2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group B


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The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group B was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia, and Andorra.

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

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]
  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Overall goal difference
  3. Overall goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
  8. 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
  9. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Portugal 10 9 0 1 32 4 +28 27 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup 2–0 3–0 5–1 4–1 6–0
2    Switzerland 10 9 0 1 23 7 +16 27 Advance to second round 2–0 5–2 2–0 1–0 3–0
3   Hungary 10 4 1 5 14 14 0 13 0–1 2–3 1–0 3–1 4–0
4   Faroe Islands 10 2 3 5 4 16 −12 9 0–6 0–2 0–0 0–0 1–0
5   Latvia 10 2 1 7 7 18 −11 7 0–3 0–3 0–2 0–2 4−0
6   Andorra 10 1 1 8 2 23 −21 4 0–2 1–2 1–0 0–0 0–1

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]










There were 82 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.73 goals per match.

15 goals

9 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[6]

  • 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)
Granit Xhaka    Switzerland     vs Portugal (6 September 2016) vs Hungary (7 October 2016)
Marc Rebés   Andorra   vs Portugal (7 October 2016) vs Switzerland (10 October 2016)
vs Hungary (13 November 2016)
Jordi Rubio     vs Portugal (7 October 2016) vs Switzerland (10 October 2016)
Valon Behrami    Switzerland   vs Portugal (6 September 2016)
  vs Hungary (7 October 2016)
vs Andorra (10 October 2016)
Ildefons Lima   Andorra   vs Portugal (7 October 2016)
  vs Switzerland (10 October 2016)
vs Hungary (13 November 2016)
Tamás Kádár   Hungary   vs Faroe Islands (6 September 2016)
  vs Latvia (10 October 2016)
vs Andorra (13 November 2016)
Valērijs Šabala   Latvia   vs Andorra (6 September 2016)
  vs Hungary (10 October 2016)
vs Portugal (13 November 2016)
Pepe   Portugal   vs Andorra (7 October 2016)
  vs Faroe Islands (10 October 2016)
vs Latvia (13 November 2016)
Fróði Benjaminsen   Faroe Islands   vs Hungary (6 September 2016)
  vs Switzerland (13 November 2016)
vs Andorra (25 March 2017)
László Kleinheisler   Hungary   vs Faroe Islands (6 September 2016)
  vs Andorra (13 November 2016)
vs Portugal (25 March 2017)
Vitālijs Maksimenko   Latvia   vs Faroe Islands (7 October 2016)
  vs Portugal (13 November 2016)
vs Switzerland (25 March 2017)
Marc García   Andorra   vs Latvia (6 September 2016)
  vs Faroe Islands (25 March 2017)
vs Hungary (9 June 2017)
Jordi Rubio   vs Portugal (7 October 2016)
  vs Faroe Islands (25 March 2017)
Márcio Vieira   vs Latvia (6 September 2016)
  vs Faroe Islands (25 March 2017)
Jóan Símun Edmundsson   Faroe Islands     vs Andorra (25 March 2017) vs Switzerland (9 June 2017)
Fabian Schär    Switzerland   vs Andorra (10 October 2016)
  vs Latvia (25 March 2017)
vs Faroe Islands (9 June 2017)
Chus Rubio   Andorra   vs Switzerland (10 October 2016)
  vs Hungary (9 June 2017)
vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)
Moisés San Nicolás   vs Faroe Islands (25 March 2017)
  vs Hungary (9 June 2017)
Gļebs Kļuškins   Latvia   vs Portugal (13 November 2016)
  vs Portugal (9 June 2017)
vs Hungary (31 August 2017)
Oļegs Laizāns   vs Andorra (6 September 2016)
  vs Portugal (9 June 2017)
Jordi Aláez   Andorra   vs Hungary (9 June 2017)
  vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)
vs Faroe Islands (3 September 2017)
Ludovic Clemente   vs Latvia (6 September 2016)
  vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)
Barnabás Bese   Hungary   vs Andorra (9 June 2017)
  vs Latvia (31 August 2017)
vs Portugal (3 September 2017)
Gints Freimanis   Latvia   vs Switzerland (25 March 2017)
  vs Hungary (31 August 2017)
vs Switzerland (3 September 2017)
Marc Pujol   Andorra   vs Hungary (9 June 2017)
  vs Faroe Islands (3 September 2017)
vs Portugal (7 October 2017)
Balázs Dzsudzsák   Hungary   vs Portugal (25 March 2017)
  vs Portugal (3 September 2017)
vs Switzerland (7 October 2017)
Attila Fiola   vs Faroe Islands (6 September 2016)
  vs Portugal (3 September 2017)
Tamás Priskin   vs Portugal (3 September 2017)
Dāvis Indrāns   Latvia   vs Hungary (31 August 2017)
  vs Switzerland (3 September 2017)
vs Faroe Islands (7 October 2017)
Aleksandrs Solovjovs
Víctor Rodríguez   Andorra   vs Portugal (7 October 2016)
  vs Portugal (7 October 2017)
vs Latvia (10 October 2017)
Moisés San Nicolás   vs Faroe Islands (3 September 2017)
  vs Portugal (7 October 2017)
Ákos Elek   Hungary   vs Portugal (3 September 2017)
  vs Switzerland (7 October 2017)
vs Faroe Islands (10 October 2017)
Kaspars Gorkšs   Latvia   vs Portugal (13 November 2016)
  vs Faroe Islands (7 October 2017)
vs Andorra (10 October 2017)
  1. ^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  1. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016.
  2. ^ "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
  4. ^ "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.