The qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup are quite important and interesting information. First of all, it is worth noting that the final part of the 21st World Championship will be held for the first time in Russia from June 14 to July 15, 2018. The games are planned to be held at 12 stadiums and in 11 cities of the Russian Federation. This list includes cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Yekaterinburg.
Regarding how many teams will take part in the 2018 World Cup, it is known that there will be 32 national teams.
As for the Russian team, it, as the organizing country, automatically received a place in final tournament. But what other teams will be included in this composition became known in December 2017, because that’s when the final draw took place in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater. What other interesting facts can be noted regarding the composition and how the division will occur.
- Firstly, all participating teams will be divided into 8 groups, each of which will include 4 teams.
- Secondly, 64 matches will be played at the World Cup. At the same time, the group stage will include 48 matches, and the playoff stage only 16.
Today it is officially known that the FIFA committee announced that the first open match will take place on June 14, 2018 in Moscow at one of the large Luzhniki stadiums. It is also here that one of the semi-final matches– July 10 and the final match on July 15. But the match for 3rd place at the World Championship is planned to be held on July 14, but in the northern capital of our country in St. Petersburg at the new Zenit Arena stadium.
Football World Cup review.
If you carefully study everything latest news Regarding the composition of participants, it is known that 208 countries submitted applications, but according to the results, only 31 participants will be selected, with the exception of only Russian team. What other latest news and facts can be noted regarding the qualifying tournament?
- 1.The team that takes 1st place in its tournament group immediately advances to final part Championship 2018.
- 2. Those 8 teams that took only 2nd place in their groups will, in turn, be divided directly into pairs and in the future will be able to play 2 play-off matches, that is, home and away. And it’s worth saying one very interesting feature, according to which, based on the results of the play-off matches, the winners of 4 teams also receive a completely legal right to reach the finals of the Championship tournament.
Agree, knowledge of such news and features of the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup will help many to understand all the features and nuances.
Calendar of the qualifying tournament in the European zone.
Already today, the main matches and schedule of games in each group and zone have been officially announced and known, and many have already taken place and the results are well known to many.
- Firstly, the schedule and results of the 2016 Group A games.
- Belarus-France – September 6 (score 0:0).
- Bulgaria-Luximbourg – September 6 (4:3).
- Sweden-Netherlands – September 6 (1:1).
- France-Bulgaria – October 7 (4:1).
- Luxembourg-Sweden – October 7 (0:1).
- Netherlands-Belarus – October 7 (4:1).
- Belarus-Luxembourg – October 10 (1:1).
- Netherlands-France – October 10 (0:1).
- Sweden-Bulgaria – October 10 (3:0).
- France-Sweden – November 11 (2:1).
- Bulgaria-Belarus – November 13 (1:0).
- Luxembourg-Netherlands – November 13 (1:3).
- Sweden-Belarus – March 25.
- Bulgaria-Netherlands – March 25.
- Luxembourg-France – March 25.
- Belarus-Bulgaria – June 9.
- Netherlands – Luxembourg – June 9.
- Sweden-France – June 9.
- Bulgaria-Sweden – August 31.
- France-Netherlands – August 31.
- Luxembourg-Belarus – August 31.
- Belarus-Sweden – September 3.
- Netherlands-Bulgaria – September 3.
- France-Luxembourg – September 3.
- Sweden-Luxembourg – October 7.
- Belarus-Netherlands – October 7.
- Bulgaria-France – October 7.
- France-Belarus – October 10.
- Luxembourg-Bulgaria – October 10.
- Netherlands-Sweden – October 10.
This is exactly what the schedule of matches and games looks like in some individual groups.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Russia, is one of the most exciting and important events of this year, which is eagerly awaited by all fans and football fans.
FIFA World Cup in Russia: Match schedule is a section that allows all football fans to freely navigate the calendar of matches of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and be aware of all the necessary information on any of them. That is, you will never be late for a match or to watch it, and you will know in advance when the game will pass.
If desired or necessary, in the same section everyone will be able to find all the information on each match of the tournament. To do this, just click on any game in World Championship 2018 calendar.
Inside each match before the game you will be able to find the names of the refereeing team and familiarize yourself with approximate compositions for the match, or can offer his vision of the game and discuss it in a chat with other football fans. As the game progresses, you will have access to a text broadcast of each match, which will always be available and will not go anywhere after the meeting. After the game, you will also be able to find out the authors of the goals and those who chalked up cards or other effective actions worthy of the meeting minutes. Also, inside each match, all the current news on it will be available - which preceded the meeting or appeared following its results.
