RRI Sports Club – Football
Romania’s chances of qualifying to the 2026 World Cup have dropped significantly after the draw against Cyprus
Florin Orban, 10.09.2025, 13:45
On Tuesday, in Nicosia, the football match pitting Romania against Cyprus ended in a 2-2 draw. This was the fifth game played by the Romanian footballers in the 2026 World Cup preliminary campaign and could have brought Romania back into the fight for one of the top two places in the Group H standings. This did not happen. Romania started well, leading 2-0 thanks to goals scored by Denis Drăguş on minutes 2 and 18, later but gave up the initiative. The hosts scored through Loizos Loizou on minute 29, then, on minute 76, Charalampos Charalampous evened the odds. Moreover, Cyprus could have even won if they had not missed a great scoring opportunity at the end of the match. In Nicosia, Romania faced a valuable opponent, well above the 128th place it occupies in the world rankings.
Cyprus upped its game also in the match against Austria, lost on Saturday, away, in Linz, 1-0. However, the Romanian national team did not look good at all, except, perhaps, for the first 30 minutes of the game. The commitment of many players was minimal, there was a lack of concentration, and coach Mircea Lucescu failed to make inspired substitutions. Right now, Bosnia and Herzegovina tops the group standings with 12 points in 5 games. Austria is second, also with 12 points in four matches, all won, but with a slightly lower goal average. Romania remains in 3rd place, with 7 points in five matches and has only mathematical chances to climb higher and hope to qualify to the World Cup at the end of the preliminaries.
For a place in the final tournament, the Romanian footballers only have a chance in the spring play-off, which they can reach after winning their group in Nations League. The 12 teams ranked second in the preliminary groups of the World Cup and the best-ranked group winners in Nations League, who did not qualify through the preliminaries, will fight for the remaining four spots. (VP)
