The2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A was one of the tenUEFA groups in theWorld Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Qatar.[1] Group A consisted of five teams:Azerbaijan,Luxembourg,Portugal, theRepublic of Ireland andSerbia.[2] The teams played against each other home-and-away in around-robin format.[3]
The group winners, Serbia, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Portugal, advanced to thesecond round (play-offs).
Qatar were partnered with the five-team group that does not contain aUEFA Nations League finalist, Group A, which enabled the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts to play centralizedfriendlies 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]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 20 | Qualification for2022 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 2 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 17 | Advance toplay-offs | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 9 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | |||
| 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 9 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | |||
| 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–3 | — |
The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw.[7][8][9] Times areCET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
| Serbia | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Luxembourg | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Portugal | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Serbia | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Portugal | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
There were 59 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.95 goals per match.
8 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[31]
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hojjat Haghverdi | vs Luxembourg (11 November 2021) | ||
| Anton Krivotsyuk | vs Portugal (7 September 2021) | ||
| Dirk Carlson | vs Republic of Ireland (14 November 2021) | ||
| Maxime Chanot | vs Azerbaijan (1 September 2021) | ||
| Christopher Martins | vs Serbia (9 October 2021) | ||
| Gerson Rodrigues | |||
| Bruno Fernandes | vs Luxembourg (30 March 2021) | ||
| Nuno Mendes | vs Republic of Ireland (11 November 2021) | ||
| Pepe | vs Serbia (14 November 2021) | ||
| Cristiano Ronaldo | vs Azerbaijan (7 September 2021) | ||
| Filip Đuričić | vs Azerbaijan (12 October 2021) | ||
| Nikola Milenković | vs Azerbaijan (30 March 2021) | ||
| Strahinja Pavlović | vs Azerbaijan (12 October 2021) | ||
| Alan Browne | vs Azerbaijan (9 October 2021) | ||
| Jayson Molumby |