Sport Club RRI – Preview of the upcoming matches for Romanian teams in European football competitions
Two Romanian football clubs are set to play in the European qualifiers on Thursday
Florin Orban and Radio România Internațional, 05.08.2026, 13:45
Romania’s football champion, Universitatea Craiova, is one step away from securing a place in the main stage of a European competition. The team will face Finland’s Kups Kuopio, in Europa League’s third preliminary round. Advancing to the play-offs ensures them at least a place in the Conference League. However, their immediate focus is Thursday’s match against the Finnish champions.
KuPS Kuopio reached this stage after defeating Vardar Skopje, from North Macedonia, in their opening Champions League qualifier, before loosing to Azerbaijan’s Sabah FK, in the second round. Meanwhile, in the first round of the Champions League, Craiova defeated Vitebsk of Belarus, but they were later overcome by Levski Sofia of Bulgaria. Throughout these fixtures, Craiova showed significant determination, courage and attacking cohesion, balanced however by noticeable defensive vulnerabilities. In the Romanian championship, they sit third, following a 4-0 opening victory against UTA Arad, a 1-5 away defeat to Dinamo Bucharest, and a subsequent 4-0 home win over Petrolul Ploiești.
KuPS Kuopio enters the tie in good shape, putting up a good performance in the current edition of the Finnish first league championship, which is in full swing. Leading the standings with four rounds left before the end of the regular season, they hold a five point advantage over second-placed Inter Turku. The first leg kicks off on Thursday at 18:00, Romanian time, at the Kuopio stadium, a 5,000-seat arena featuring artificial turf.
Romania’s other representative, CFR Cluj, will play the first leg of their Conference League third preliminary round on Thursday. They host Norway’s Tromsø, at the “Dr. Constantin Rădulescu” stadium in Cluj-Napoca, with kick-off scheduled for 19:30. The Transylvanian team advanced by eliminating Armenia’s Alashkert, following a 1-1 away draw and a decisive 3-0 home victory. The Norwegian side initially played in the Europa League seond preliminary round, but got eliminated after sustaining 3-1 away and 1-0 home defeats against Hradec Králové of the Czech Republic.
Tromsø currently holds third place in the ongoing Norwegian first league. In Romania, CFR Cluj occupies 12th place, following the first three rounds of the Super League season, suffering two away defeats, 1-2 against Oțelul Galați and 1-3 against Rapid Bucharest, alongside a 5-0 home win over FC Voluntari.(DV)
