# 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Netherlands, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, and Luxembourg.
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.
The group winners, France, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Sweden, advanced to the play-offs as one of the best eight runners-up.

## 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):
* 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 | France | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 23 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Sweden | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 19 | Advance to second round | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 8–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 19 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 19 | −5 | 13 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | — | 4–3 | 1–0 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 6 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Belarus | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 5 | | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Matches

The fixture list 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 93 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.1 goals per match.
8 goals
* Marcus Berg
6 goals
* Arjen Robben
4 goals
* Olivier Giroud
* Antoine Griezmann
* Aurélien Joachim
* Emil Forsberg
3 goals
* Georgi Kostadinov
* Memphis Depay
* Quincy Promes
* Davy Pröpper
* Andreas Granqvist
* Mikael Lustig
* Ola Toivonen
2 goals
* Pavel Savitski
* Ivaylo Chochev
* Spas Delev
* Ivelin Popov
* Kevin Gameiro
* Thomas Lemar
* Dimitri Payet
* Paul Pogba
* Vincent Janssen
* Wesley Sneijder
1 goal
* Alexei Rios
* Anton Saroka
* Mikhail Sivakow
* Maksim Valadzko
* Mihail Aleksandrov
* Stanislav Manolev
* Marcelinho
* Dimitar Rangelov
* Aleksandar Tonev
* Blaise Matuidi
* Kylian Mbappé
* Florian Bohnert
* Maxime Chanot
* Daniel da Mota
* Olivier Thill
* Davy Klaassen
* Georginio Wijnaldum
* Jimmy Durmaz
* Oscar Hiljemark
* Isaac Kiese Thelin
* Victor Lindelöf
* Christoffer Nyman

## 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) |
| Kevin Malget | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) |
| Dirk Carlson | Luxembourg | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) | vs Netherlands (13 November 2016) |
| Kevin Strootman | Netherlands | vs Sweden (6 September 2016) vs France (10 October 2016) | vs Luxembourg (13 November 2016) |
| Paul Pogba | France | vs Netherlands (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (11 November 2016) | vs Luxembourg (25 March 2017) |
| Alexander Hleb | Belarus | vs Bulgaria (13 November 2016) | vs Sweden (25 March 2017) |
| Aleksandar Aleksandrov | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (10 October 2016) vs Belarus (13 November 2016) | vs Netherlands (25 March 2017) |
| Alyaksandr Martynovich | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (25 March 2017) | vs Bulgaria (9 June 2017) |
| Aurélien Joachim | Luxembourg | vs Belarus (10 October 2016) vs France (25 March 2017) | vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) |
| Daniel da Mota | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) vs France (25 March 2017) | vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) |
| Chris Philipps | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) vs France (25 March 2017) | vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) |
| Svetoslav Dyakov | Bulgaria | vs Belarus (13 November 2016) vs Belarus (9 June 2017) | vs Sweden (31 August 2017) |
| Kevin Malget | Luxembourg | vs Sweden (7 October 2016) vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) | vs Belarus (31 August 2017) |
| Christopher Martins | Luxembourg | vs Bulgaria (6 September 2016) vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) | vs Belarus (31 August 2017) |
| Bozhidar Chorbadzhiyski | Bulgaria | vs Belarus (9 June 2017) vs Sweden (31 August 2017) | vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) |
| Kevin Strootman | Netherlands | vs France (31 August 2017) | vs Bulgaria (3 September 2017) |
| Ola Toivonen | Sweden | vs Luxembourg (7 October 2016) vs Bulgaria (31 August 2017) | vs Belarus (3 September 2017) |
| Egor Filipenko | Belarus | vs Bulgaria (9 June 2017) vs Sweden (3 September 2017) | vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) |
| Nikita Korzun | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Sweden (3 September 2017) | vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) |
| Ivaylo Chochev | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (31 August 2017) vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) | vs France (7 October 2017) |
| Ivelin Popov | Bulgaria | vs Luxembourg (6 September 2016) vs Netherlands (3 September 2017) | vs France (7 October 2017) |
| Christoffer Nyman | Sweden | vs Netherlands (6 September 2016) vs Belarus (3 September 2017) | vs Luxembourg (7 October 2017) |
| Paul Pogba | France | vs Sweden (9 June 2017) vs Luxembourg (3 September 2017) | vs Bulgaria (7 October 2017) |
| Laurent Jans | Luxembourg | vs Netherlands (9 June 2017) vs France (3 September 2017) | vs Sweden (7 October 2017) |
| Syarhey Balanovich | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (31 August 2017) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) | vs France (10 October 2017) |
| Alexei Rios | Belarus | vs Netherlands (7 October 2016) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) | vs France (10 October 2017) |
| Mikalay Signevich | Belarus | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2016) vs Netherlands (7 October 2017) | vs France (10 October 2017) |
| Georgi Kostadinov | Bulgaria | vs Sweden (31 August 2017) vs France (7 October 2017) | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2017) |