2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C

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The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group C 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. Group C consisted of five teams: Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Northern Ireland and Switzerland. The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.

The group winners, Switzerland, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Italy, advanced to the second round (play-offs).

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Switzerland	8	5	3	0	15	2	+13	18	Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup	—	0–0	2–0	4–0	1–0
2	Italy	8	4	4	0	13	2	+11	16	Advance to play-offs	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	5–0
3	Northern Ireland	8	2	3	3	6	7	−1	9		0–0	0–0	—	0–0	1–0
4	Bulgaria	8	2	2	4	6	14	−8	8		1–3	0–2	2–1	—	1–0
5	Lithuania	8	1	0	7	4	19	−15	3		0–4	0–2	1–4	3–1	—

Source: FIFA, UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Matches

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw. Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

25 March 2021 (2021-03-25)18:00 (19:00 UTC+2)

Bulgaria	1–3	Switzerland
Despodov 46'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Embolo 7' Seferovic 10' Zuber 13'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, SofiaAttendance: 0Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro) 25 March 2021 (2021-03-25)20:45

Italy	2–0	Northern Ireland
Berardi 14' Immobile 39'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadio Ennio Tardini, ParmaAttendance: 0Referee: Ali Palabıyık (Turkey)

28 March 2021 (2021-03-28)20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	0–2	Italy
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Belotti 43' (pen.) Locatelli 83'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, SofiaAttendance: 0Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia) 28 March 2021 (2021-03-28)21:00

Switzerland	1–0	Lithuania
Shaqiri 2'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Kybunpark, St. GallenAttendance: 0Referee: Mattias Gestranius (Finland)

31 March 2021 (2021-03-31)20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Lithuania	0–2	Italy
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Sensi 48' Immobile 90+4' (pen.)

LFF Stadium, VilniusAttendance: 0Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (Poland) 31 March 2021 (2021-03-31)20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	0–0	Bulgaria
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, BelfastAttendance: 0Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)

2 September 2021 (2021-09-02)20:45

Italy	1–1	Bulgaria
Chiesa 16'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	A. Iliev 39'

Stadio Artemio Franchi, FlorenceAttendance: 14,366Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands) 2 September 2021 (2021-09-02)20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Lithuania	1–4	Northern Ireland
Baravykas 55'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Ballard 20' Washington 52' (pen.) Lavery 67' McNair 82' (pen.)

LFF Stadium, VilniusAttendance: 1,612Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

5 September 2021 (2021-09-05)18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	1–0	Lithuania
Chochev 82'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, SofiaAttendance: 2,503Referee: John Beaton (Scotland) 5 September 2021 (2021-09-05)20:45

Switzerland	0–0	Italy
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

St. Jakob-Park, BaselAttendance: 31,500Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

8 September 2021 (2021-09-08)20:45

Italy	5–0	Lithuania
Kean 11', 29' Utkus 14' (o.g.) Raspadori 24' Di Lorenzo 54'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stadio Città del Tricolore, Reggio EmiliaAttendance: 10,578Referee: Craig Pawson (England) 8 September 2021 (2021-09-08)20:45 (19:45 UTC+1)

Northern Ireland	0–0	Switzerland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, BelfastAttendance: 15,660Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

9 October 2021 (2021-10-09)15:00 (16:00 UTC+3)

Lithuania	3–1	Bulgaria
Lasickas 18' Černych 82', 84'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Despodov 64'

LFF Stadium, VilniusAttendance: 2,526Referee: Yevhen Aranovskyi (Ukraine) 9 October 2021 (2021-10-09)20:45

Switzerland	2–0	Northern Ireland
Zuber 45+3' Fassnacht 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Stade de Genève, GenevaAttendance: 19,129Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

12 October 2021 (2021-10-12)20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	2–1	Northern Ireland
Nedelev 53', 63'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Washington 37'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, SofiaAttendance: 822Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus) 12 October 2021 (2021-10-12)20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)

Lithuania	0–4	Switzerland
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Embolo 31', 45' Steffen 42' Gavranović 90+4'

LFF Stadium, VilniusAttendance: 1,806Referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal)

12 November 2021 (2021-11-12)20:45

Italy	1–1	Switzerland
Di Lorenzo 36'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Widmer 11'

Stadio Olimpico, RomeAttendance: 45,699Referee: Anthony Taylor (England) 12 November 2021 (2021-11-12)20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)

Northern Ireland	1–0	Lithuania
Šatkus 18' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, BelfastAttendance: 14,336Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

15 November 2021 (2021-11-15)20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)

Northern Ireland	0–0	Italy
	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Windsor Park, BelfastAttendance: 15,969Referee: István Kovács (Romania) 15 November 2021 (2021-11-15)20:45

Switzerland	4–0	Bulgaria
Okafor 48' Vargas 57' Itten 72' Freuler 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Swissporarena, LucerneAttendance: 14,300Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

Goalscorers

There were 44 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.2 goals per match.