FIFA World Cup 2018 dates
12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities will host matches of this summer's main event. The dates for the 2018 FIFA World Cup have been set for a long time. Most football fans have already marked key dates on the calendar. Some will see the matches from the stadium, and millions of people around the world will watch the 2018 World Cup on TV.
If you are not very often interested in football, then remember: the opening date of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is June 14. On this day, the Russian team will open the tournament with a match against the Saudi Arabian team at Luzhniki. Russia will play the rest of its group matches at the World Cup on June 19 and 25 – against Egypt and Uruguay.
This and other dates for the 2018 FIFA World Cup can be viewed in our table - select matches of specific groups or the entire group stage. As the tournament progresses, the table will be updated when the participants in specific playoff matches become known.
Knowing the start date of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and other days of matches of the Russian national team is also important due to the fresh initiative of the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Igor Lebedev. The deputy proposes to make the days of matches of the Russian national team a weekend for the entire country.
Key dates for the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- June 14 – opening match at Luzhniki
- June 14-28 – group stage matches
- June 30 – start of playoff matches
- July 10 and 11 – semi-final matches
- July 14 – match for 3rd place
- July 15 – final
- This long series football games, which in total will last almost 3 years. This length of time is due to the huge number of teams in the future World Cup. More than two hundred national teams submitted applications for participation in the championship alone, which became a record for the entire period of the world championships. Therefore, it is not surprising that the qualifying round will last so long.
In the review, we will analyze in detail the future participants, their chances of getting into the final part of the World Cup, as well as the features of qualification.
Date
The first games began on 12 March 2015 in the Asian Football Confederation. A week later, matches between CONCACAF teams (North and Central America) started. On October 5, qualifying matches among African and South American teams began, and on August 31, national teams from Oceania competed for the first time. Later, European teams took the start in the championship. This happened on September 6, 2016. Thus, the qualifying round of the World Cup stretched from March 12, 2015 to November 14, 2017, which is a total of more than two years.
Participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup
All 208 FIFA members expressed their desire to participate in the 2018 World Cup, which was a record in the history of the World Cup. At the same time, for the first time in the championship they took part national teams South Sudan, Kosovo, Bhutan and Gibraltar. However, already at the stage of submitting applications and the first games in the qualifying round football family suffered losses. Due to organizational problems and non-compliance with FIFA rules, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Kuwait dropped out of the championship.
However, 205 national teams is too much for any host country, especially since the level of the teams varies greatly. That is why there is a complex sieve of qualifying tournaments.
All participants whose applications were approved by FIFA were distributed into 6 continental clusters:
- Asia;
- Africa;
- North and Central America;
- South America;
- Oceania;
- Europe.
Let's consider each of these territorial zones separately.
Qualifier: Asia
46 members of the Asian Football Confederation took part in the championship. During two qualifying rounds, only 12 teams remained from their number, which were divided into two groups:
Basket A:
- Iran;
- Uzbekistan;
- South Korea;
- Syria;
- Qatar;
- China.
Basket B:
- Saudi Arabia;
- Australia;
- Japan;
- Iraq;
- Thailand.
The Japanese, Koreans, and Australians have the best chances of entering. These teams are almost constant participants in world championships. However, Iran should not be written off. Football fans probably remember how the Iranians sensationally made it to the final round of the 2014 World Cup, where they pretty much spoiled the blood of Argentina in the group tournament. Therefore, there is no doubt about the qualifications and fortitude of Iranian football players. 
2018 World Cup Qualification: Africa
The results of the 2018 World Cup qualifying matches among African teams are much more interesting. Still, the level of teams from the “dark continent” is much higher than that of Asian teams.
During the two qualifying championships, 20 remained from the 53 teams that entered the competition. After the draw, they were distributed into 5 baskets. The most interesting, perhaps, can be called group B:
- Nigeria;
- Cameroon;
- Algeria;
- Zambia.
In this peculiar “group of death” there were two local grandees at once. However, according to the rules, only the winners of their baskets can advance to the World Cup finals. Therefore, willy-nilly, either Cameroon or Nigeria will remain left out of the football festival in Russia.
North and Central America
In fact, there are only two serious groups in this cluster - Mexico and the United States. The Costa Rican national team has demonstrated some success in the football field. Therefore, it is not surprising that all three of these teams made it to the fifth qualifying round. They were also accompanied by three more highly rated teams. Here is a list of all teams that made it to the final qualifying round:
- Mexico;
- Costa Rica;
- Honduras;
- Panama;
- Trinidad and Tobago.
