2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process is a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which will play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 remaining FIFA member associations were eligible to enter the qualifying process, and for the first time in World Cup history, all eligible national teams registered for the preliminary competition, but Zimbabwe and Indonesia were disqualified before playing their first matches. Bhutan, South Sudan, Gibraltar and Kosovo made their FIFA World Cup qualification debuts.
While the main qualifying draw took place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, on 25 July 2015, a number of qualification matches were played before that. The first began in Dili, Timor Leste, on 12 March 2015 as part of the AFC's qualification, with East Timorese player Chiquito do Carmo scoring the first goal of qualification. Matches were also played in CONCACAF prior to the main draw.
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Consecutive finals appearances | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russia | Host | 2 December 2010 | 11th1 | 2014 | 2 | Fourth place (1966)2 |
 Brazil | CONMEBOL Round Robin winners | 28 March 2017 | 21st | 2014 | 21 | Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) |
 Iran | AFC Third Round Group A winners | 12 June 2017 | 5th | 2014 | 2 | Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014) |
 Japan | AFC Third Round Group B winners | 31 August 2017 | 6th | 2014 | 6 | Round of 16 (2002, 2010) |
 Mexico | CONCACAF Fifth Round winners | 1 September 2017 | 16th | 2014 | 7 | Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) |
 Belgium | UEFA Group H winners | 3 September 2017 | 13th | 2014 | 2 | Fourth place (1986) |
 South Korea | AFC Third Round Group A runners-up | 5 September 2017 | 10th | 2014 | 9 | Fourth place (2002) |
 Saudi Arabia | AFC Third Round Group B runners-up | 5 September 2017 | 5th | 2006 | 1 | Round of 16 (1994) |
 Germany | UEFA Group C winners | 5 October 2017 | 19th3 | 2014 | 17 | Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) |
 England | UEFA Group F winners | 5 October 2017 | 15th | 2014 | 6 | Winners (1966) |
 Spain | UEFA Group G winners | 6 October 2017 | 15th | 2014 | 11 | Winners (2010) |
 Nigeria | CAF Third Round Group B winners | 7 October 2017 | 6th | 2014 | 3 | Round of 16 (1994, 1998, 2014) |
 Costa Rica | CONCACAF Fifth Round runners-up | 7 October 2017 | 5th | 2014 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2014) |
 Poland | UEFA Group E winners | 8 October 2017 | 8th | 2006 | 1 | Third place (1974, 1982) |
 Egypt | CAF Third Round Group E winners | 8 October 2017 | 3rd | 1990 | 1 | First round (1934, 1990) |
 Iceland | UEFA Group I winners | 9 October 2017 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
 Serbia | UEFA Group D winners | 9 October 2017 | 12th4 | 2010 | 1 | Fourth place (1930, 1962)5 |
 Portugal | UEFA Group B winners | 10 October 2017 | 7th | 2014 | 5 | Third place (1966) |
 France | UEFA Group A winners | 10 October 2017 | 15th | 2014 | 6 | Winners (1998) |
 Uruguay | CONMEBOL Round Robin runners-up | 10 October 2017 | 13th | 2014 | 3 | Winners (1930, 1950) |
 Argentina | CONMEBOL Round Robin third place | 10 October 2017 | 17th | 2014 | 12 | Winners (1978, 1986) |
 Colombia | CONMEBOL Round Robin fourth place | 10 October 2017 | 6th | 2014 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2014) |
 Panama | CONCACAF Fifth Round third place | 10 October 2017 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
- Notes
- 1: This is the 4th appearance of Russia at the FIFA World Cup; however, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union who themselves qualified on 7 occasions.
- 2: Russia's best result is group stage in 1994, 2002 and 2014; however, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union who achieved this result.
- 3: Germany between 1951 and 1990 is often referred to as "West Germany", as a separate East German state and team existed then.
- 4: This is the 2nd appearance of Serbia at the FIFA World Cup. However, FIFA considers Serbia as the successor team of the Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro national teams, who between them qualified on 10 occasions.
- 5: No official third place match took place in 1930 and no official third place was awarded at the time; both United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. However, FIFA lists the teams as third and fourth respectively.
