FIFA World Cup qualifiers fixtures 2018

FIFA World Cup qualifiers fixtures 2018

Excited about 2018 Fifa World Cup? Want to know more about the World Cup qualifiers fixtures? This article will give you detailed information about each and every match of World Cup qualifiers. Do you know about the rules and regulations of World Cup tournaments? How about how many African countries are going to play in the upcoming tournament? This article will give you all the answers.

fifa world cup 2018
Source:Foot the ball

World Cup 2018

The famous football World Cup 2018 scheduled in Russia, is organized by FIFA (federation international football association). The kick-off begins from 14th June. This will be the first World Cup which will take place in Eastern Europe. The venues of all the stadiums are in Eastern Russia. The host team Russia will automatically qualify and by the qualification matches they will select 31 national teams for the main tournament. Panama and Iceland are making their first appearance in the World Cup. 20 teams of the 32 teams made appearances back to back. FIFA selected a total of 12 stadiums situated in 11 towns. There will be a total of 64 matches in the entire tournament. In Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium the final match will take place. The winner team will automatically qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.

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2018 Fifa World Cup details

  • Host Country: Russia
  • Dates: 14th June-15th July
  • Teams-32(5 confederations)
  • Venues- 12 (in 11 Host Towns)

World Cup 2018 qualifiers

The six FIFA confederations started the process for selecting the best 32 teams for the main tournament. The qualifier matches for the world cup begun on 12th March 2015 and ended on 15th November 2017. Russia the host of the tournament will qualify automatically and the rest of 210 association member countries of FIFA from 6 confederations registered them for the preliminary matches. Indonesia and Zimbabwe failed to enter the tournament due to some issues and South Sudan, Bhutan, Kosovo and Gibraltar made their first appearance in the FIFA world cup qualifier.

The main draw for the qualifying matches occurred in Strelna, Sent Pertersberg at Konstantinovsky on July 25th 2015. In 12th March 2015, in Dili Timor Leste the first match for the qualification process has been played. These matches have been played for the AFC qualification.

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FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification

Details of the tournament

  • Date- March 12th 2015 – November 15th 2017
  • Teams- 210 (6 confederations)

Statistics of the tournament

  • Goal scored- 2,454
  • Matches Played- 872
  • Attendance- 21,469 each match (18,720,691 total)

Top scorers

  1. Ahmed Khalil( United Arab Emirates)
  2. Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
  3. Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (Saudi Arabia)

READ ALSO: World cup qualifiers 2018 Africa

Qualification process and World Cup qualifiers fixtures

In March 2015, the qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2018 begun. A total of 32 teams are participating in the final event. The FIFA executive committee has decided that the team allocation will be the same as 2014.

Bad luck for Zimbabwe, they are disqualified from the tournament because they failed to pay the former coach Jose Claudinei. Indonesia on other hand is also disqualified for a past issue, for their suspension from FIFA in 30th 2015. Kuwait failed to qualify because of their suspension during the World Cup campaign. The first qualified team was Brazil for their 3-0 victory against Paraguay. The last qualified team was Peru for gaining victory against New Zealand 2-0.

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There are a total of 6 confederations on FIFA. Each one has a qualification capacity. Here is a list of confederations with the details of current World Cup qualifiers.

  • Confederations-Final Slot -Team started -Eliminated teams -Qualified teams -Start and End date
  1. CAF - 5 - 54 - 49 - 5 - 7th Oct-14th Nov
  2. AFC - 4.5 - 46 - 41- 5 - 12th Mar-15th Nov
  3. CONMEBOL - 4.5- 10 - 5 - 5 - 8th Oct ’15-15th Nov ‘17
  4. CONCACAF - 3.5 - 35 - 32- 3 - 22nd Mar’15-15thNov’17
  5. UEFA - 13+1 - 54+1 - 41 - 13+1 - 4th Sept ’16-14thNov’17
  6. OFC - 0.5 - 11 - 11 - 0 - 31st Aug’15-15thNov’17
  • Total - 31+1 - 210+1 - 179 - 31+1 - 12th Mar’15- 15th Nov ‘17

Format

Each confederation has its own format. The following formats are-

  1. Round-robin matches where each team from one group has to play two matches with remaining teams of the group. They need to play one home and one away match with each other.
  2. Another format is knockout matches where two legged matches have been played with two teams.

