The 52 teams were be drawn into seven groups of six and two groups of five. England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands were drawn into six-team groups on account of centralised television deals. Azerbaijan and Armenia could not be drawn together on account of the political situation between the two countries. From these, the nine group winners will automatically qualify for the finals in 2018, while the eight runners-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their groups proceed to play-offs, with one runner-up missing out. A record 209 teams entered, and took part. The World Cup Preliminary draw took place at The Konstantin Palace in Saint Petersburg, 25 July 2015.Group F fixtures were agreed on 26 July 2015.
UEFA Group F
TeamPWDLFAGDPts England 10820183+1526 Slovakia 10604177+1018 Scotland 105321712+518 Slovenia 10433127+515 Lithuania 10136720-136 Malta 10019325-221
Matches
4 September 2016Lithuania 2Slovenia 2[2-0] LFF Stadion, Vilnius (4,500) Černych, SlivkaKrhin, Cesar Slovakia 0England 1[0-0]Štadión Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava(18,111)LallanaMartin ŠkrtelMalta 1Scotland 5[1-1] Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard(15,609) EffiongSnodgrass (3 (1 pen)), Martin, S.Fletcher Jonathan Caruana, Luke Gambin8 October 2016England 2 Malta 0[1-0] **The National Stadium, Wembley (81,781)Sturridge, AlliScotland 1Lithuania 1[0-0] The National Stadium, Glasgow (35,956) McArthur Černych Slovenia 1Slovakia 0[0-0] Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana (10,492) Kronaveter 11 October 2016Lithuania 2Malta 0[0-0] LFF Stadion, Vilnius (5,067) Černych, Novikovas (pen) Jonathan CaruanaSlovakia 3Scotland 0[1-0] Štadión Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava(11,098) Mak (2), Nemec Slovenia 0England 0[0-0] Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana (13,274)11 November 2016England 3 Scotland 0[1-0] **The National Stadium, Wembley(87,258)Sturridge, Lallana, CahillMalta 0Slovenia 1[0-0] Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard(4,200) Verbič Slovakia 4Lithuania 0[3-0]Štadión Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava(9,653) Nemec, Kucka, Škrtel, Hamšík 26 March 2017England 2 Lithuania 0[1-0] **The National Stadium, Wembley(77,690)Defoe, VardyScotland 1Slovenia 0[0-0] The National Stadium, Glasgow (20,000) Martin Malta 1Slovakia 3[1-2] Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard(4,980) FarrugiaWeiss, Greguš, Nemec Jean Paul **Farrugia**Adam Nemec10 June 2017Scotland 2England 2[0-0] The National Stadium, Glasgow (48,520) Griffiths (2) Oxlade-Chamberlain, KaneSlovenia 2Malta 0[1-0] Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana (7,839) Iličić, Novaković Lithuania 1Slovakia 2[0-1] LFF Stadion, Vilnius (4,700) NovikovasWeiss, Hamšík 1 September 2017Malta 0England 4[0-0]Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard(16,994)Kane (2), Bertrand, WelbeckLithuania 0Scotland 3[0-2] LFF Stadion, Vilnius (5,000) Armstrong, Robertson, McArthur Slovakia 1Slovenia 0[0-0]Štadión Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava(16,896) Nemec 4 September 2017England 2 Slovakia 1[1-1] **The National Stadium, Wembley(67,823)Dier, Rashford Lobotka Scotland 2Malta 0[1-0] The National Stadium, Glasgow (26,371) Berra, Griffiths Slovenia 4Lithuania 0[1-0] Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana (6,530) Iličić (2 pens), Verbič, Birsa 5 October 2017England 1 Slovenia 0[0-0] **The National Stadium, Wembley(61,598)KaneScotland 1Slovakia 0[0-0] The National Stadium, Glasgow (46,773)Škrtel OGRóbert MakMalta 1Lithuania 1[1-0] Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard(3,431) AgiusSlivka 8 October 2017Lithuania 0England 1[0-1] LFF Stadion, Vilnius (5,400)KaneSlovenia 2Scotland 2[0-1] Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana (11,123) Bezjak (2)Griffiths, Snodgrass Boštjan CesarSlovakia 3Malta 0[1-0] Štadión Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava(17,774) Nemec (2), Duda
Notes
England Qualification Scorers:- Harry Kane (5),Adam Lallana (2), Daniel Sturridge (2), Dele Alli, Gary Cahill, Jermain Defoe, Jamie Vardy, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ryan Bertrand, Danny Welback, Eric Dier, Marcus Rashford.
Martin Škrtel Malta 1 Scotland 5 [1-1] Stadium Nazzjonali, Ħ'Attard (15,609) EffiongSnodgrass (3 (1 pen)), Martin, S.Fletcher