2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group D was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Wales, Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova, and Georgia.

Serbia – Georgia 1–0, World Cup 2018 qualification match at Red Star Stadium

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, Serbia, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Republic of Ireland, 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] Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Overall goal difference Overall goals scored Points in matches between tied teams Goal difference in matches between tied teams Goals scored in matches between tied teams Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format) 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 Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia	10	6	3	1	20	10	+10	21	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup		—	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–0	3–0
2	Republic of Ireland	10	5	4	1	12	6	+6	19	Advance to second round		0–1	—	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0
3	Wales	10	4	5	1	13	6	+7	17			1–1	0–1	—	1–0	1–1	4–0
4	Austria	10	4	3	3	14	12	+2	15			3–2	0–1	2–2	—	1–1	2–0
5	Georgia	10	0	5	5	8	14	−6	5			1–3	1–1	0–1	1–2	—	1–1
6	Moldova	10	0	2	8	4	23	−19	2			0–3	1–3	0–2	0–1	2–2	—

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]

Georgia	1–2	Austria
Ananidze 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Hinteregger 16' Janko 42'

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

Attendance: 28,500

Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)

Serbia	2–2	Republic of Ireland
Kostić 62' Tadić 69' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Hendrick 3' Murphy 80'

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 7,896

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Wales	4–0	Moldova
Vokes 38' Allen 44' Bale 51', 90+5' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 31,731

Referee: Liran Liany (Israel)

---

Austria	2–2	Wales
Arnautović 28', 48'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Allen 22' Wimmer 45+1' (o.g.)

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Attendance: 44,200

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

Moldova	0–3	Serbia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Kostić 19' Ivanović 37' Tadić 59'

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 6,192

Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)

Republic of Ireland	1–0	Georgia
Coleman 56'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 39,793

Referee: Tony Chapron (France)

---

Wales	1–1	Georgia
Bale 10'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Okriashvili 57'

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 32,652

Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (Italy)

Moldova	1–3	Republic of Ireland
Bugaiov 45+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Long 2' McClean 69', 76'

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 6,089

Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

Serbia	3–2	Austria
A. Mitrović 6', 23' Tadić 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Sabitzer 16' Janko 62'

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 14,200

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

---

Austria	0–1	Republic of Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	McClean 48'

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Attendance: 48,500

Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

Georgia	1–1	Moldova
Qazaishvili 16'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Gațcan 78'

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+4)

Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

Attendance: 40,642

Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)

Wales	1–1	Serbia
Bale 30'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	A. Mitrović 86'

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 32,879

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

---

Georgia	1–3	Serbia
Kacharava 6'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Tadić 45' (pen.) A. Mitrović 64' Gaćinović 86'

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+4)

Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

Attendance: 31,328

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

Austria	2–0	Moldova
Arnautović 75' Harnik 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Attendance: 21,000

Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

Republic of Ireland	0–0	Wales
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 49,989

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

---

Moldova	2–2	Georgia
Gînsari 15' Dedov 36'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Merebashvili 66' Qazaishvili 70'

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 4,803

Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden)

Republic of Ireland	1–1	Austria
Walters 85'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Hinteregger 31'

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

Serbia	1–1	Wales
A. Mitrović 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Ramsey 35' (pen.)

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 46,673

Referee: Jorge Sousa (Portugal)

---

Georgia	1–1	Republic of Ireland
Qazaishvili 34'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Duffy 4'

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

Attendance: 19,669^[6]

Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)

Serbia	3–0	Moldova
Gaćinović 20' Kolarov 30' A. Mitrović 81'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Partizan Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 9,974

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

Wales	1–0	Austria
Woodburn 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 32,633

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

---

Austria	1–1	Georgia
Schaub 43'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Gvilia 8'

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Attendance: 13,400

Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (Israel)

Moldova	0–2	Wales
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Robson-Kanu 80' Ramsey 90+3'

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 10,272

Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (Poland)

Republic of Ireland	0–1	Serbia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Kolarov 55'

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 50,153

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

---

Georgia	0–1	Wales
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Lawrence 49'

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

Attendance: 22,290

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Austria	3–2	Serbia
Burgstaller 25' Arnautović 76' Schaub 89'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Milivojević 11' Matić 83'

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Attendance: 42,400

Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

Republic of Ireland	2–0	Moldova
Murphy 2', 19'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 50,560

Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)

---

Moldova	0–1	Austria
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Schaub 69'

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 5,542

Referee: Bart Vertenten (Belgium)

Serbia	1–0	Georgia
Prijović 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 42,000

Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)

Wales	0–1	Republic of Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	McClean 57'

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 32,711

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

Goalscorers

There were 71 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.37 goals per match.

