Sports Weekend
For fans of Romanian sports, the headline event of the weekend is the finals of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.
Florin Orban, 28.08.2026, 13:45
In the second leg of the Europa League play-off round, Universitatea Craiova was defeated 1-0 in Yerevan by Ararat-Armenia. The hosts scored in stoppage time through Brazilian player Sandro Lima, who slotted in the rebound after Craiova goalkeeper Laurenţiu Popescu blocked his initial penalty kick. Universitatea dominated the match and created numerous scoring chances, but its forwards lacked precision and missed every opportunity. The first leg in Craiova ended in a 1-1 draw. The Armenian champions advance to the Europa League, while Craiova drops into the Conference League for the second consecutive year.
Also in football, matches counting towards matchday seven of the Romanian Super League take place this weekend. On Friday, two fixtures: FC Voluntari faces Oţelul Galaţi, and Universitatea Cluj meets Petrolul Ploieşti. On Saturday, in Miercurea Ciuc, Csikszereda takes on CFR Cluj. That will be followed in Mioveni by the match between FC Argeş and Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. The third game of the day takes place in Arad, featuring Corvinul Hunedoara against Dinamo Bucharest. On Sunday, in Ovidiu, Farul Constanţa hosts FC Botoşani, followed by FCSB playing UTA Arad in Târgovişte. The final match of the round takes place on Monday: Rapid Bucharest versus Universitatea Craiova. Dinamo leads the standings with 13 points, followed by FCSB and Rapid with 11 points each.
In Turkey, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan and Sweden, the Women’s European Volleyball Championship continues. On Thursday in Baku, Azerbaijan, Romania suffered its fourth consecutive defeat of the tournament, falling 2-3 to Portugal and missing out on qualification to the round of 16. The Romanian team plays its final match on Friday against Spain, with nothing left at stake.
The World Rowing Championships conclude this weekend in Amsterdam. On Wednesday and Thursday, five Romanian crews successfully qualified for the finals. On Wednesday, the women’s and men’s coxless pair crews booked their spots in the final act. On Thursday, it was the turn of the men’s and women’s coxless four crews, as well as the women’s quadruple sculls, to earn their place in the ultimate charge for medals.
