2018 FIFA World Cup qualification — UEFA Group E

The UEFA Group E was one of nine European groups contested during qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The six national sides in this group played a double round-robin (home and away) schedule to determine which team would qualify directly for the final tournament and which runner-up would advance to the second round of qualification. The overall competition is described at 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Teams

• Armenia
• Denmark
• Kazakhstan
• Montenegro
• Poland
• Romania

Each team met the others twice, once at home and once away, producing a total set of fixtures spread over the international windows allocated by FIFA. The group combined established European sides with smaller associations, creating varied travel demands and differing footballing profiles.

Format and progression

Under UEFA qualifying rules for 2018, group winners earned direct qualification to the World Cup finals. Runners-up were compared across all nine groups and most advanced to a second round — the play-offs — from which the remaining European berths were decided. Tiebreakers within the group followed standard regulations such as points, goal difference and head-to-head results.

Outcome

Poland finished top of Group E and qualified directly for the 2018 World Cup. Denmark secured second place and progressed to the second round of qualification. The other four nations — Armenia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Romania — completed the campaign without advancing to the World Cup from this group.

Notable players and context

The group featured several players well known in international and club football. Poland’s attack was led by Robert Lewandowski, one of the era’s prolific strikers. Denmark fielded creative and experienced performers such as Christian Eriksen and the reliable goalkeeping of Kasper Schmeichel. Armenia’s squad included Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while Montenegro and other teams drew on a mix of domestic and foreign-based professionals to compete across the campaign.

Beyond the immediate results, Group E illustrated typical themes of European qualifying: the sharp difference in resources and squad depth between traditional footballing nations and smaller associations, the importance of away results in a compact group, and how individual top-level players can influence qualification outcomes. For full match results, statistics and individual match reports, consult dedicated tournament summaries and federation records via the competition reference 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification and each country page such as Poland or Denmark.