2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group H was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus, and Gibraltar.

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] Gibraltar was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Kosovo in May 2016,^[3] and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in same group as Bosnia and Herzegovina for security reasons.^[4][5]

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

Russia was initially partnered with the five-team Group H, which enabled the 2018 World Cup hosts to play centralised friendlies against these countries on their "spare" match dates.^[6] These friendlies would not have counted in the qualifying group standings. However, after the group was later expanded to include Gibraltar, these friendly matches were cancelled.

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):[7] 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	Belgium	10	9	1	0	43	6	+37	28	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup		—	1–1	4–0	8–1	4–0	9–0
2	Greece	10	5	4	1	17	6	+11	19	Advance to second round		1–2	—	1–1	0–0	2–0	4–0
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	5	2	3	24	13	+11	17			3–4	0–0	—	5–0	2–0	5–0
4	Estonia	10	3	2	5	13	19	−6	11			0–2	0–2	1–2	—	1–0	4–0
5	Cyprus	10	3	1	6	9	18	−9	10			0–3	1–2	3–2	0–0	—	3–1
6	Gibraltar	10	0	0	10	3	47	−44	0			0–6	1–4	0–4	0–6	1–2	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

The fixture list prior to the inclusion of Gibraltar was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw.^[1][8] Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).^[9]

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Bosnia and Herzegovina	5–0	Estonia
Spahić 7', 90+2' Džeko 23' (pen.) Medunjanin 71' Ibišević 83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica

Attendance: 8,820

Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Cyprus	0–3	Belgium
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	R. Lukaku 13', 61' Carrasco 81'

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 12,029

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Gibraltar	1–4	Greece
Walker 26'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mitroglou 10' Wiseman 44' (o.g.) Fortounis 45' Torosidis 45+2'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé (Portugal)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 460

Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

---

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Belgium	4–0	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Spahić 26' (o.g.) Hazard 29' Alderweireld 60' R. Lukaku 79'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 42,653

Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Estonia	4–0	Gibraltar
Käit 47', 70' Vassiljev 52' Mošnikov 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 4,678

Referee: Aleksei Eskov (Russia)

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Greece	2–0	Cyprus
Mitroglou 12' Mantalos 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 16,512

Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

---

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–0	Cyprus
Džeko 70', 81'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica

Attendance: 8,900

Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Spain)

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Estonia	0–2	Greece
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Torosidis 2' Stafylidis 60'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 4,467

Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Gibraltar	0–6	Belgium
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Benteke 1', 43', 56' Witsel 19' Mertens 51' E. Hazard 79'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé (Portugal)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 1,959

Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (Poland)

---

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+2)

Cyprus	3–1	Gibraltar
Laifis 29' Sotiriou 65' Sielis 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	L. Casciaro 51'

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 3,151

Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Belgium	8–1	Estonia
Meunier 8' Mertens 16', 68' E. Hazard 25' Carrasco 62' Klavan 64' (o.g.) Lukaku 83', 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Anier 29'

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 37,128

Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Romania)

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Greece	1–1	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tzavellas 90+5'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Pjanić 32'

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 20,075

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

---

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Bosnia and Herzegovina	5–0	Gibraltar
Ibišević 4', 43' Vršajević 52' Višća 56' Bičakčić 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica

Attendance: 8,285

Referee: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (Norway)

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+2)

Cyprus	0–0	Estonia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 3,864

Referee: Ville Nevalainen (Finland)

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Belgium	1–1	Greece
Lukaku 89'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mitroglou 46'

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 42,281

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

---

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Bosnia and Herzegovina	0–0	Greece
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Estonia	0–2	Belgium
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mertens 31' Chadli 86'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 10,176

Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Gibraltar	1–2	Cyprus
Hernandez 30'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	R. Chipolina 10' (o.g.) Sotiriou 87'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé (Portugal)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 488

Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria)

---

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Belgium	9–0	Gibraltar
Mertens 16' Meunier 18', 61', 67' R. Lukaku 21', 38', 82' (pen.) Witsel 27' E. Hazard 45'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège

Attendance: 24,050

Referee: Neil Doyle (Republic of Ireland)

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Cyprus	3–2	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Christofi 65' Laban 67' Sotiriou 76'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Šunjić 33' Višća 44'

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 4,143

Referee: Andre Marriner (England)

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Greece	0–0	Estonia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 12,379

Referee: Liran Liany (Israel)

---

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Estonia	1–0	Cyprus
Käit 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 5,491

Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Switzerland)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Greece	1–2	Belgium
Zeca 73'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Vertonghen 70' Lukaku 74'

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 29,465

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Gibraltar	0–4	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Džeko 35', 85' Kodro 65' Lulić 83'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé (Portugal)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 805

Referee: Þorvaldur Árnason (Iceland)

---

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)

Gibraltar	0–6	Estonia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Luts 10' Käit 30' Zenjov 38' Tamm 52', 66', 77'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé (Portugal)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 750

Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–4	Belgium
Medunjanin 30' Višća 39' Đumić 82'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Meunier 4' Batshuayi 59' Vertonghen 68' Carrasco 84'

Stadion Grbavica, Sarajevo^{[note 3]}

Attendance: 9,657

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Cyprus	1–2	Greece
Sotiriou 17'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mitroglou 25' Tziolis 26'

GSP Stadium, Nicosia

Attendance: 7,222

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

---

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Belgium	4–0	Cyprus
E. Hazard 12', 63' (pen.) T. Hazard 52' Lukaku 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 37,765

Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Estonia	1–2	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Antonov 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Hajrović 48', 84'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 4,967

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia)

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Greece	4–0	Gibraltar
Torosidis 32' Mitroglou 61', 63' Gianniotas 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 12,739

Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Goalscorers

There were 109 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.63 goals per match.

