2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 March 2015 – 14 November 2017 |
| Teams | 210 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 561 |
| Goals scored | 1631 (2.91 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Ahmed Khalil (15 goals)
|
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process will decide 31 of the 32 teams which will play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with the hosts Russia qualifying automatically. All 210 remaining FIFA member associations are eligible to enter the qualifying process. For the first time in World Cup history, all national teams registered for the preliminary competition, although suspensions excluded some teams from participating in qualification.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.
The number of teams participating in the final tournament is 32. Even though the qualification process began in March 2015, the allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich after the FIFA Congress. It was decided that the same allocation as 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
While all FIFA members entered the tournament, not all competed. Zimbabwe were expelled from the competition on 12 March 2015 for their failure to pay former coach José Claudinei a severance fee and Indonesia were excluded from the qualifying competition following the suspension of their football association by FIFA on 30 May 2015.Kuwait had a number of their qualifiers cancelled for a similar suspension that began while their campaign was underway, which eventually resulted in their elimination.
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