2018 FIFA World Cup qualification in the context of "2018 FIFA World Cup"

The 2018 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2018 World Cup, the 21st edition of FIFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on 15 July 2018, and was contested by France and Croatia. The tournament comprised hosts Russia and 31 other teams who emerged from the qualification phase, organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, France finished first in Group C, with two wins and a draw, after which they defeated Argentina in the round of 16, Uruguay in the quarter-final and Belgium in the semi-final. Croatia finished first in Group D with three wins, before defeating Denmark in the round of 16 and Russia in the quarter-final – both through a penalty shoot-out – and then England in the semi-final. The final took place in front of 78,011 supporters, with more than 1.1 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Néstor Pitana from Argentina.

France took the lead through a controversial free kick that led to an own goal by Mario Mandžukić in the 18th minute – the first own goal in a World Cup final – before Ivan Perišić equalised 10 minutes later with a low shot into the corner of the goal. Shortly afterwards, France were awarded a penalty when Pitana ruled that Perišić had deliberately handled the ball. The decision resulted from a consultation with the video assistant referee, which was in use for the first time in a World Cup at the 2018 tournament. The decision was criticised by some pundits such as Alan Shearer, who labelled it "ridiculous", while others such as Chris Waddle thought it was correct. Antoine Griezmann scored to give France a 2–1 half-time lead. They extended that lead in the 59th minute, when Paul Pogba scored at the second attempt after Croatia defender Dejan Lovren had blocked his initial shot. Kylian Mbappé scored from outside the penalty area to make it 4–1, becoming the second teenager to score in a World Cup final (after Pelé in 1958). In the 69th minute, Mandžukić capitalized on a Hugo Lloris error to score a second for Croatia. The final score was 4–2 to France.

The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia, for national teams which were members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). 4.5 slots (four direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament were available for AFC teams.

On 16 April 2014, the AFC Executive Committee approved a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, which expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019. Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The North, Central American and Caribbean section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). 3.5 slots (3 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament were available for CONCACAF teams.

In a change to previous qualification tournaments for this confederation, the first three rounds were played as knockout rounds, with both the fourth round and the final round (referred to as the "Hexagonal") played as group stages. The first round was played during the FIFA international dates of 23–31 March 2015. CONCACAF announced the full format details on 12 January 2015.