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.^[1][2] Kosovo was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Gibraltar in May 2016,^[3] and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in group H as the UEFA Emergency Panel considered that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should not play against Kosovo for security reasons.^[4][5]

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.

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):[6] 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	Iceland	10	7	1	2	16	7	+9	22	Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0
2	Croatia	10	6	2	2	15	4	+11	20	Advance to second round		2–0	—	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0
3	Ukraine	10	5	2	3	13	9	+4	17			1–1	0–2	—	2–0	1–0	3–0
4	Turkey	10	4	3	3	14	13	+1	15			0–3	1–0	2–2	—	2–0	2–0
5	Finland	10	2	3	5	9	13	−4	9			1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	—	1–1
6	Kosovo	10	0	1	9	3	24	−21	1			1–2	0–6	0–2	1–4	0–1	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

The fixture list prior to the inclusion of Kosovo was confirmed by UEFA on 26 July 2015, the day following the draw.^[1][7] Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).^[8]

Croatia	1–1	Turkey
Rakitić 44' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Çalhanoğlu 45+3'

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 0^{[note 2]}

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Finland	1–1	Kosovo
Arajuuri 18'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	V. Berisha 60' (pen.)

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Veritas Stadion, Turku

Attendance: 7,571

Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)

Ukraine	1–1	Iceland
Yarmolenko 41'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Finnbogason 6'

5 September 2016 (2016-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Olympic Stadium, Kyiv

Attendance: 0^{[note 3]}

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

---

Iceland	3–2	Finland
Árnason 37' Finnbogason 90+1' R. Sigurðsson 90+6'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Pukki 21' Lod 39'

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,548

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

Kosovo	0–6	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mandžukić 6', 24', 35' Mitrović 68' Perišić 83' N. Kalinić 90+2'

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 14,612

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

Turkey	2–2	Ukraine
Tufan 45+1' Çalhanoğlu 81' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Yarmolenko 24' (pen.) Kravets 27'

6 October 2016 (2016-10-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Torku Arena, Konya

Attendance: 36,714

Referee: Manuel Gräfe (Germany)

---

Finland	0–1	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Mandžukić 18'

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 15,567

Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

Ukraine	3–0	Kosovo
Kravets 31' Yarmolenko 81' Rotan 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Józef Piłsudski Stadium, Kraków (Poland)^{[note 5]}

Attendance: 999

Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)

Iceland	2–0	Turkey
T. Bjarnason 42' Finnbogason 44'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)

---

Croatia	2–0	Iceland
Brozović 15', 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 0^{[note 2]}

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

Turkey	2–0	Kosovo
Yılmaz 51' Şen 55'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

18:00^{[note 6]}
(20:00 UTC+3)

New Antalya Stadium, Antalya

Attendance: 26,555

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

Ukraine	1–0	Finland
Kravets 25'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Chornomorets Stadium, Odesa

Attendance: 26,482

Referee: Jorge Sousa (Portugal)

---

Turkey	2–0	Finland
Tosun 9', 13'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

18:00^{[note 6]}
(20:00 UTC+3)

New Antalya Stadium, Antalya

Attendance: 28,990

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Croatia	1–0	Ukraine
N. Kalinić 38'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 27,351

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Kosovo	1–2	Iceland
Nuhiu 52'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	B. Sigurðarson 25' G. Sigurðsson 35' (pen.)

24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 6,832

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

---

Finland	1–2	Ukraine
Pohjanpalo 72'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Konoplyanka 51' Besyedin 75'

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 8,723

Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)

Iceland	1–0	Croatia
Magnússon 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

Kosovo	1–4	Turkey
Rrahmani 22'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Şen 7' Ünder 31' Yılmaz 61' Tufan 82'

11 June 2017 (2017-06-11)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 3,758

Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

---

Finland	1–0	Iceland
Ring 8'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)

Tampere Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 15,835

Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

Croatia	1–0[note 7]	Kosovo
Vida 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 6,839

Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)

Ukraine	2–0	Turkey
Yarmolenko 18', 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

2 September 2017 (2017-09-02)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

Attendance: 36,796

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

---

Iceland	2–0	Ukraine
G. Sigurðsson 47', 66'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,769

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

Kosovo	0–1	Finland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Pukki 83'

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 2,446

Referee: Manuel Schüttengruber (Austria)

Turkey	1–0	Croatia
Tosun 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir

Attendance: 28,600

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

---

Croatia	1–1	Finland
Mandžukić 57'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Soiri 90'

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka

Attendance: 7,578

Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland)

Kosovo	0–2	Ukraine
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Paqarada 60' (o.g.) Yarmolenko 88'

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër (Albania)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 1,261

Referee: Craig Pawson (England)

Turkey	0–3	Iceland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Guðmundsson 32' Bjarnason 39' Árnason 50'

6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir

Attendance: 30,390

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

---

Finland	2–2	Turkey
Arajuuri 76' Pohjanpalo 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Tosun 57', 83'

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Veritas Stadion, Turku

Attendance: 6,612

Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

Iceland	2–0	Kosovo
G. Sigurðsson 40' Guðmundsson 68'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(18:45 UTC±0)

Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík

Attendance: 9,775

Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

Ukraine	0–2	Croatia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)[dead link]	Kramarić 62', 70'

9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Olympic Stadium, Kyiv

Attendance: 60,200

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Goalscorers

There were 70 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.33 goals per match.

