2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round#Goalscorers

The eight best runners-up from the UEFA first round qualified for the play-offs; at the time of the draw, with two groups having one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth-placed team in each First Round group were discarded in this ranking even after the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo, and with all groups now containing six teams.{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/0253-0d81ba6951b2-3215211a956d-1000--focus-switches-to-world-cup-qualifying/|title=Focus switches to World Cup qualifying|publisher=UEFA|date=22 August 2016}} As a result, eight matches played by each team counted for the purposes of ranking the runners-up.

The eight best runners-up were determined by the following parameters, in this order:{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/0253-0d8223be7f03-0b53fe9ad107-1000--european-qualifiers-world-cup-play-off-places-confirmed/|title=As it stands: ranking of second-placed teams|publisher=UEFA|date=3 October 2017}}

1. Highest number of points
2. Goal difference
3. Highest number of goals scored
4. Fair play points
5. Drawing of lots

{{:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|transcludesection=Runners-up|only_pld_pts=no_hide_class_rules}}

The second round draw took place on 17 October 2017 at 14:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. Teams were seeded based on October 2017 FIFA World Rankings (shown below in brackets), with each tie seeing a seeded team drawn against an unseeded team. Each tie's order of legs was decided as part of the draw.

The draw was conducted by Mexican TV presenter Vanessa Huppenkothen with the assistance of former Spain international Fernando Hierro.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=10/news=huppenkothen-and-hierro-will-present-european-play-off-draw-2913919.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014162944/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=10/news=huppenkothen-and-hierro-will-present-european-play-off-draw-2913919.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2017|title=Huppenkothen and Hierro will present European play-off draw|date=13 October 2017|publisher=FIFA.com|access-date=18 October 2017}}

The first legs were played on 9–11 November, and the second legs were played on 12–14 November 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/newsid=2509320.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018060425/http://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/news/newsid=2509320.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 18, 2017|title=European Qualifiers: World Cup play-off draw|publisher=UEFA|date=17 October 2017}}

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|SWI}}||1–0|{{fb|NIR}}||1–0|0–0}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|CRO}}||4–1|{{fb|GRE}}||4–1|0–0}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|DEN}}||5–1|{{fb|IRL}}||0–0|5–1}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|SWE}}||1–0|{{fb|ITA}}||1–0|0–0}}

{{TwoLeg end}}

{{Football box

|id=Northern Ireland v Switzerland

|date={{Start date|2017|11|9|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|19:45|0}}

|team1={{fb-rt|NIR}}

|score=0–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017202435/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417854/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023297--northern-ireland-vs-switzerland/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|SUI}}

|goals1=

|goals2=

• Rodríguez {{goal|58|pen.}}

|stadium=Windsor Park, Belfast

|attendance=18,269

|referee=Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

}}

{{Football box

|id=Switzerland v Northern Ireland

|date={{Start date|2017|11|12|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|18:00|1}}

|team1={{fb-rt|SUI}}

|score=0–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171018012746/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417850/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023301--switzerland-vs-northern-ireland/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|NIR}}

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=St. Jakob-Park, Basel

|attendance=36,000

|referee=Felix Brych (Germany)

}}

Switzerland won 1–0 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

----

{{Football box

|id=Croatia v Greece

|date={{Start date|2017|11|9|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|20:45|1}}

|team1={{fb-rt|CRO}}

|score=4–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017202910/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417852/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023296--croatia-vs-greece/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|GRE}}

|goals1=

• Modrić {{goal|13|pen.}}
• N. Kalinić {{goal|19}}
• Perišić {{goal|33}}
• Kramarić {{goal|49}}

|goals2=

• Papastathopoulos {{goal|30}}

|stadium=Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

|attendance=30,013

|referee=Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

}}

{{Football box

|id=Greece v Croatia

|date={{Start date|2017|11|12|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|21:45|2}}

|team1={{fb-rt|GRE}}

|score=0–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171018012540/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417851/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023300--greece-vs-croatia/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|CRO}}

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

|attendance=18,667

|referee=Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

}}

Croatia won 4–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

----

{{Football box

|id=Denmark v Republic of Ireland

|date={{Start date|2017|11|11|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|20:45|1}}

|team1={{fb-rt|DEN}}

|score=0–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017202731/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417853/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023299--denmark-vs-republic-of-ireland/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|IRL}}

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=Parken Stadium, Copenhagen

|attendance=36,189

|referee=Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

}}

{{Football box

|id=Republic of Ireland v Denmark

|date={{Start date|2017|11|14|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|19:45|0}}

|team1={{fb-rt|IRL}}

|score=1–5

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017202251/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417849/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023303--republic-of-ireland-vs-denmark/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|DEN}}

|goals1=

• Duffy {{goal|6}}

|goals2=

• A. Christensen {{goal|29}}
• Eriksen {{goal|32||63||74}}
• Bendtner {{goal|90|pen.}}

|stadium=Aviva Stadium, Dublin

|attendance=50,000

|referee=Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

}}

Denmark won 5–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

----

{{Football box

|id=Sweden v Italy

|date={{Start date|2017|11|10|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|20:45|1}}

|team1={{fb-rt|SWE}}

|score=1–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017201916/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417856/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023298--sweden-vs-italy/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|ITA}}

|goals1=

• Johansson {{goal|61}}

|goals2=

|stadium=Friends Arena, Solna

|attendance=49,193

|referee=Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

}}

{{Football box

|id=Italy v Sweden

|date={{Start date|2017|11|13|df=y}}

|time={{UTZ|20:45|1}}

|team1={{fb-rt|ITA}}

|score=0–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171017202151/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=276503/match=300417855/index.html Report (FIFA)]
[https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2023302--italy-vs-sweden/ Report (UEFA)]

|team2={{fb|SWE}}

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=San Siro, Milan

|attendance=72,696

|referee=Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

}}

Sweden won 1–0 on aggregate and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

{{Goalscorers

|goals=13 |matches=8

|3 goals=

• {{fbicon|DEN}} Christian Eriksen

|1 goal=

• {{fbicon|CRO}} Nikola Kalinić
• {{fbicon|CRO}} Andrej Kramarić
• {{fbicon|CRO}} Luka Modrić
• {{fbicon|CRO}} Ivan Perišić
• {{fbicon|DEN}} Nicklas Bendtner
• {{fbicon|DEN}} Andreas Christensen
• {{fbicon|GRE}} Sokratis Papastathopoulos
• {{fbicon|IRL}} Shane Duffy
• {{fbicon|SWE}} Jakob Johansson
• {{fbicon|SUI}} Ricardo Rodríguez

}}

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:{{cite web|url=http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/84/35/19/regulationsfwc2018en_neutral.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020074651/http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/84/35/19/regulationsfwc2018en_neutral.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 20, 2016|title=Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia|publisher=FIFA.com}}

• 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:

{{Reflist|40em}}

• {{Official website|https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html|Official FIFA World Cup website}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071120193625/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/index.html#2000064244 Qualifiers – Europe: Round 2], FIFA.com
• [https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/ FIFA World Cup], UEFA.com

{{2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup}}

play-off

Category:2017–18 in Greek football

Category:2017–18 in Italian football

Category:2017 in Republic of Ireland association football

Category:2017–18 in Northern Ireland association football

Category:2017 in Swedish football

Category:Switzerland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Category:Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Category:Denmark at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Category:Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Category:November 2017 sports events in Europe