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. Kosovo was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with Gibraltar in May 2016, 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.
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
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
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:
Player Team Offence(s) Suspended for match(es) Aron Gunnarsson vs Ukraine (5 September 2016) vs Finland (6 October 2016) vs Turkey (9 October 2016) Niklas Moisander vs Iceland (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (9 October 2016) vs Ukraine (12 November 2016) Hekuran Kryeziu vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Turkey (12 November 2016) Emre Mor vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (9 October 2016) vs Kosovo (12 November 2016) Ivan Perišić vs Iceland (12 November 2016) vs Ukraine (24 March 2017) Thomas Lam vs Kosovo (5 September 2016) vs Ukraine (12 November 2016) vs Turkey (24 March 2017) Theódór Elmar Bjarnason vs Ukraine (9 October 2016) vs Croatia (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (24 March 2017) Enis Alushi vs Finland (5 September 2016) vs Turkey (12 November 2016) vs Iceland (24 March 2017) Eduard Sobol vs Turkey (6 October 2016) vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Croatia (24 March 2017) Paulus Arajuuri 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 vs Turkey (11 June 2017) vs Croatia (2 September 2017) Burak Yılmaz vs Kosovo (12 November 2016) vs Kosovo (11 June 2017) vs Ukraine (2 September 2017) Yaroslav Rakitskiy vs Finland (12 November 2016) vs Finland (11 June 2017) vs Turkey (2 September 2017) Jere Uronen vs Turkey (24 March 2017) vs Iceland (2 September 2017) vs Kosovo (5 September 2017) Rúrik Gíslason vs Finland (2 September 2017) vs Ukraine (5 September 2017) Milan Badelj vs Iceland (12 November 2016) vs Turkey (5 September 2017) vs Finland (6 October 2017) Robin Lod vs Iceland (2 September 2017) vs Kosovo (5 September 2017) vs Croatia (6 October 2017) Emil Hallfreðsson vs Finland (2 September 2017) vs Ukraine (5 September 2017) vs Turkey (6 October 2017) Bernard Berisha 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 vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Croatia (5 September 2017) vs Iceland (6 October 2017) Viktor Kovalenko 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 vs Iceland (24 March 2017) vs Ukraine (6 October 2017) vs Iceland (9 October 2017) Caner Erkin vs Ukraine (6 October 2016) vs Iceland (6 October 2017) vs Finland (9 October 2017) Artem Kravets 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
References
External links
Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1, FIFA.com , UEFA.com , UEFA.com