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SteemSports Presenter: @alexvan

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SteemSports Editors: @velimir / @ldauch

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These days we have the final rounds for World Cup Russia 2018 Qualification in the UEFA zone(Europe)

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Group A

This group has 3 teams which fight for top spot, with France being clearly in advance and the Netherlands the underdogs. Where all three teams: France, Sweden and the Netherlands need a win this round to have a decisive last round, where the derby will be played between the Netherlands and Sweden.
France has the easiest job of all because they encounter weaker teams which are not anymore connected to the qualifying fight. If France loses today and Sweden and the Netherlands win, the last round will be a very interesting one, where not only direct games will have an influence, but also the results of the other matches.

October 7: Sweden vs Luxembourg
October 7: Belarus vs Netherlands
October 7: Bulgaria vs France
October 10: France vs Belarus
October 10: Luxembourg vs Bulgaria
October 10: Netherlands vs Sweden

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Group B

Group B is a race between Switzerland and Portugal, where Switzerland can afford a draw in the last games and a loss not higher than 1-0 against Portugal to claim direct qualification from the top spot. The final game is also the derby between Portugal and Switzerland.

Ronaldo, symbol of Portugal's team

October 7: Faroe Islands vs Latvia
October 7: Andorra vs Portugal
October 7: Switzerland vs Hungary
October 10: Hungary vs Faroe Islands
October 10: Latvia vs Andorra
October 10: Portugal vs Switzerland

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Group C

Group C had on the 5th of October the decisive clash for the top spot between Northern Ireland and Germany. Germany has not lost a point till the match and N. Ireland did not conceive any goal at home. 1 point would have been enough for the German, but they kept the shown attitude as the actual World Champions and defeated with a clear score of 3-1. The other games and the remaining ones count only for the record, as Germany qualified directly and N. Ireland marched to the second qualifying round.

Played on 5th of October:

Azerbaijan vs Czech Republic 1 - 2
N.Ireland vs Germany 1 - 3
San Marino vs Norway 0 - 8

Left to play:

October 8: Czech Republic vs San Marino
October 8: Germany vs Azerbaijan
October 8: Norway vs N.Ireland

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Group D

In this group, Serbia needs a win to be sure of top place and not to lose it to Wales in case of Wales winning both games.

For the second qualifying round, Wales and Ireland will have the derby in the last round. Ireland needs to win both games to have a chance, where Wales only the derby with Ireland.

October 6: Georgia vs Wales
October 6: Austria vs Serbia
October 6: Ireland vs Moldova
October 9: Moldova vs Austria
October 9: Serbia vs Georgia
October 9: Wales vs Ireland

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Group E

By the win against Armenia, Poland secured at least the second spot and a draw in the last game would be enough for a direct ticket to the World Cup.

Denmark needs a win and hope that Poland loses the last game to claim top spot.

Montenegro can claim second place only if it wins against Romania and Denmark loses so that where an indirect goal difference of 3 goals is needed.

Played on 5th of October:

Armenia vs Poland 1 - 6
Montenegro vs Denmark 0 - 1
Romania vs Kazakhstan 3 - 1

Left to play:

October 8: Denmark vs Romania
October 8: Kazakhstan vs Armenia
October 8: Poland vs Montenegro

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Group F

With the win over Slovenia, England managed to claim the 1st place in the group.

For the qualifying round Scotland, Slovakia and Slovenia have a game open, where every team needs to win, but Slovenia needs to have a win to 2 goals and Slovakia to lose. Also Slovakia needs Scotland to lose the game.

Played on 5th of October:

England vs Slovenia 1 - 0
Malta vs Lithuania 1 - 1
Scotland vs Slovakia 1 - 0

Left to play:

October 8: Lithuania vs England
October 8: Slovakia vs Malta
October 8: Slovenia vs Scotland

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Group G

Spain needs only one draw to claim the top spot in Group G or if Italy loses points. Spain will probably win the group and Italy will go for the second qualifying round in November.

The mega stars of Spains team

October 6: Italy vs FYR Macedonia
October 6: Liechtenstein vs Israel
October 6: Spain vs Albania
October 9: Albania vs Italy
October 9: FYR Macedonia vs Liechtenstein
October 9: Israel vs Spain

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Group H

Belgium already claimed top spot with a very good season from Lukaku who leads as top scorer in this qualifications.

The fight is still open for the second qualifying round between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece and Cyprus, where Cyprus has only theoretical chances as it needs to win both games against Greece and Belgium.

Greece, even at being on the 3rd place needs a win against Cyprus because Gibraltar will not pose any serious challenge.

Romelu Lukaku, actual top scorer of UEFA qualifiers for the World Cup

October 7: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Belgium
October 7: Gibraltar vs Estonia
October 7: Cyprus vs Greece
October 10: Belgium vs Cyprus
October 10: Estonia vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
October 10: Greece vs Gibraltar

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# Group I

The most interesting group of all is Group I, where the first 4 have chances to claim top spot which let them book the tickets for the World Cup. All teams are obliged to win, losing a game means watching the World Cup from home.

The games will probably not have many goals as all teams play very defensive and tactical.

We will have today the first derby between Iceland and Turkey and on the final round the clash between Croatia and Ukraine.

Croatian team celebrating after scoring a goal

October 6: Croatia vs Finland
October 6: Kosovo vs Ukraine
October 6: Turkey vs Iceland
October 9: Finland vs Turkey
October 9: Iceland vs Kosovo
October 9: Ukraine vs Croatia

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Photo Sources:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/index.html
https://www.uefa.com/
https://twitter.com/achtzehn99_en
https://twitter.com/HerthaBSC_EN
https://twitter.com/RBLeipzig_EN

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