A preview of the Romanian participation in European football competitions
Four Romanian football teams play this week in European competitions.
Florin Orban, 21.07.2026, 13:45
A new edition of the Romanian Super League football championship began this past weekend, but interesting games are also coming up at European level. Romania’s top 4 teams play in continental competitions this week.
On Wednesday, Universitatea Craiova play away from home in the second Champions League qualifying round, against Levski Sofia. The Romanian champions got past the Vitebsk (Belarus) in the first qualifying round, while the Bulgarian team defeated the champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borac Banja Luka. Unlike Craiova, Levski has played in the top-tier European competition since it has been renamed the Champions League. In the 2006-2007 season, it even reached the group stage. However, its opponents in Group A were Chelsea, Barcelona and Werder Bremen, and it failed to win a single point, scoring just one goal and conceding 17.
Three other Romanian teams play in the second round of the Conference League qualifiers on Thursday. Universitatea Cluj, knocked out of the Europa League competition by Dinamo Kyiv, face the Norwegian team Brann Bergen. The first leg will take place at Sepsi Arena in Sfântu Gheorghe, as the Cluj Arena is preparing for a major music festival. Bergen reached the Conference League qualifiers after finishing 4th in the national championship and playing the Norwegian Cup final, which they lost on penalty shoot outs to Bodø/Glimt.
Also in the second round of the Conference League qualifiers, Cluj’s other team, CFR, will face the Armenian side Alashkert. The first leg of the round will be hosted by Yerevan. The two teams met before, in the 3rd round of the Europa League qualifiers 8 years ago. At that time, in the first leg in Armenia CFR won 2-0, and then in the return match in Cluj they won 5-0. Unlike Universitatea Cluj, CFR will play their home matches in their own arena, the one in the Gruia neighborhood.
And the third Romanian team in the Conference League, FCSB, will play in Bucharest against FK Auda of Latvia. Thursday’s match is hosted by the Steaua stadium, as the stadium where the Bucharest team usually plays, the 55,000-seat National Arena, the largest in Romania, has a concert programme this summer. (AMP)