6 goals

• Andriy Yarmolenko

5 goals

• Mario Mandžukić
• Cenk Tosun

4 goals

• Gylfi Sigurðsson

3 goals

• Alfreð Finnbogason
• Artem Kravets

2 goals

• Marcelo Brozović
• Nikola Kalinić
• Andrej Kramarić
• Paulus Arajuuri
• Joel Pohjanpalo
• Teemu Pukki
• Kári Árnason
• Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson
• Hakan Çalhanoğlu
• Volkan Şen
• Ozan Tufan
• Burak Yılmaz

1 goal

• Matej Mitrović
• Ivan Perišić
• Ivan Rakitić
• Domagoj Vida
• Robin Lod
• Alexander Ring
• Pyry Soiri
• Birkir Bjarnason
• Theódór Elmar Bjarnason
• Hörður Björgvin Magnússon
• Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson
• Ragnar Sigurðsson
• Valon Berisha
• Atdhe Nuhiu
• Amir Rrahmani
• Cengiz Ünder
• Artem Besyedin
• Yevhen Konoplyanka
• Ruslan Rotan

1 own goal

• Leart Paqarada (against Ukraine)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:^[15]

• 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)
Aron Gunnarsson	Iceland	vs Ukraine (5 September 2016) vs Finland (6 October 2016)	vs Turkey (9 October 2016)
Niklas Moisander	Finland	vs Iceland (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (9 October 2016)	vs Ukraine (12 November 2016)
Hekuran Kryeziu	Kosovo	vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (9 October 2016)	vs Turkey (12 November 2016)
Emre Mor	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (9 October 2016)	vs Kosovo (12 November 2016)
Ivan Perišić	Croatia	vs Iceland (12 November 2016)	vs Ukraine (24 March 2017)
Thomas Lam	Finland	vs Kosovo (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (12 November 2016)	vs Turkey (24 March 2017)
Theódór Elmar Bjarnason	Iceland	vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Croatia (12 November 2016)	vs Kosovo (24 March 2017)
Enis Alushi	Kosovo	vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Turkey (12 November 2016)	vs Iceland (24 March 2017)
Eduard Sobol	Ukraine	vs Turkey (6 October 2016) vs Finland (12 November 2016)	vs Croatia (24 March 2017)
Paulus Arajuuri	Finland	vs Iceland (6 October 2016) vs Turkey (24 March 2017)	vs Ukraine (11 June 2017)
Alexander Ring		vs Croatia (9 October 2016) vs Turkey (24 March 2017)
Bernard Berisha	Kosovo	vs Turkey (11 June 2017)	vs Croatia (2 September 2017)
Burak Yılmaz	Turkey	vs Kosovo (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (11 June 2017)	vs Ukraine (2 September 2017)
Yaroslav Rakitskiy	Ukraine	vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Finland (11 June 2017)	vs Turkey (2 September 2017)
Jere Uronen	Finland	vs Turkey (24 March 2017) vs Iceland (2 September 2017)	vs Kosovo (5 September 2017)
Rúrik Gíslason	Iceland	vs Finland (2 September 2017)	vs Ukraine (5 September 2017)
Milan Badelj	Croatia	vs Iceland (12 November 2016) vs Turkey (5 September 2017)	vs Finland (6 October 2017)
Robin Lod	Finland	vs Iceland (2 September 2017) vs Kosovo (5 September 2017)	vs Croatia (6 October 2017)
Emil Hallfreðsson	Iceland	vs Finland (2 September 2017) vs Ukraine (5 September 2017)	vs Turkey (6 October 2017)
Bernard Berisha	Kosovo	vs Turkey (11 June 2017) vs Finland (5 September 2017)	vs Ukraine (6 October 2017)
Valon Berisha		vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Finland (5 September 2017)
Hakan Çalhanoğlu	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (5 September 2017)	vs Iceland (6 October 2017)
Viktor Kovalenko	Ukraine	vs Finland (11 June 2017) vs Iceland (5 September 2017)	vs Kosovo (6 October 2017)
Oleksandr Zinchenko		vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Iceland (5 September 2017)
Hekuran Kryeziu	Kosovo	vs Iceland (24 March 2017) vs Ukraine (6 October 2017)	vs Iceland (9 October 2017)
Caner Erkin	Turkey	vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (6 October 2017)	vs Finland (9 October 2017)
Artem Kravets	Ukraine	vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (6 October 2017)	vs Croatia (9 October 2017)
Ivan Ordets		vs Turkey (6 October 2016) vs Kosovo (6 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.
2. Croatia were sanctioned by FIFA to play two home matches (against Turkey on 5 September 2016 and against Iceland on 12 November 2016) without spectators for two cases of discriminatory chants by fans, which occurred during friendly matches against Israel on 23 March 2016 and against Hungary on 26 March 2016, having already been sanctioned for similar incidents by FIFA and UEFA.^[9]
3. Ukraine were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Iceland on 5 September 2016) without spectators for racist behaviour in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against San Marino at Arena Lviv, Lviv. In addition, the Football Federation of Ukraine were ordered not to play any of its 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches at Arena Lviv.^[10][11]
4. Kosovo play their home matches at Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër in Albania instead of their regular stadium, City Stadium, Pristina in Kosovo.^[12]
5. The Ukraine v Kosovo match was played in a neutral venue due to Ukraine's non-recognition of Kosovo's travel documents.^[13]
6. The home matches of Turkey against Kosovo and Finland were changed to 18:00 CET (20:00 local time) due to the decision of the Turkish government to use the UTC+3 time zone all year round starting from September 2016.
7. The Croatia v Kosovo match was suspended after 21 minutes due to torrential rain, with the score 0–0 at the time. The match was resumed on 3 September, 14:30 UTC+2.^[14]