The first 3 teams will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, and the fourth participant will compete for a spot with the best 3rd team of the Asian Confederation.
South America
Unlike previous clusters, South Americans are not divided into groups. All 10 members of CONMEBOL will play each other in a two-legged format: one match at home and one away. During the qualification, the first 4 lucky ones will receive the coveted tickets to the World Cup, and the 5th team will play a play-off match with the best team of Oceania. The list of all qualifying participants is as follows:
- Brazil;
- Uruguay;
- Ecuador;
- Colombia;
- Argentina;
- Paraguay;
- Chile;
- Peru;
- Bolivia;
- Venezuela.
Oceania
The most modest qualifying zone in terms of the quality of participants. Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea... The table of participants in the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup from Oceania rather evokes vague memories of school lessons geography than fan interest. However, even here, at the end of the world, football exists. Most professional team counts New Zealand. This team, by the way, can be seen at the 2018 Confederations Cup, which will be held in Russia.
In view of the depressing level of local teams, the best team that passed through the sieve of three qualifying rounds, as a reward he receives only the opportunity to play in a play-off match with the 5th team from South America. The winner of the match will go to the World Cup.
Qualifying rounds: Europe
Objectively, this is the strongest continental cluster. 54 teams are traditionally divided into 9 groups. The winners of the basket receive a direct ticket to the World Cup, and 8 best second teams - play among themselves play-offs. This is 4 more vouchers.
The draw for the group round among European teams took place on July 25, 2015. During this process, two interesting baskets were identified:
Group A:
- Sweden;
- France;
- Netherlands;
- Bulgaria;
- Belarus;
- Luxembourg.
Group G:
- Spain;
- Italy;
- Albania;
- Israel;
- Macedonia;
- Liechtenstein.
In Pot A, it will be interesting to watch the struggle between the silver finalists of EURO 2016, the French and the Dutch team, which is going through a painful generational change. Will the not-so-“Clockwork Orange” be able to cope with the young and ambitious Gallic cockerel?
Group G will feature recent rivals in the 1/8 finals of the 2016 European Championship - the national teams of Spain and Italy. Who is stronger: the Spaniards, who have set their sights on building a new young team, or the Italian destructive machine? In general, there is more than enough intrigue!
Afterword
In 2018, two grandiose events await us - and the World Cup. But if the Olympics are just an aftertaste after Sochi, then the World Cup will take place literally outside our windows. Therefore, we have the right to know who will trample Russian lawns in 2018. How are things in Tahiti? Is Honduras qualifying? Does Burkina Faso have a chance of reaching the World Cup finals? For a true fan home championship– these are not idle questions!
| Date | March 12, 2015 – November 14, 2016 |
| Participating teams and | 208 (applied) teams, divided into 6 territorial clusters:
|
| Newcomer teams | South Sudan; Kosovo; Butane; Gibraltar. |
| Total number of teams (based on the results of the qualifying tournament) | 31 (together with host country Russia – 32) |
The 21st FIFA World Cup is scheduled from June 14, 2018 to July 15, 2018 in Russia. There are 32 teams participating in the tournament, which includes Russia and the other 31 teams that topped the qualifying tournaments. The 6 FIFA confederations organized a series of tournaments to select candidates who will participate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. FIFA confederations held tournaments in their regions - Europe, Asia, South America, North America, Africa and Oceania.
Qualifications - how they happen
The qualification process for the 2018 FIFA World Cup consisted of a series of tournaments in which all 210 FIFA member countries could participate. These tournaments were organized by the six FIFA confederations, and 31 of the 32 countries selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup were winners. The 32nd country, Russia, is the host country and qualifies automatically, without having to participate in qualifying matches. Charts for qualifying rounds were appointed by lot.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying competitions were exciting as the teams registered for the qualifiers were incredibly strong and determined. Several countries such as Bhutan, Gibraltar, Kosovo and South Sudan participated in this event for the first time. However, Indonesia and Zimbabwe were disqualified from the tournament for various reasons.
Regions
Six FIFA confederations - Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Asian football confederation(AFC), South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL), Confederation of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation (KONCACAF), Confederation African football(CAF) and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
The Confederation of African Football, a member of FIFA, is holding a preliminary competition for the five allocated places. Teams competing for five places: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Mali, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Chad, Comoros, Sudan, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. Only Zimbabwe, among the 54 member states of the Confederation of African Football, could not participate because the Zimbabwe Football Union was suspended for failing to pay unemployment benefits former coach national team.