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Tiebreakers

The team rankings of each group depends on the following points

  1. For win 3 points, for draw 1 points and for loss 0 points.
  2. Goal scored overall
  3. Total goal difference
  4. Amount of goal scored between two tied teams
  5. Goal difference in tied matches
  6. Scoring away goals in tied games
  7. Points for fair play-
  • Minus 1 point for first yellow card
  • Minus 3 points for second yellow card
  • Minus 4 points for direct red card
  • Minus 5 points direct red card and yellow card

The team that has a better score (higher score) advances to the next round from World Cup qualifiers groups. If a team scores more goals than home then that team gets the advantage. If the away goals are equal then two team plays for extra time (30 minutes) 15 minutes per half. After the extra time the away goal rule again applies, if the goal score is level after the extra 30 minutes then the team with highest away goal qualifies to the next round. If there are no goals scored during extra time then the match ends up with a penalty shoot–out.

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Confederation qualifications/ Zone 2018 World Cup qualifiers

Here the list of world cup qualifiers 2018 from each confederation.

AFC (Asian football confederation)

In 16th April 2014 the executive committee of AFC discussed the proposal about merging the prelim qualification rounds of Asian cup and FIFA World Cup. They decided to add more teams and this regulation is going to start from 2019.

  1. First Round-The team has a rank between 35-46 played away-home matches and depending upon their performances six of them will be qualified for the next round.
  2. Second Round-The 2nd round played by a total of 40 teams (rank 1-34 and teams qualified in the first round). They were divided into eight groups. Five teams of each group played away home matches with every team. So each team played a total of 8 matches in this division. From the standing chart eight high performers and four group runners-up advanced to the next round.
  3. Third Round-A total of 12 teams (12 teams from 2nd round) divided into two groups. Each group consists of six teams played home away match each other and two top teams from each group qualifies for the FIFA world cup and third place owners from each group qualified for the 4th round of AFC.
  4. Fourth round-The third placed teams played a home away and the winner qualified for inter-confederation playoffs.

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In 12th April, at Madndarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lampur Malyasia the schedule for the third round was held. They divided 12 teams into two groups. Here is the result of the third round.

Group A

world cup qualifiers

Group B

world cup qualifiers 2018

Qualified:

  • Country - AFC qualifier
  1. Iran - Third Round Group A winners
  2. South Korea - Third Round Group A runners up
  3. Japan - Third Round Group B winners
  4. Saudi Arabia - Third Round Group B runners up
  5. Australia - Inter-confederation play-off winners

Disqualified:

  • Country -AFC stage reached
  1. Syria- Fourth Round
  2. Uzbekistan- Third Round
  3. China- Third Round
  4. United Arab Emirates-Third Round
  5. Iraq-Third Round
  6. Thailand-Third Round
  7. Qatar- Third Round
  8. Palestine- Second Round
  9. Malaysia- Second Round
  10. Timor-Leste-Second Round
  11. Jordan-Second Round
  12. Kyrgyzstan-Second Round
  13. Tajikistan-Second Round
  14. Bangladesh-Second Round
  15. Hong Kong-Second Round
  16. Maldives- Second Round
  17. Bhutan-Second Round
  18. Oman-Second Round
  19. Turkmenistan- Second Round
  20. Guam-Second Round
  21. India- Second Round
  22. Singapore - Second Round
  23. Afghanistan-Second Round
  24. Cambodia-Second Round
  25. Vietnam- Second Round
  26. Chinese Taipei-Second Round
  27. Indonesia- Second Round
  28. Lebanon- Second Round
  29. Kuwait- Second Round
  30. Myanmar- Second Round
  31. Laos- Second Round
  32. North Korea - Second Round
  33. Philippines- Second Round
  34. Bahrain -Second Round
  35. Yemen -Second Round
  36. Nepal- First Round
  37. Pakistan- First Round
  38. Mongolia- First Round
  39. Macau- First Round
  40. Brunei-First Round
  41. Sri Lanka- First Round

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CONCACAF

In 12th January 2015 CONCACAF released the draw for the fifa World Cup qualifiers. In their qualifiers first three rounds were knockout, the fourth and final rounds which also referred as The Hex were played as tournaments or group stages.