6 goals

• Aleksandar Mitrović

4 goals

• Marko Arnautović
• James McClean
• Dušan Tadić
• Gareth Bale

3 goals

• Louis Schaub
• Valeri Qazaishvili
• Daryl Murphy

2 goals

• Martin Hinteregger
• Marc Janko
• Mijat Gaćinović
• Aleksandar Kolarov
• Filip Kostić
• Joe Allen
• Aaron Ramsey

1 goal

• Guido Burgstaller
• Martin Harnik
• Marcel Sabitzer
• Jano Ananidze
• Valerian Gvilia
• Nika Kacharava
• Giorgi Merebashvili
• Tornike Okriashvili
• Igor Bugaiov
• Alexandru Dedov
• Alexandru Gațcan
• Radu Gînsari
• Séamus Coleman
• Shane Duffy
• Jeff Hendrick
• Shane Long
• Jonathan Walters
• Branislav Ivanović
• Nemanja Matić
• Luka Milivojević
• Aleksandar Prijović
• Tom Lawrence
• Hal Robson-Kanu
• Sam Vokes
• Ben Woodburn

1 own goal

• Kevin Wimmer (against Wales)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:^[7]

• 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)
Aleksandar Kolarov	Serbia	vs Portugal in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying (11 October 2015)	vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016)
Nemanja Matić		vs Portugal in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying (11 October 2015)	vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) vs Moldova (6 October 2016) vs Austria (9 October 2016)
Shane Duffy	Republic of Ireland	vs France in UEFA Euro 2016 (26 June 2016)	vs Serbia (5 September 2016)
Jeff Hendrick		vs Serbia (5 September 2016) vs Georgia (6 October 2016)	vs Moldova (9 October 2016)
Andrei Cojocari	Moldova	vs Serbia (6 October 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016)	vs Georgia (12 November 2016)
Alexandru Dedov		vs Wales (5 September 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016)
Aleksandar Kolarov	Serbia	vs Moldova (6 October 2016) vs Austria (9 October 2016)	vs Wales (12 November 2016)
Julian Baumgartlinger	Austria	vs Serbia (9 November 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (12 November 2016)	vs Moldova (24 March 2017)
Murtaz Daushvili	Georgia	vs Wales (9 October 2016) vs Moldova (12 November 2016)	vs Serbia (24 March 2017)
Tornike Okriashvili
Robbie Brady	Republic of Ireland	vs Serbia (5 September 2016) vs Austria (12 November 2016)	vs Wales (24 March 2017)
Aleksandar Katai	Serbia	vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) vs Wales (12 November 2016)	vs Georgia (24 March 2017)
Matija Nastasić
Marko Arnautović	Austria	vs Wales (6 October 2016) vs Moldova (24 March 2017)	vs Republic of Ireland (11 June 2017)
Stefan Ilsanker		vs Serbia (9 October 2016) vs Moldova (24 March 2017)
Alexandru Gațcan	Moldova	vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016) vs Austria (24 March 2017)	vs Georgia (11 June 2017)
Gareth Bale	Wales	vs Serbia (12 November 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (24 March 2017)	vs Serbia (11 June 2017)
Neil Taylor		vs Republic of Ireland (24 March 2017)	vs Serbia (11 June 2017) vs Austria (2 September 2017)
Jaba Kankava	Georgia	vs Serbia (24 March 2017) vs Moldova (11 June 2017)	vs Republic of Ireland (2 September 2017)
Vitalie Bordian	Moldova	vs Georgia (12 November 2016) vs Georgia (11 June 2017)	vs Serbia (2 September 2017)
Luka Milivojević	Serbia	vs Austria (9 October 2016) vs Wales (11 June 2017)	vs Moldova (2 September 2017)
Vladimir Stojković		vs Wales (12 November 2016) vs Wales (11 June 2017)
Joe Allen	Wales	vs Serbia (12 November 2016) vs Serbia (11 June 2017)	vs Austria (2 September 2017)
Robbie Brady	Republic of Ireland	vs Austria (11 June 2017) vs Serbia (5 September 2017)	vs Moldova (6 October 2017)
James McClean		vs Georgia (2 September 2017) vs Serbia (5 September 2017)
Nikola Maksimović	Serbia	vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2017)	vs Austria (6 October 2017)
Aleksandar Dragović	Austria	vs Republic of Ireland (12 November 2016) vs Serbia (6 October 2017)	vs Moldova (9 October 2017)
Alexandru Gațcan	Moldova	vs Republic of Ireland (6 October 2017)	vs Austria (9 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.