2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group B

Football qualification

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.

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):^[3] 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

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]

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	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	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

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]

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Andorra	0–1	Latvia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Šabala 48'

Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 1,115

Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Faroe Islands	0–0	Hungary
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn

Attendance: 4,066

Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Switzerland	2–0	Portugal
Embolo 24' Mehmedi 30'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

St. Jakob-Park, Basel

Attendance: 36,000

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Hungary	2–3	Switzerland
Szalai 53', 71'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Seferovic 51' Rodríguez 67' Stocker 89'

Groupama Arena, Budapest

Attendance: 21,668

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Latvia	0–2	Faroe Islands
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Nattestad 19' Edmundsson 70'

Skonto Stadium, Riga

Attendance: 4,823

Referee: Serhiy Boyko (Ukraine)

7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	6–0	Andorra
Ronaldo 2', 4', 47', 68' Cancelo 44' A. Silva 86'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estádio Municipal, Aveiro

Attendance: 25,120

Referee: Oliver Drachta (Austria)

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Andorra	1–2	Switzerland
A. Martínez 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Schär 19' (pen.) Mehmedi 77'

Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 2,014

Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Faroe Islands	0–6	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	A. Silva 12', 22', 37' Ronaldo 65' Moutinho 90+1' Cancelo 90+3'

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn

Attendance: 4,780

Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)

10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Latvia	0–2	Hungary
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Gyurcsó 10' Szalai 77'

Skonto Stadium, Riga

Attendance: 4,715

Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Hungary	4–0	Andorra
Gera 34' Lang 43' Gyurcsó 73' Szalai 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Groupama Arena, Budapest

Attendance: 20,479

Referee: Christos Nicolaides (Cyprus)

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Switzerland	2–0	Faroe Islands
Derdiyok 27' Lichtsteiner 83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Swissporarena, Lucerne

Attendance: 14,800

Referee: Sébastien Delferière (Belgium)

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13)

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Portugal	4–1	Latvia
Ronaldo 28' (pen.), 85' Carvalho 70' Alves 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Zjuzins 67'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé

Attendance: 20,744

Referee: Bobby Madden (Scotland)

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Andorra	0–0	Faroe Islands
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 1,755

Referee: Ognjen Valjić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Switzerland	1–0	Latvia
Drmić 66'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade de Genève, Geneva

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia)

25 March 2017 (2017-03-25)

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Portugal	3–0	Hungary
A. Silva 32' Ronaldo 36', 65'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

Attendance: 57,816

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Andorra	1–0	Hungary
Rebés 26'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 2,407

Referee: Charalambos Kalogeropoulos (Greece)

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Faroe Islands	0–2	Switzerland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Xhaka 36' Shaqiri 59'

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn

Attendance: 4,594

Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)

9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Latvia	0–3	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Ronaldo 41', 63' A. Silva 67'

Skonto Stadium, Riga

Attendance: 8,087

Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Hungary	3–1	Latvia
Kádár 6' Szalai 26' Dzsudzsák 68'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Freimanis 40'

Groupama Arena, Budapest

Attendance: 16,500

Referee: Yevhen Aranovsky (Ukraine)

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	5–1	Faroe Islands
Ronaldo 3', 28' (pen.), 65' Carvalho 58' Oliveira 85'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Baldvinsson 38'

Estádio do Bessa, Porto

Attendance: 26,514

Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)

31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Switzerland	3–0	Andorra
Seferovic 43', 63' Lichtsteiner 67'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Kybunpark, St. Gallen

Attendance: 13,600

Referee: Tore Hansen (Norway)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)

Faroe Islands	1–0	Andorra
Rólantsson 32'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn

Attendance: 4,357

Referee: Alan Mario Sant (Malta)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Hungary	0–1	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	A. Silva 48'

Groupama Arena, Budapest

Attendance: 21,800

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

3 September 2017 (2017-09-03)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Latvia	0–3	Switzerland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Seferovic 9' Džemaili 54' Rodríguez 58' (pen.)

Skonto Stadium, Riga

Attendance: 7,587

Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)

Faroe Islands	0–0	Latvia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn

Attendance: 4,203

Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Andorra	0–2	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Ronaldo 63' A. Silva 86'

Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella

Attendance: 3,193

Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Switzerland	5–2	Hungary
Xhaka 18' Frei 20' Zuber 43', 49' Lichtsteiner 83'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Guzmics 59' Ugrai 89'

St. Jakob-Park, Basel

Attendance: 32,018

Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Hungary	1–0	Faroe Islands
Böde 81'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Groupama Arena, Budapest

Attendance: 21,400

Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (Israel)

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Latvia	4–0	Andorra
Ikaunieks 11' Šabala 19', 59' Tarasovs 63'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Skonto Stadium, Riga

Attendance: 4,153

Referee: Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (Denmark)

10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	2–0	Switzerland
Djourou 41' (o.g.) A. Silva 57'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

Attendance: 61,566

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

Goalscorers

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

15 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo

9 goals

André Silva

5 goals

Ádám Szalai

4 goals

Haris Seferovic

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Johan Djourou (playing against Portugal)

Discipline

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	Andorra	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	Andorra	vs Faroe Islands (25 March 2017) vs Hungary (9 June 2017)	vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)
Gļebs Kļuškins	Latvia	vs Portugal (13 November 2016) vs Portugal (9 June 2017)	vs Hungary (31 August 2017)
Oļegs Laizāns	Latvia	vs Andorra (6 September 2016) vs Portugal (9 June 2017)	vs Hungary (31 August 2017)
Jordi Aláez	Andorra	vs Hungary (9 June 2017) vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)	vs Faroe Islands (3 September 2017)
Ludovic Clemente	Andorra	vs Latvia (6 September 2016) vs Switzerland (31 August 2017)	vs Faroe Islands (3 September 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	Latvia		vs Faroe Islands (7 October 2017)
Víctor Rodríguez	Andorra	vs Portugal (7 October 2016) vs Portugal (7 October 2017)	vs Latvia (10 October 2017)
Moisés San Nicolás	Andorra	vs Faroe Islands (3 September 2017) vs Portugal (7 October 2017)	vs Latvia (10 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)

Notes

^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 13 November 2016 and 25 March 2017, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.

References

^ ^a ^b "FIFA World Cup qualifying draw format". UEFA.com. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016.
^ "European teams learn World Cup qualifying fate". UEFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
^ "World Cup European Qualifiers fixtures confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
^ "Fixture List – 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2015.
^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.