  1. First round: Out of 14 teams (22-35 ranked), 7 teams have been selected by playing over two legs home away matches. 7 qualifiers advanced to the next round by playing home away matches.
  2. Second round: Out of 20 teams (9-21 ranked and first round qualifiers), first 10 teams qualified for the next round by playing home away matches.
  3. Third round: Out of 12 teams (team rank 7-8 and 2nd round qualifiers), first 6 qualified for the next round by playing home away matches.
  4. Fourth round: Remaining six teams were divided into three groups and teams played away home matches with each of them. First two teams from each group qualified for the next round.
  5. Fifth round: Six teams from the fourth round played home away matches with each other and top three from the standings got selected for the FIFA world cup.

Qualified

Fifa World Cup 2018 qualifiers from the CONCACAF confederation.

Country - CONCACAF qualification place

  1. Mexico - Fifth Round first place
  2. Costa Rica -Fifth Round second place
  3. Panama - Fifth Round third place

Eliminated

Country - CONCACAF stage reached

  1. Honduras-Inter- Confederational play-off
  2. United States- Fifth Round
  3. Trinidad & Tobago- Fifth Round
  4. Canada - Fourth Round
  5. El Salvador -Fourth Round
  6. Haiti- Fourth Round
  7. Jamaica - Fourth Round
  8. Guatemala- Fourth Round
  9. Saint Vincent & the Grenadines - Fourth Round
  10. Curacao - Third Round
  11. Belize - Third Round
  12. Grenada - Third Round
  13. Nicaragua - Third Round
  14. Aruba - Third Round
  15. Antigua & Barbuda - Third Round
  16. Guyana - Second Round
  17. Saint Lucia - Second Round
  18. Puerto Rico - Second Round
  19. Dominica - Second Round
  20. Domincan Republic - Second Round
  21. Bermuda - Second Round
  22. Barbados - Second Round
  23. Saint Kitts & Nevis - Second Round
  24. Cuba - Second Round
  25. Suriname - Second Round
  26. Bahamas - First Round
  27. British Virgin Islands - First Round
  28. U.S. Virgin Islands - First Round
  29. Turks & Caicos Islands - First Round
  30. Anguilla - First Round
  31. Cayman Islands - First Round
  32. Montserrat - First Round

CONMEBOL (South America) qualification

Basically the tournament structure of selecting the teams for World Cup qualifiers South America is the same as other confederation tournaments. Here, are the details of South America World Cup qualifiers.

Qualified:

This is the South America world cup qualifiers table along with qualification place.

Country - CONMEBOL qualification place

  1. Brazil - First place
  2. Uruguay - Second place
  3. Argentina - Third place
  4. Colombia - Fourth place
  5. Peru - Inter-confederation play-off winners

The following teams have been disqualified from the tournament.

Disqualified:

Country - CONMEBOL stage reached

  1. Chile - First Round
  2. Paraguay - First Round
  3. Ecuador - First Round
  4. Bolivia - First Round
  5. Venezuela - First Round

OFC qualification

Qualified:

None

Disqualified:

Country - OFC stage reached

  1. New Zealand - Inter-confederation play-off
  2. Solomon Islands - Fourth Round
  3. New Caledonia - Third Round
  4. Fiji - Third Round
  5. Tahiti - Third Round
  6. Papua New Guinea - Third Round
  7. Samoa - Second Round
  8. Vanuatu - Second Round
  9. American Samoa - First Round
  10. Cook Islands - First Round
  11. Tonga - First Round

UEFA (World cup qualifiers Europe) qualification

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification groups of UEFA

world cup qualifiers tables
Source: YouTube

Qualified:

Country - UEFA qualification place

  1. Russia - World Cup hosts
  2. France - Group A winners
  3. Portugal - Group B winners
  4. Germany - Group C winners
  5. Serbia - Group D winners
  6. Poland - Group E winners
  7. England - Group F winners
  8. Spain - Group G winners
  9. Belgium - Group H winners
  10. Iceland - Group I winners
  11. Switzerland - Play-off winners
  12. Croatia - Play-off winners
  13. Sweden - Play-off winners
  14. Denmark - Play-off winners

Disqualified:

Country - UEFA stage reached

  1. Republic of Ireland - Play-off
  2. Italy - Play-off
  3. Greece - Play-off
  4. Northern Ireland - Play-off
  5. Netherlands - First Round
  6. Slovakia - First Round
  7. Wales - First Round
  8. Ukraine - First Round
  9. Bulgaria - First Round
  10. Austria - First Round
  11. Turkey - First Round
  12. Cyprus - First Round
  13. Albania - First Round
  14. Estonia - First Round
  15. Israel - First Round
  16. Romania - First Round
  17. Armenia - First Round
  18. Czech Republic - First Round
  19. Norway - First Round
  20. Azerbaijan - First Round
  21. Hungary - First Round
  22. Belarus - First Round
  23. Luxembourg - First Round
  24. San Marino - First Round
  25. Malta - First Round
  26. Macedonia - First Round
  27. Liechtenstein - First Round
  28. Finland - First Round
  29. Kosovo - First Round
  30. Faroe Islands - First Round
  31. Andorra - First Round
  32. Latvia - First Round
  33. Gibraltar - First Round
  34. Georgia - First Round
  35. Moldova - First Round
  36. Lithuania - First Round
  37. Kazakhstan - First Round
  38. Montenegro - First Round
  39. Slovenia - First Round
  40. Scotland - First Round
  41. Bosnia & Herzegovina - First Round

CAF (Confederation of African football) 2018 World Cup qualifiers Africa

The executive committee decided to go with only three rounds for qualifying playoffs. The first round is almost similar with the first round of AFC.

  1. First round: In first round a total of 26 teams ranked 28-53 played away and home matches with each other. A total of 54 matches have been played. Top 13 teams from the standings advanced to the next stage.
  2. Second round: In 2nd round a total of 40 teams ranked 1-27 and first round qualifiers played away and home matches and from the standings top 20 teams got qualified for the next round.
  3. Third round: The qualifiers of second round a total of 20 teams were divided into five groups. Each of the team from individual group plays home and away match with each other. The winner team from each group has been qualified for FIFA 2018 World Cup.

It’s a very shocking fact that Zimbabwe entered the qualifier, but failed to pay their former coach a severance fee which resulted into a disqualification from the qualifying tournament. A total of 53 teams were played in the draw.

Third round World Cup draw 2018

In CAF headquarter in Cairo Egypt the third round was held on June 24th 2016.

World Cup qualifiers Africa fixtures

Here is a table of world cup qualifier fixture and result of CAF.

world cup qualifiers africa fixtures
Source: Accra24.com

2018 World Cup qualifiers Africa table

Group A

world cup qualifiers 2018 africa

Group B

world cup qualifiers africa fixtures

Group C

world cup qualifiers 2018 africa

Group D

world cup 2018 qualifiers africa

Group E

The following is the Ghana World Cup qualifiers table. Ghana black stars World Cup qualifying match would turn into reality if they could score more goals in the qualifying matches.

ghana black stars world cup qualifying
Source-wikipedia

World Cup qualifiers 2018 Africa teams/World Cup qualifiers tables

Here is the table of Africa World Cup qualifiers

  • Country - CAF qualification place
  1. Nigeria -Third round Group B winners
  2. Egypt -Third round Group E winners
  3. Senegal - Third round Group D winners
  4. Tunisia -Third Round Group A winners
  5. Morocco - Third Round Group C winners

READ ALSO: World cup qualifiers

Here is a picture of African World Cup qualifiers group chart of third round. Only 5 teams from this table qualified for World Cup.

african world cup qualifiers
Source: YouTube

Disqualified:

  • Country - CAF stage Reached
  1. DR Congo-Third Round
  2. Ivory Coast-Third Round
  3. Cape Verde-Third Round
  4. Burkina Faso-Third Round
  5. South Africa-Third Round
  6. Uganda-Third Round
  7. Ghana-Third Round
  8. Gabon-Third Round
  9. Zambia-Third Round
  10. Mali-Third Round
  11. Cameroon-Third Round
  12. Algeria-Third Round
  13. Guinea-Third Round
  14. Libya-Third Round
  15. Congo-Third Round
  16. Niger-Second Round
  17. Mauritania-Second Round
  18. Namibia-Second Round
  19. Ethiopia-Second Round
  20. Chad-Second Round
  21. Comoros-Second Round
  22. Swaziland-Second Round
  23. Botswana-Second Round
  24. Burundi-Second Round
  25. Liberia-Second Round
  26. Madagascar-Second Round
  27. Kenya-Second Round
  28. Tanzania-Second Round
  29. Sudan-Second Round
  30. Rwanda -Second Round
  31. Equatorial Guinea-Second Round
  32. Mozambique-Second Round
  33. Benin-Second Round
  34. Togo-Second Round
  35. Angola-Second Round
  36. Somalia-First Round
  37. South Sudan-First Round
  38. Gambia-First Round
  39. Sao Tome & Principe - First Round
  40. Sierra Leone-First Round
  41. Lesotho - First Round
  42. Djibouti - First Round
  43. Eritrea- First Round
  44. Seychelles- First Round
  45. Guinea-Bissau- First Round
  46. Central African Republic - First Round
  47. Mauritius- First Round
  48. Malawi- First Round

Here is the picture of World Cup 2018 qualifiers Africa

world cup qualifiers 2018 africa
Source: completesportsnigeria

READ ALSO:World cup qualifiers 2018 Africa

World Cup qualifiers results

Here is the table of World Cup qualifiers 2018

  • Country- Confederation
  1. Russia-UEFA (hosts)
  2. Australia-AFC
  3. Iran-AFC
  4. Japan-AFC
  5. Saudi Arabia-AFC
  6. South Korea -AFC
  7. Nigeria - CAF
  8. Egypt- CAF
  9. Senegal -CAF
  10. Tunisia -CAF
  11. Morocco- CAF
  12. Mexico- CONCACAF
  13. Costa Rica- CONCACAF
  14. Panama- CONCACAF
  15. Brazil- CONMEBOL
  16. Uruguay- CONMEBOL
  17. Argentina- CONMEBOL
  18. Colombia- CONMEBOL
  19. Peru- CONMEBOL
  20. Belgium- UEFA
  21. Germany- UEFA
  22. England- UEFA
  23. Spain- UEFA
  24. Poland- UEFA
  25. Iceland- UEFA
  26. Serbia- UEFA
  27. France- UEFA
  28. Portugal- UEFA
  29. Switzerland - UEFA
  30. Croatia -UEFA
  31. Sweden -UEFA
  32. Denmark- UEFA

2018 World Cup draw

In December 1, 2017 the World Cup draw 2018 took place. Spain and Portugal were in same group. Another interesting fact Nigeria and Argentina will face each other, we will not forget about their rivalry. They are also in the same group.

2018 world cup draw
Source: the papere

World Cup qualifiers 2018 fixtures

Here is the table of World Cup 2018 fixtures.

world cup 2018 fixtures
Source : FIFA

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Chris Ndetei avatar

Chris Ndetei (Lifestyle writer) Christopher Ndetei is a junior reporter writer who joined the Yen team in May 2021. He graduated from the Machakos Technical College in 2009 with a diploma in ICT. Chris has over two years of experience in content creation and more than ten working in the hospitality industry. He covers lifestyle/entertainment, focusing on biographies, life hacks, gaming and guides. In 2023, Christopher finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. You can reach him at chrisndetei@gmail.com