# 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group D was one of the nine UEFA groups for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The group consisted of six teams: Wales, Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova, and Georgia.
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, Serbia, qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The group runners-up, Republic of Ireland, 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 | Serbia | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 21 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Republic of Ireland | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 19 | Advance to second round | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Wales | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 17 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| 4 | Austria | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 15 | | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Georgia | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 5 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Moldova | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 23 | −19 | 2 | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — |

## 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 71 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.37 goals per match.
6 goals
* Aleksandar Mitrović
4 goals
* Marko Arnautović
* James McClean
* Dušan Tadić
* Gareth Bale
3 goals
* Louis Schaub
* Valeri Qazaishvili
* Daryl Murphy
2 goals
* Martin Hinteregger
* Marc Janko
* Mijat Gaćinović
* Aleksandar Kolarov
* Filip Kostić
* Joe Allen
* Aaron Ramsey
1 goal
* Guido Burgstaller
* Martin Harnik
* Marcel Sabitzer
* Jano Ananidze
* Valerian Gvilia
* Nika Kacharava
* Giorgi Merebashvili
* Tornike Okriashvili
* Igor Bugaiov
* Alexandru Dedov
* Alexandru Gațcan
* Radu Gînsari
* Séamus Coleman
* Shane Duffy
* Jeff Hendrick
* Shane Long
* Jonathan Walters
* Branislav Ivanović
* Nemanja Matić
* Luka Milivojević
* Aleksandar Prijović
* Tom Lawrence
* Hal Robson-Kanu
* Sam Vokes
* Ben Woodburn
1 own goal
* Kevin Wimmer (against Wales)

## 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) |
| Aleksandar Kolarov | Serbia | vs Portugal in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying (11 October 2015) | vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) |
| Nemanja Matić | Serbia | vs Portugal in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying (11 October 2015) | vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) vs Moldova (6 October 2016) vs Austria (9 October 2016) |
| Shane Duffy | Republic of Ireland | vs France in UEFA Euro 2016 (26 June 2016) | vs Serbia (5 September 2016) |
| Jeff Hendrick | Republic of Ireland | vs Serbia (5 September 2016) vs Georgia (6 October 2016) | vs Moldova (9 October 2016) |
| Andrei Cojocari | Moldova | vs Serbia (6 October 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016) | vs Georgia (12 November 2016) |
| Alexandru Dedov | Moldova | vs Wales (5 September 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016) | vs Georgia (12 November 2016) |
| Aleksandar Kolarov | Serbia | vs Moldova (6 October 2016) vs Austria (9 October 2016) | vs Wales (12 November 2016) |
| Julian Baumgartlinger | Austria | vs Serbia (9 November 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (12 November 2016) | vs Moldova (24 March 2017) |
| Murtaz Daushvili | Georgia | vs Wales (9 October 2016) vs Moldova (12 November 2016) | vs Serbia (24 March 2017) |
| Tornike Okriashvili | Georgia | vs Wales (9 October 2016) vs Moldova (12 November 2016) | vs Serbia (24 March 2017) |
| Robbie Brady | Republic of Ireland | vs Serbia (5 September 2016) vs Austria (12 November 2016) | vs Wales (24 March 2017) |
| Aleksandar Katai | Serbia | vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) vs Wales (12 November 2016) | vs Georgia (24 March 2017) |
| Matija Nastasić | Serbia | vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2016) vs Wales (12 November 2016) | vs Georgia (24 March 2017) |
| Marko Arnautović | Austria | vs Wales (6 October 2016) vs Moldova (24 March 2017) | vs Republic of Ireland (11 June 2017) |
| Stefan Ilsanker | Austria | vs Serbia (9 October 2016) vs Moldova (24 March 2017) | vs Republic of Ireland (11 June 2017) |
| Alexandru Gațcan | Moldova | vs Republic of Ireland (9 October 2016) vs Austria (24 March 2017) | vs Georgia (11 June 2017) |
| Gareth Bale | Wales | vs Serbia (12 November 2016) vs Republic of Ireland (24 March 2017) | vs Serbia (11 June 2017) |
| Neil Taylor | Wales | vs Republic of Ireland (24 March 2017) | vs Serbia (11 June 2017) vs Austria (2 September 2017) |
| Jaba Kankava | Georgia | vs Serbia (24 March 2017) vs Moldova (11 June 2017) | vs Republic of Ireland (2 September 2017) |
| Vitalie Bordian | Moldova | vs Georgia (12 November 2016) vs Georgia (11 June 2017) | vs Serbia (2 September 2017) |
| Luka Milivojević | Serbia | vs Austria (9 October 2016) vs Wales (11 June 2017) | vs Moldova (2 September 2017) |
| Vladimir Stojković | Serbia | vs Wales (12 November 2016) vs Wales (11 June 2017) | vs Moldova (2 September 2017) |
| Joe Allen | Wales | vs Serbia (12 November 2016) vs Serbia (11 June 2017) | vs Austria (2 September 2017) |
| Robbie Brady | Republic of Ireland | vs Austria (11 June 2017) vs Serbia (5 September 2017) | vs Moldova (6 October 2017) |
| James McClean | Republic of Ireland | vs Georgia (2 September 2017) vs Serbia (5 September 2017) | vs Moldova (6 October 2017) |
| Nikola Maksimović | Serbia | vs Republic of Ireland (5 September 2017) | vs Austria (6 October 2017) |
| Aleksandar Dragović | Austria | vs Republic of Ireland (12 November 2016) vs Serbia (6 October 2017) | vs Moldova (9 October 2017) |
| Alexandru Gațcan | Moldova | vs Republic of Ireland (6 October 2017) | vs Austria (9 October 2017) |