The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group I was one of the nine UEFA groups for

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

. The group consisted of six teams:

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

, and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. 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 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be wr ...

), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in

Strelna Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore o ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia. Kosovo was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

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 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. 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

Matches

The fixture list prior to the inclusion of Kosovo was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw. Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses). ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Goalscorers

There were 70 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of goals per match. ;6 goals *

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 th ...

;5 goals *

Mario Mandžukić Mario Mandžukić (; born 21 May 1986) is a Croatian football coach and a former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution ...

Cenk Tosun Cenk Tosun (; born 7 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş and the Turkey national team. After making one Bundesliga appearance for Eintracht Frankfurt, he transferred to Gaziantepspor i ...

;4 goals *

Gylfi Sigurðsson Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson (; transliterated as Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson; born 8 September 1989) is an Icelandic professional Association football, footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. ...

;3 goals *

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 ...

Artem Kravets Artem Anatoliyovich Kravets ( uk, Артем Анатолійович Кравець; born 3 June 1989) is a Ukrainian footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish club Sakaryaspor. Club career Dynamo Kyiv 2007–2009: Early years Kravets app ...

;2 goals *

Marcelo Brozović Marcelo Brozović (; born 16 November 1992) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Inter Milan and the Croatia national team. He represented his nation at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA ...

Nikola Kalinić Nikola Kalinić (; born 5 January 1988) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Croatian club Hajduk Split. Kalinić began his career with Hajduk Split in his native Croatia before moving to English club Blackburn Rove ...

Andrej Kramarić Andrej Kramarić (; born 19 June 1991) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Croatia national team. Kramarić started his football career in his hometo ...

* Paulus Arajuuri *

Joel Pohjanpalo Joel Julius Ilmari Pohjanpalo (born 13 September 1994) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Venezia. He also represents the Finland national football team. Pohjanpalo was born in Helsinki, Finland whe ...

Teemu Pukki Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Finland national team. Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior level ...

Kári Árnason Kári Árnason (born 13 October 1982) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played last for Icelandic club Víkingur and the Iceland national team. He has previously played for Djurgården, AGF Aarhus, Esbjerg fB, Plymouth Arg ...

Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson (born 27 October 1990) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Burnley and the Iceland national team. Jóhann began his senior career at Breiðablik for a single season before movin ...

* Hakan Çalhanoğlu *

Volkan Şen Volkan Şen (born 7 July 1987) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a winger. He is under contract with Adana Demirspor. He is mostly known for his long shots, his dribbling and speed. Club career He was born in Bursa and started p ...

* Ozan Tufan * Burak Yılmaz ;1 goal * Matej Mitrović * Ivan Perišić *

Ivan Rakitić Ivan Rakitić (; born 10 March 1988) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Sevilla. Rakitić started his professional career at Basel and spent two seasons with them before he was s ...

Domagoj Vida Domagoj Vida (; born 29 April 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Super League Greece club AEK Athens and the Croatia national team. He is capable of playing in any defensive position but is mostly deployed a ...

* Robin Lod *

Alexander Ring Alexander Michael Ring (born 9 April 1991) is a Finnish professional footballer who captains and plays as an midfielder for Major League Soccer club Austin FC. Club career Early career He moved to Bonn with his family when aged three, and grew ...

* Pyry Soiri * Birkir Bjarnason * Theódór Elmar Bjarnason * Hörður Björgvin Magnússon *

Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson (born 26 February 1991) is an Icelandic international footballer who plays as a forward for ÍA. He began his career with ÍA in his native Iceland before a three-year spell at Norwegian side Lillestrøm, during ...

Ragnar Sigurðsson Ragnar Sigurðsson (born 19 June 1986) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Beginning his career with Fylkir, he went on to represent IFK Göteborg, Copenhagen, Krasnodar, Fulham, Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Ru ...

* Valon Berisha *

Atdhe Nuhiu Atdhe Nuhiu (; born 29 July 1989) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian Bundesliga club SC Rheindorf Altach. Club career SV Ried On 31 August 2009, on the deadline day, Nuhiu completed a transfer to SV Ried on ...

Amir Rrahmani Amir Kadri Rrahmani (born 24 February 1994) is a Kosovar Albanian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Napoli and captains the Kosovo national team. Club career Early career and Drenica Rrahmani at the age of 9, he star ...

Cengiz Ünder Cengiz Ünder (; born 14 July 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Turkey national team. Club career Early career Ünder began his professional career at Altinordu, and late ...

Artem Besyedin Artem Yuriyovych Besedin (or Besyedin) ( ua, Артем Юрійович Бєсєдін; born 31 March 1996) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Omonia, on loan from Dynamo Kyiv. Club career Besedin is a product ...

Yevhen Konoplyanka Yevhen Olehovych Konoplyanka ( uk, Євген Олегович Коноплянка; born 29 September 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ekstraklasa club Cracovia and the Ukraine national team. He began ...

Ruslan Rotan Ruslan Petrovych Rotan ( uk, Руслан Петрович Ротань; born 29 October 1981) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer and manager of Ukraine national under-21 football team. He was a member of the Ukraine national team ...

;1 own goal * Leart Paqarada (against Ukraine)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences: * 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:

Notes

References

External links

*
Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1
FIFA.com

UEFA.com

UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group I I Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup