The European section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Russia, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

Apart from Russia, who qualified automatically as hosts, a total of 13 slots in the final tournament were available for UEFA teams.

Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland (for the first time), Poland, Portugal, Serbia, and Spain qualified in the first round by winning their groups.

Four-time champions Italy did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, missing out on qualification for the first time since 1958 after losing in the playoffs to Sweden,[4] while the three-time FIFA World Cup runners-up Netherlands did not qualify for the tournament for the first time since 2002 after finishing third in 2014,[5] and second in 2010.

[6] Apart from Russia, which qualified automatically as hosts, all remaining 52 FIFA-affiliated national teams from UEFA at the registration deadline of January 2015 entered qualification.

They appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge FIFA's refusal to grant membership in order to enter World Cup qualifying.

[19] The football associations of Gibraltar and Kosovo became members of FIFA after the draw had taken place but before any games had been played.

The draw for the second round (play-offs) was held on 17 October 2017, 14:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.

It shows a national jersey inside a heart, and represents Europe, honour and ambition.