімпійський", translit=Natsionalnyi sportyvnyi kompleks "Olimpiiskyi") is a multi-use sports and recreation facility in Kyiv, Ukraine, located on the slopes of the city's central Cherepanova Hora (Cherepanov Hill), Pecherskyi District. The Olympic National Sports Complex Stadium, the home of FC Dynamo Kyiv, is the premier sports venue in Ukraine and the sixteenth largest in Europe. Since May 2020, the stadium is also used for the home matches of Shakhtar Donetsk due to the war in Donbas. The complex beside its stadium also features several other sports facilities and is designed to host the Olympic Games (the stadium hosted some football matches at the 1980 Summer Olympics). Following extensive renovation works, including the construction of a new roof, the stadium was reopened on 9 October 2011 with a performance by Shakira and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfreð Finnbogason
Alfreð Finnbogason (born 1 February 1989) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danish Superliga club Lyngby Boldklub and the Iceland national team. With Heerenveen, Alfreð was the Dutch Eredivisie's top scorer in the 2013–14 season with 29 goals, a tally topped only by Luis Suárez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jonathan Soriano in Europe's top leagues that season. Alfreð made his debut for the Iceland national team against the Faroe Islands in 2010. He has earned 63 caps to date, scoring 15 goals. He was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he became the first Icelander to score a goal in the FIFA World Cup. Club career Born in Grindavík, Alfreð played for Ungmennafélag Grindavíkur's youth teams while also spending two years of his childhood in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Alfreð played for boys' club Hutchison Vale, and became a fan of Hibernian, while his father studied in the city. Breiðablik upl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andriy Yarmolenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Yarmolenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Ярмоленко; born 23 October 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Emirati UAE Pro League club Al Ain and captains the Ukraine national team. Yarmolenko has been a full international for Ukraine since 2009, scoring 45 goals in 112 matches and playing at UEFA Euro 2012, Euro 2016, and Euro 2020. Early life Yarmolenko's parents, native Ukrainians, were originally from Smolianka village, Kulykivka Raion, Chernihiv Oblast. After their marriage, Valentyna and Mykola Yarmolenko moved to Leningrad (modern-day Saint Petersburg) where Andriy was born in 1989. After a period of three years (after the collapse of the Soviet Union), the family moved back to their native country and settled in the city of Chernihiv. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slovak Football Association
The Slovak Football Association ( sk, Slovenský futbalový zväz, SFZ) is the governing body of football in Slovakia based in Bratislava. It has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Slovakia and is the body that runs the Slovakia national football teams. It was founded on 4 November 1938 and originally became a member of FIFA in 1939, but disbanded after World War II because Czech and Slovak football competitions combined, and so did the national teams. Following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, the organisation was reformed, joining the European governing body, UEFA, in 1993 and rejoining FIFA in 1994. National teams The Slovak Football Association runs the Slovakia national football team, as well as male youth teams at under-21, under-19, under-18, under-17, under-16 and under-15 level. In addition to this, it also organises the Slovakia women's national football team. Slovakia have played in three major tournaments since the breakup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Kružliak
Ivan Kružliak (born 24 March 1984 ) is a Slovak football referee. He refereed at 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. He also refereed in the Wembley 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier between England and Moldova. The game was a 4-0 victory for the home side. See also * List of FIFA international referees This is a list of current FIFA international referees. Years in brackets indicate when the referee was added to the FIFA International Referees List. Afghanistan Men's Referees * Halim Shirzad (2019) Assistant Referees * Nangy ... References 1984 births Living people Slovak football referees UEFA Europa League referees {{Slovakia-footy-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 1634–1997). The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Capital Region area and Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially bilingual as percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue. It is unknown when Turku gained city rights. The Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town ''Aboa'' in his ''Bulla'' in 1229 and the year is now used as the foundation year of Turku. Turku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veritas Stadion
Veritas Stadion is an association football stadium in Turku, Finland. It is situated in the district of Kupittaa, in an area dedicated to sporting venues. The stadium serves as the home venue for FC Inter Turku and Turun Palloseura playing in Finland's premier football league, the ''Veikkausliiga''. The stadium underwent an expansion in 2009, when a stand with 1,644 seats was built to meet the demands for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009. The stadium has a capacity of 9,372 spectators, with 8,072 seats and 1,300 standing places. In Veritas Stadion there are two stands opposite to each other. The old Olympic stand (Olympiakatsomo) was built for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the new, modern main stand was ready in 2003. After that the name of the stadium was changed to ''Veritas Stadion'', having formerly been known simply as the "Kupittaa football stadium" (''Kupittaan jalkapallostadion''). The old Kupittaa Stadium's record attendance was approximately 15,000 spectators for the 1987–8 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valon Berisha
Valon Berisha (born 7 February 1993) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League club Melbourne City, on loan from Ligue 1 club Reims, and the Kosovo national team. He previously represented Norway at youth and full international level. Club career Early years Berisha was born in Malmö, Sweden, to Kosovan immigrants from Podujevo, but grew up in Norway, living in Egersund, a town south of Stavanger. He spent his early years at local club Egersunds IK. Berisha spent three trial periods with Premier League side Chelsea between the ages of 14 and 15, whilst also spending time with Manchester City and Aston Villa. The latter two clubs offered him a contract, both of which he turned down in favour of staying in Norway.n_Eredivisiewhich_focuses_on_young_players." _Red_Bull_Salzburg In_July_2012,_Berisha_signed_a_deal_with_FC_Red_Bull_Salzburg.html" ;"title="Eredivisie">n_Eredivisie.html" ;"title="Eredivisie.html" ;"title="n Eredivisie">n Ered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paulus Arajuuri
Paulus Verneri Arajuuri (born 15 June 1988) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for HIFK. He began his senior club career playing for FC Espoo, before making his Veikkausliiga debut with Honka at age 18 in 2006. Arajuuri made his international debut for Finland in January 2010 at the age of 21. Club career Early career Arajuuri made his debut on senior level in the ranks of FC Espoo during the 2005 season of the third-tier Kakkonen. He gained eight caps and scored one goal. During the 2006 season, he made his debut in the Veikkausliiga with FC Honka against rivals HJK Helsinki. In that season, he was also sent on loan back to FC Espoo for 8 matches. For the season 2007 he joined HJK Helsinki. He did not make any appearances in the first team, but spent the whole season playing for the reserve team Klubi 04 in the second-tier Ykkönen. IFK Mariehamn Originally from Helsinki, Arajuuri moved to Åland and their premier side, IFK Mariehamn, in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish Football Association
The Polish Football Association ( pl, Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej; PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the Ekstraklasa), the Polish Cup and the Polish national football team. It is based in the Polish capital of Warsaw. History The fully independent federation was established 20 December 1919 engulfing the autonomous Polish Football Union (PFU) that was part of the disintegrated Austrian Football Union. The PFU was established on 25 June 1911 in Lwów, Austria-Hungary. Between 1911 and 1919 the national team of Poland played three games at the Czarni Lwów's stadium. The team was composed mainly of players from the city of Lwów. When the Wehrmacht invaded Poland in September 1939, all Polish institutions and associations were dissolved, including the PZPN. The German occupying forces forbade Poles to organise football matches. In September 2008, the leadership of the PZPN was suspended by the Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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