The Romanian National Football side: Where to?
Romania’s football side has attracted a lot of heat after its first two matches in the Nations League
Florin Orban, 30.09.2026, 13:45
The debut of Romania’s football side in the new edition of the Nations League was definitely below par. Last week, the trainees of coach Gheorghe Hagi conceded defeat to Sweden in Stockholm 2-1. Then they lost in Bucharest 4-2 to Bosnia and Herzegovina and are presently ranking last in Group B4, being the only side with no point.
However, in the match against Sweden, our footballers had moments in which they managed to put up a pretty good show, but the two Premier League strikers, Alexander Isak of Liverpool and Viktor Gyorkeres of Arsenal made the difference scoring for the hosts.
Coach Hagi changed the entire lineup in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina saying that he wanted to see as many players as possible in the pitch, while the press criticized him for having treated the game as a test.
The new lineup happened to disappoint in almost every aspect so the fact that the side got four goals in a home game was no longer a surprise. The score difference could have been even bigger had the visitors insisted. Hagi’s defence line showed a lot of inconsistency and goalkeeper Ionuț Radu could be blamed for at least two goals out of those received.
On Friday, the Romanians are to meet Poland in Warsaw. With a team under construction, the hosts could offer the Romanian side a chance to regain the appreciation of their fans.
They ended nil-all the first group game at home against Bosnia and Herzegovina and lost away to Sweden 1-3. Poland fares better internationally, ranking 37th in FIFA standings whereas Romania comes 54th. So, Poland is the odds-on favourite.
A good position in the present edition of the Nations League is important for the Romanian side as it may pave the way towards the European Championship of 2028. So, if Romania manages to end on the first and second position in the group it may benefit from more accessible opponents in the preliminaries and better chances to qualify for the final tournament.
However, if they lose in Warsaw, they will be left with only the fight of avoiding the last position in the group’s ranking.
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