11 goals

• Romelu Lukaku

6 goals

• Eden Hazard
• Konstantinos Mitroglou

5 goals

• Dries Mertens
• Thomas Meunier
• Edin Džeko

4 goals

• Pieros Sotiriou
• Mattias Käit

3 goals

• Christian Benteke
• Yannick Carrasco
• Vedad Ibišević
• Edin Višća
• Joonas Tamm
• Vasilis Torosidis

2 goals

• Jan Vertonghen
• Axel Witsel
• Izet Hajrović
• Haris Medunjanin
• Emir Spahić

1 goal

• Toby Alderweireld
• Michy Batshuayi
• Nacer Chadli
• Thorgan Hazard
• Ermin Bičakčić
• Dario Đumić
• Kenan Kodro
• Senad Lulić
• Miralem Pjanić
• Toni Šunjić
• Avdija Vršajević
• Demetris Christofi
• Vincent Laban
• Constantinos Laifis
• Valentinos Sielis
• Henri Anier
• Ilja Antonov
• Siim Luts
• Sergei Mošnikov
• Konstantin Vassiljev
• Sergei Zenjov
• Lee Casciaro
• Anthony Hernandez
• Liam Walker
• Kostas Fortounis
• Giannis Gianniotas
• Petros Mantalos
• Kostas Stafylidis
• Georgios Tzavellas
• Alexandros Tziolis
• Zeca

1 own goal

• Emir Spahić (against Belgium)
• Ragnar Klavan (against Belgium)
• Roy Chipolina (against Cyprus)
• Scott Wiseman (against Greece)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:^[11]

• 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)
Marouane Fellaini	Belgium	vs Cyprus (6 September 2016) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (7 October 2016)	vs Gibraltar (10 October 2016)
Edin Džeko	Bosnia and Herzegovina	vs Greece (13 November 2016)	vs Gibraltar (25 March 2017)
Mato Jajalo		vs Belgium (7 October 2016) vs Greece (13 November 2016)
Senad Lulić
Ognjen Vranješ		vs Estonia (6 September 2016) vs Greece (13 November 2016)
Jason Demetriou	Cyprus	vs Greece (7 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (13 November 2016)	vs Estonia (25 March 2017)
Pieros Sotiriou		vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (10 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (13 November 2016)
Jayce Olivero	Gibraltar	vs Cyprus (13 November 2016)	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (25 March 2017)
Kyriakos Papadopoulos	Greece	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016)	vs Belgium (25 March 2017) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017)
Sead Kolašinac	Bosnia and Herzegovina	vs Belgium (7 October 2016) vs Gibraltar (25 March 2017)	vs Greece (9 June 2017)
Vincent Laban	Cyprus	vs Belgium (6 September 2016) vs Estonia (25 March 2017)	vs Gibraltar (9 June 2017)
Andreas Samaris	Greece	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016) vs Belgium (25 March 2017)	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017)
Panagiotis Tachtsidis		vs Belgium (25 March 2017)
Georgios Tzavellas
Konstantinos Laifis	Cyprus	vs Belgium (6 September 2016) vs Gibraltar (9 June 2017)	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (31 August 2017)
Artjom Dmitrijev	Estonia	vs Belgium (9 June 2017)	vs Greece (31 August 2017)
Karol Mets		vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (6 September 2016) vs Belgium (9 June 2017)
Sokratis Papastathopoulos	Greece	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 November 2016) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017)	vs Estonia (31 August 2017)
Axel Witsel	Belgium	vs Gibraltar (31 August 2017)	vs Greece (3 September 2017)
Miralem Pjanić	Bosnia and Herzegovina	vs Greece (13 November 2016) vs Cyprus (31 August 2017)	vs Gibraltar (3 September 2017)
Ragnar Klavan	Estonia	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (6 September 2016) vs Greece (31 August 2017)	vs Cyprus (3 September 2017)
Erin Barnett	Gibraltar	vs Belgium (31 August 2017)	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 September 2017)
Ervin Zukanović	Bosnia and Herzegovina	vs Greece (9 June 2017) vs Gibraltar (3 September 2017)	vs Belgium (7 October 2017)
Yannick Carrasco	Belgium	vs Greece (3 September 2017) vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (7 October 2017)	vs Cyprus (10 October 2017)
Anastasios Donis	Greece	vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (9 June 2017) vs Cyprus (7 October 2017)	vs Gibraltar (10 October 2017)
Kostas Manolas
Andreas Samaris		vs Belgium (3 September 2017) vs Cyprus (7 October 2017)

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
2. Gibraltar play their home matches at Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé in Portugal instead of their regular stadium, Victoria Stadium, in Gibraltar.
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Belgium on 7 October 2017) away from Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica due to a series of incidents during their home match against Greece.^[10]