The qualifying matches were held in three rounds. All teams competed in the first two rounds, from which the winners entered the third round. The third round was divided into five groups, with the winners of each group vying to represent Africa at the World Cup in Russia. The five African countries that qualified were Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has 4.5 places, four places and one for the playoffs among the two continents.
The qualifying tournaments included 46 AFC member countries, with matches lasting over five rounds. The AFC itself is a conglomerate of many football federations. The West Asian Federation consists of: Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) consists of: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) consists of: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) consists of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Northern Mariana Islands. The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) consists of: Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, East Timor, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
The 12 lowest ranked teams competed in the first round. The top six teams advanced to the next round, which was joined by the next 34 lowest ranked teams. In the end, 40 teams were divided into eight groups of five teams each to play round-robin matches. The eight winners advanced to the third round and also qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup final.
In the third round, eight teams joined the top two teams. The teams were divided into two groups, each consisting of six teams. The top two teams in each group qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two teams fighting for third place advanced to the fourth round.
In the fourth round, the two third-place teams battled over three rounds, with the winner advancing to the intercontinental playoffs.
Iran, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia have qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Australia qualified for the Intercontinental and also qualified for the World Cup by defeating Honduras.
The 54 members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), FIFA's confederation, were divided into nine groups of six teams each, with all teams playing each other in a round-robin format to qualify for 13 places in the group stages. UEFA has a total of fourteen places for the World Cup, but Russia, as the host country, automatically qualifies. In addition, the top eight runners-up also advance to the next round. UEFA members include: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary , Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. Among them, France, Portugal, Germany, Serbia, Poland, England, Spain, Belgium and Iceland topped nine groups and qualified directly for the World Cup. Among the runners-up, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland won the playoffs and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Among the teams participating in the qualifying rounds, Iceland passed this stage for the first time. Qualifiers were played from November 9, 2017 to November 11, 2017 and from November 12, 2017 to November 14, 2017
CONCACAF has 3.5 places, meaning three places for classification and one for the playoffs. CONCACAF member states are: United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bahamas, Bermuda, Panama, Anguilla, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Purto Rico, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Grenada, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands.
The extensive qualifying tournaments run by CONCACAF had five rounds. The first three rounds were played in a knockout format, with the fourth and final round being a group round. In the first round, the 14 lowest ranked teams played each other home and away. The top seven teams joined eleven other teams in the next round, which followed the same format. The top ten teams advanced to the third round, where they were joined by two other teams higher in the rankings. Twelve teams qualified again and the top six teams advanced to the fourth round.
In the fourth round, the six teams were joined by six more who qualified in the third round. Six teams, or the top two teams in each group, advanced to the fifth and final round.
In the fifth and last round, six teams competed against each other in two matches: one at home and the other away. The top three teams qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The fourth team continued to play in the playoffs with the Oceania group.
Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, the top three teams, qualified for the championship in Russia. The fourth team, Honduras, played in the qualifiers against Australia but lost.
An interesting fact about the CONCACAF qualifiers is that the United States did not qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, while Panama, on the other hand, is participating in the World Cup for the first time.
CONMEBOL, the South American Football Federation and the FIFA affiliate also conduct FIFA World Cup qualifying. Qualifying tournament for FIFA 2018 consisted of double round-robin matches, and was played in nine matches of two rounds. Each team plays twice in each round, with one home and one away match.
CONMEBOL's ten member states are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. At the 2018 World Championships in Russia preliminary stage has four and a half slots for South America. While Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina qualified, Peru qualified, after beating New Zealand, for the intercontinental play-offs
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), an affiliate of FIFA, conducts qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. For thirteen participants, OFC allocates only 0.5 places or an international playoff.
The thirteen members are New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Cook Island, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, French Polynesia Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Notably, Australia is not in the OFC. In 2006, Football Federation Australia (FFA) left the OFC and became a member of the Asian Football Confederation.
The tournament takes place in three rounds. The first round, which was played in a round-robin format, featured the four highest ranked teams: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, with the winner advancing to the second round.
The winner of the first round joined seven other teams: Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu. There were four teams in each group in this round. Three best teams each match advanced to the third round.
The six teams advancing from the second round were divided into two groups of three teams. The two groups played two matches, with the winner advancing to the playoffs with Peru.
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