2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group B
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group B was one of the ten UEFA groups in the World Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Qatar.[1] Group B consisted of five teams: Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Spain and Sweden.[2] The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.[3]
The group winners, Spain, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Sweden, advanced to the second round (play-offs).
Greece, Georgia and Spain did not recognize Kosovo as an independent country, and therefore, during the match between Spain and Kosovo, the latter team was named "Kosovo Football Federation".[4]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain |
8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 19 | Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Sweden |
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 15 | Advance to play-offs | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 3 | Greece |
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Georgia |
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 7 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | ||
| 5 | Kosovo |
8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 5 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — |
Matches
The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw.[5][6][7] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
| Spain | 1–1 | Greece |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Kosovo | 0–3 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Spain | 3–1 | Kosovo |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kosovo | 1–1 | Greece |
|---|---|---|
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kosovo | 1–2 | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Georgia | 2–0 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Greece | 1–1 | Kosovo |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Spain | 1–0 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers
There were 46 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.3 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Otar Kakabadze (against Greece)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[29]
- 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:
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | Giorgi Aburjania |  vs Greece (31 March 2021) vs Greece (9 October 2021) | vs Kosovo (12 October 2021) |
| Grigol Chabradze | vs Kosovo (2 September 2021) vs Spain (5 September 2021) | vs Greece (9 October 2021) | |
| Lasha Dvali | vs Sweden (25 March 2021) vs Kosovo (12 October 2021) | vs Sweden (11 November 2021) | |
| Guram Giorbelidze | vs Greece (9 October 2021) vs Kosovo (12 October 2021) | ||
| Jaba Kankava | vs Greece (31 March 2021) vs Greece (9 October 2021) | vs Kosovo (12 October 2021) | |
| Guram Kashia | vs Kosovo (2 September 2021) vs Spain (5 September 2021) | vs Greece (9 October 2021) | |
| Levan Shengelia |  vs Spain (28 March 2021) | vs Greece (31 March 2021) vs Kosovo (2 September 2021)[30] | |
| Greece | Anastasios Bakasetas | vs Georgia (9 October 2021) vs Sweden (12 October 2021) | vs Spain (11 November 2021) |
| Pantelis Chatzidiakos | vs Slovenia in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League (18 November 2020) | vs Spain (25 March 2021)[31] | |
 vs Sweden (12 October 2021) | vs Spain (11 November 2021) | ||
| Giorgos Giakoumakis | vs Spain (25 March 2021) vs Georgia (31 March 2021) | vs Kosovo (5 September 2021) | |
| Manolis Siopis | vs Georgia (9 October 2021) vs Spain (11 November 2021) | vs Kosovo (14 November 2021) | |
| Georgios Tzavellas | vs Kosovo (5 September 2021) vs Georgia (9 October 2021) | vs Sweden (12 October 2021) | |
| Zeca | vs Spain (25 March 2021) vs Georgia (31 March 2021) | vs Kosovo (5 September 2021) | |
| Kosovo | Bernard Berisha | vs Sweden (28 March 2021) | vs Spain (31 March 2021) |
| Ibrahim Drešević | vs Moldova in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League (18 November 2020) | vs Sweden (28 March 2021)[31] | |
| vs Sweden (9 October 2021) vs Georgia (12 October 2021) | vs Greece (14 November 2021) | ||
| Florent Hadergjonaj | vs Sweden (28 March 2021) vs Sweden (9 October 2021) | vs Georgia (12 October 2021) | |
| Besar Halimi | vs Sweden (28 March 2021) vs Greece (5 September 2021) | vs Spain (8 September 2021) | |
| Lirim M. Kastrati | vs Georgia (2 September 2021) vs Greece (5 September 2021) | ||
| Hekuran Kryeziu | vs Sweden (28 March 2021) vs Spain (31 March 2021) | vs Georgia (2 September 2021) | |
| Sweden | Marcus Danielson | vs Ukraine in UEFA Euro 2020 (29 June 2021) | vs Spain (2 September 2021)[30] |
| Albin Ekdal | vs Kosovo (9 October 2021) vs Greece (12 October 2021) | vs Georgia (11 November 2021) | |
| Dejan Kulusevski | vs Spain (2 September 2021) vs Kosovo (9 October 2021) | vs Greece (12 October 2021) |
Notes
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
- The match was played behind closed doors.