The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group H was one of the nine UEFA groups for

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

. The group consisted of six teams:

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, 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 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be wri ...

), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in

Strelna Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia. Gibraltar was added to the group after the draw, after becoming FIFA members together with

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

in May 2016, and UEFA decided not to put Kosovo in same group as Bosnia and Herzegovina for security reasons. The group winners, Belgium, qualified directly for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. The group runners-up, Greece, advanced to the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

as one of the best eight runners-up.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

was initially partnered with the five-team Group H, which enabled the 2018 World Cup hosts to play centralised

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against these countries on their "spare" match dates. 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

Matches

The fixture list prior to the inclusion of Gibraltar 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

There were 109 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of goals per match. ;11 goals *

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...

;6 goals *

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered one ...

Konstantinos Mitroglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Mitroglou ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μήτρογλου, ; born 12 March 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is nicknamed "Mitrogoal" and "Pistolero" by fans due to his goa ...

;5 goals * Dries Mertens * Thomas Meunier * Edin Džeko ;4 goals * Pieros Sotiriou * Mattias Käit ;3 goals * Christian Benteke * Yannick Carrasco *

Vedad Ibišević Vedad Ibišević (; born 6 August 1984) is a Bosnian former professional Football player, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently assistant head coach of Hertha BSC. Ibišević started his professional ...

* Edin Višća *

Joonas Tamm Joonas Tamm (born 2 February 1992) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga I club FCSB and the Estonia national team. Tamm has won the Estonian Footballer of the Year in 2022. Club career Tulevik Tamm started ...

* Vasilis Torosidis ;2 goals * Jan Vertonghen * Axel Witsel *

Izet Hajrović Izet Hajrović (; born 4 August 1991) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Super League Greece club Aris and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Hajrović started his professional career at Grasshoppers, bef ...

* Haris Medunjanin *

Emir Spahić Emir Spahić (; born 18 August 1980) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. During his club career, he represented teams in his homeland, Croatia, Russia, France, Spain and Germany. He earned a total of 94 inte ...

;1 goal * Toby Alderweireld *

Michy Batshuayi Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Belgium national team. Batshuayi began his professional career at Standard Liège in 2011, scor ...

* Nacer Chadli *

Thorgan Hazard Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium national team. He is the younger brother of Eden a ...

Ermin Bičakčić Ermin Bičakčić (; born 24 January 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Bičakčić started his professional career at VfB ...

Dario Đumić Dario Đumić (; born 30 January 1992) is a Bosnian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back for 2. Bundesliga club SV Sandhausen and the Bosnia and Herzegovina nationa ...

* Kenan Kodro *

Senad Lulić Senad Lulić (; born 18 January 1986) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Lulić started his professional career at Chur 97, before joining Bellinzona in 2006. Two years later, he switched to Grasshopper ...

* Miralem Pjanić *

Toni Šunjić Toni Šunjić (; born 15 December 1988) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Chinese Super League club Henan. Šunjić started his professional career at Zrinjski Mostar, who loaned him to Kortrijk in 2010. In 201 ...

Avdija Vršajević Avdija Vršajević (born 6 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo. Club career Vršajević's first professional club was NK TOŠK Tešanj. Here he spent the 2003-04 sea ...

* Demetris Christofi * Vincent Laban *

Constantinos Laifis Konstantinos Laifis ( gr, Κωνσταντίνος Λαΐφης; born 19 May 1993), sometimes spelt as Constantinos Laifis, is a Cypriot footballer who plays for Belgian First Division A club Standard Liège, and for the Cyprus national team. H ...

* Valentinos Sielis *

Henri Anier Henri Anier (born 17 December 1990) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Thai League 1 club Muangthong United and the Estonia national team. Club career Flora Anier came through the Flora youth system. He moved to ...

Ilja Antonov Ilja Antonov (born 5 December 1992) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Romanian club Corvinul Hunedoara. Club career Puuma Antonov came through the Puuma youth system. He played for Ararat and Kiviõli Tamme Au ...

* Siim Luts *

Sergei Mošnikov Sergei Mošnikov (born 7 January 1988) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Paide Linnameeskond. Club career Early career Mošnikov came through the youth system at Pärnu. He made his senior league debut while ...

* Konstantin Vassiljev *

Sergei Zenjov Sergei Zenjov (born 20 April 1989) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Meistriliiga club Flora and the Estonia national team. Besides Estonia, Zenjov has played in England, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Azerbaijan and ...

* Lee Casciaro *

Anthony Hernandez Anthony Hernandez (born October 18, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, he has also competed with Globa ...

* Liam Walker * Kostas Fortounis * Giannis Gianniotas * Petros Mantalos *

Kostas Stafylidis Konstantinos "Kostas" Stafylidis ( el, Κώστας Σταφυλίδης; born 2 December 1993) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Bundesliga club VfL Bochum. He represents the Greece national team. Early career ...

Georgios Tzavellas Georgios Tzavellas ( el, Γεώργιος Τζαβέλλας; born 26 November 1987) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Super League club AEK Athens and the Greece national team. Club career Kerkyra Tzavellas be ...

* Alexandros Tziolis * Zeca ;1 own goal *

(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: * 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:

Notes

References

External links

*
Qualifiers – Europe: Round 1
FIFA.com

UEFA.com

UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group H H Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup