2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A

The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A was one of the ten UEFA groups in the World Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Qatar.^[1] Group A consisted of five teams: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Serbia.^[2] The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.^[3]

The group winners, Serbia, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Portugal, advanced to the second round (play-offs).

Qatar were partnered with the five-team group that does not contain a UEFA Nations League finalist, Group A, which enabled the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts to play centralized friendlies against these countries on their "spare" match dates. However, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings. Also, Qatar played their "home" matches in Europe in order to allow short travel times for their opponents.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia	8	6	2	0	18	9	+9	20	Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup	—	2–2	3–2	4–1	3–1
2	Portugal	8	5	2	1	17	6	+11	17	Advance to play-offs	1–2	—	2–1	5–0	1–0
3	Republic of Ireland	8	2	3	3	11	8	+3	9		1–1	0–0	—	0–1	1–1
4	Luxembourg	8	3	0	5	8	18	−10	9		0–1	1–3	0–3	—	2–1
5	Azerbaijan	8	0	1	7	5	18	−13	1		1–2	0–3	0–3	1–3	—

Source: FIFA, UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Matches

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw.^[7]^[8]^[9] Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)

20:45

Portugal	1–0	Azerbaijan
Medvedev 36' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Juventus Stadium, Turin (Italy)

Attendance: 0^[10]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24)

20:45

Serbia	3–2	Republic of Ireland
Vlahović 40' A. Mitrović 69', 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Browne 18' Collins 86'

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 0^[11]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)

20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)

Republic of Ireland	0–1	Luxembourg
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Rodrigues 85'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 0^[12]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)

20:45

Serbia	2–2	Portugal
A. Mitrović 46' Kostić 60'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Jota 11', 36'

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 0^[13]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)

18:00 (20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	1–2	Serbia
Mahmudov 59' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	A. Mitrović 16', 81'

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 0^[14]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (Israel)

30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)

20:45

Luxembourg	1–3	Portugal
Rodrigues 30'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Jota 45+2' Ronaldo 51' Palhinha 80'

Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg

Attendance: 0^[15]^{[note 2]}

Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Russia)

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

20:45

Luxembourg	2–1	Azerbaijan
Pinto 8' Rodrigues 28' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mahmudov 67'

Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg^[16]

Attendance: 2,000^[17]

Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	2–1	Republic of Ireland
Ronaldo 89', 90+6'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Egan 45'

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé

Attendance: 7,831^[18]

Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)

18:00 (17:00 UTC+1)

Republic of Ireland	1–1	Azerbaijan
Duffy 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mahmudov 45+1'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 21,287^[19]

Referee: Jérôme Brisard (France)

4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)

18:00

Serbia	4–1	Luxembourg
A. Mitrović 22', 35' Chanot 82' (o.g.) Milenković 90+6'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	O. Thill 77'

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 10,078^[20]

Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)

18:00 (20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	0–3	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	B. Silva 26' A. Silva 31' Jota 75'

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 20,574^[21]

Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07)

20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)

Republic of Ireland	1–1	Serbia
Milenković 87' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Milinković-Savić 20'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 25,415^[22]

Referee: José María Sánchez (Spain)

9 October 2021 (2021-10-09)

18:00 (20:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	0–3	Republic of Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Robinson 7', 39' Ogbene 90'

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 6,852^[23]

Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

9 October 2021 (2021-10-09)

20:45

Luxembourg	0–1	Serbia
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Vlahović 68'

Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg^[16]

Attendance: 2,000^[24]

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

12 October 2021 (2021-10-12)

20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	5–0	Luxembourg
Ronaldo 8' (pen.), 13' (pen.), 87' Fernandes 18' Palhinha 69'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé

Attendance: 18,553^[25]

Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

12 October 2021 (2021-10-12)

20:45

Serbia	3–1	Azerbaijan
Vlahović 30' (pen.), 53' Tadić 83' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Mahmudov 45+2'

Red Star Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 5,890^[26]

Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)

11 November 2021 (2021-11-11)

18:00 (21:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	1–3	Luxembourg
Salahli 82'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Rodrigues 67', 90+1' S. Thill 78'

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 2,986^[27]

Referee: Manuel Schüttengruber (Austria)

11 November 2021 (2021-11-11)

20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)

Republic of Ireland	0–0	Portugal
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Attendance: 50,373^[28]

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)

20:45

Luxembourg	0–3	Republic of Ireland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Duffy 67' Ogbene 75' Robinson 88'

Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg^[16]

Attendance: 9,268^[29]

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)

20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)

Portugal	1–2	Serbia
Sanches 2'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Tadić 33' A. Mitrović 90'

Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

Attendance: 58,873^[30]

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Goalscorers

There were 59 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.95 goals per match.

8 goals

Aleksandar Mitrović

6 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo

5 goals

Gerson Rodrigues

4 goals

3 goals

Callum Robinson

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Maksim Medvedev (against Portugal)
Maxime Chanot (against Serbia)
Nikola Milenković (against Republic of Ireland)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:^[31]

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:

Team	Player	Offence(s)	Suspended for match(es)
Azerbaijan	Hojjat Haghverdi	vs Portugal (7 September 2021) vs Serbia (12 October 2021)	vs Luxembourg (11 November 2021)
Azerbaijan	Anton Krivotsyuk	vs Luxembourg (1 September 2021) vs Republic of Ireland (4 September 2021)	vs Portugal (7 September 2021)
Luxembourg	Dirk Carlson	vs Serbia (9 October 2021) vs Azerbaijan (11 November 2021)	vs Republic of Ireland (14 November 2021)
	Maxime Chanot	vs Portugal (30 March 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (1 September 2021)
	Christopher Martins	vs Azerbaijan (1 September 2021) vs Serbia (4 September 2021)	vs Serbia (9 October 2021)
	Gerson Rodrigues	vs Serbia (4 September 2021)	vs Serbia (9 October 2021)
Portugal	Bruno Fernandes	vs Azerbaijan (24 March 2021) vs Serbia (27 March 2021)	vs Luxembourg (30 March 2021)
	Nuno Mendes	vs Azerbaijan (7 September 2021) vs Luxembourg (12 October 2021)	vs Republic of Ireland (11 November 2021)
	Pepe	vs Republic of Ireland (11 November 2021)	vs Serbia (14 November 2021)
	Cristiano Ronaldo	vs Serbia (27 March 2021) vs Republic of Ireland (1 September 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (7 September 2021)
Serbia	Filip Đuričić	vs Republic of Ireland (7 September 2021) vs Luxembourg (9 October 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (12 October 2021)
	Nikola Milenković	vs Portugal (27 March 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (30 March 2021)
	Strahinja Pavlović	vs Republic of Ireland (24 March 2021) vs Luxembourg (9 October 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (12 October 2021)
Republic of Ireland	Alan Browne	vs Azerbaijan (4 September 2021) vs Serbia (7 September 2021)	vs Azerbaijan (9 October 2021)
Republic of Ireland	Jayson Molumby		vs Azerbaijan (9 October 2021)

Notes

^ CET (UTC+1) for matches until 27 March and from 31 October (matchday 1–2 and 9–10), and CEST (UTC+2) for matches from 28 March to 30 October 2021 (matchday 3–8).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.

References

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^ "FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition – Draw Results" (PDF). UEFA. 7 December 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
^ "UEFA preliminary competition format for the FIFA World Cup 2022" (PDF). FIFA. 4 December 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
^ "Qatar links into Euro World Cup qualifying for friendlies". AP News. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^ "Group A matches with Qatar". UEFA. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^ "World Cup Qualifying Calendar – Group A with Qatar" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
^ "European Qualifiers for 2022 World Cup: all the fixtures". UEFA. 9 December 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^ "Fixture List – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
^ "Fixture List by Group – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
^ "Portugal vs. Azerbaijan" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
^ "Serbia vs. Republic of Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
^ "Republic of Ireland vs. Luxembourg" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
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^ "Luxembourg vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football - Actualités". Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
^ "Luxembourg vs. Azerbaijan" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ "Portugal vs. Republic of Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ "Republic of Ireland vs. Azerbaijan" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ "Serbia vs. Luxembourg" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ "Azerbaijan vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
^ "Republic of Ireland vs. Serbia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
^ "Azerbaijan vs. Republic of Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
^ "Luxembourg vs. Serbia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
^ "Portugal vs. Luxembourg" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
^ "Serbia vs. Azerbaijan" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
^ "Azerbaijan vs. Luxembourg" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ "Republic of Ireland vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ "Luxembourg vs. Republic of Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ "Portugal vs. Serbia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ "Regulations FIFA World Cup 2022 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.