3 goals

Breel Embolo

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Benas Šatkus (against Northern Ireland)
Edgaras Utkus (against Italy)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:

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)
Bulgaria	Valentin Antov	vs Northern Ireland (31 March 2021) vs Lithuania (9 October 2021)	vs Northern Ireland (12 October 2021)
	Atanas Iliev	vs Northern Ireland (31 March 2021) vs Lithuania (5 September 2021)	vs Lithuania (9 October 2021)
	Nikolay Mihaylov	vs Lithuania (5 September 2021)	vs Lithuania (9 October 2021)
	Georgi Yomov	vs Italy (2 September 2021) vs Lithuania (9 October 2021)	vs Northern Ireland (12 October 2021)
Italy	Manuel Locatelli	vs Bulgaria (28 March 2021) vs Lithuania (31 March 2021)	vs Bulgaria (2 September 2021)
Lithuania	Fedor Černych	vs Switzerland (28 March 2021) vs Bulgaria (5 September 2021)	vs Italy (8 September 2021)
	Domantas Šimkus	vs Italy (31 March 2021) vs Bulgaria (5 September 2021)	vs Italy (8 September 2021)
	Egidijus Vaitkūnas	vs Italy (31 March 2021) vs Bulgaria (9 October 2021)	vs Switzerland (12 October 2021)
Northern Ireland	Jamal Lewis	vs Switzerland (9 October 2021)	vs Bulgaria (12 October 2021)
	Paddy McNair	vs Bulgaria (31 March 2021) vs Lithuania (2 September 2021)	vs Switzerland (8 September 2021)
	George Saville	vs Italy (25 March 2021) vs Bulgaria (31 March 2021)	vs Lithuania (2 September 2021)
Switzerland	Manuel Akanji	vs Bulgaria (25 March 2021) vs Italy (12 November 2021)	vs Bulgaria (15 November 2021)
	Fabian Frei	vs Italy (5 September 2021) vs Northern Ireland (8 September 2021)	vs Northern Ireland (9 October 2021)
	Remo Freuler	vs Spain in UEFA Euro 2020 (2 July 2021)	vs Italy (5 September 2021)
	Denis Zakaria	vs Northern Ireland (8 September 2021) vs Northern Ireland (9 October 2021)	vs Lithuania (12 October 2021)

Notes

CET (UTC+1) for matches until 27 March and from 31 October (matchday 1 and 9–10), and CEST (UTC+2) for matches from 28 March to 30 October 2021 (matchday 2–8).
^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
The Switzerland vs Lithuania match, originally to be played at 20:45 UTC+2, was delayed by 15 minutes to replace a wrong-sized goal.

References

"UEFA preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup 2022: Draw procedures" (PDF). FIFA. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
"FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition – Draw Results" (PDF). UEFA. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"UEFA preliminary competition format for the FIFA World Cup 2022" (PDF). FIFA. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"European Qualifiers for 2022 World Cup: all the fixtures". UEFA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
"Fixture List – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
"Fixture List by Group – European Qualifiers 2020–2022: FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). UEFA. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
"Bulgaria vs. Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
"Italy vs. Northern Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
"Bulgaria vs. Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
"Swiss goalposts cause delay". football-italia.net. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
"Switzerland vs. Lithuania" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
"Lithuania vs. Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
"Northern Ireland vs. Bulgaria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
^ "World Cup qualifying: Bulgaria and Lithuania matches to take place in Florence and Reggio Emilia". FIGC. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
"Italy vs. Bulgaria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
"Lithuania vs. Northern Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
"Bulgaria vs. Lithuania" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
"Switzerland vs. Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
"Italy vs. Lithuania" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
"Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
"Lithuania vs. Bulgaria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
"Switzerland vs. Northern Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
"Bulgaria vs. Northern Ireland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
"Lithuania vs. Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
"Italy vs. Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
"Northern Ireland vs. Lithuania" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
"Northern Ireland vs. Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
"Switzerland vs. Bulgaria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
"Regulations FIFA World Cup 2022 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"Booking list" (PDF). UEFA.com. 10 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.

External links

v t e 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
« 2018 2026 »
AFC	First round Second round Third round Fourth round (play-off)
CAF	First round Second round Third round
CONCACAF	First round Second round Third round Canada v Mexico
CONMEBOL	Round robin
OFC	Qualification tournament
UEFA	First round Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I Group J Second round (play-offs) related: Nations League
Play-offs	AFC v CONMEBOL CONCACAF v OFC

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