Sports weekend

The latest from rugby and football

Steliu Lambru, 08.09.2023, 13:45

The world’s top-flight rugby
competition, the World Cup or the Webb Ellis Cup, kick-starts on Friday,
September 8th, 2023. It is hosted this year by 9 cities across
France. The current edition is the 10th edition of the competition
that has been organized since 1987, while for Romania it is the 9th
time the national squad takes part in the World Cup. The 20 teams are
distributed in four groups. The national squad has been included in Group B,
alongside defending world champions and the world’s number 2 team, South Africa,
top-of the table team, Ireland, 5th-placed team, Scotland,
and 15th-placed team, Tonga. According to the World Rugby ranking,
Romania is 19th placed.

A 33-strong delegation travels to France. 9
rugby players are signed up by French teams. Two rugby players from Tonga, one
from Australia and one from New Zealand have also been included in the Romanian
delegation. According to the World Cup ranking, Romania is 19th-placed.
The city of Bordeaux will host the Romanian delegation and it is also in Bordeaux
that Romania plays its debut game, the fixture against Ireland. Romania earned
its place in the history of the World Cup in 2015 for the most spectacular comeback
during a game. With Canada having a 15-nil lead at half time, Romania braced up
and eventually won the match, 17-15.

On Saturday, Romania’s national
football team plays Israel, while on Tuesday, September 12, Romania takes on Kosovo,
with both fixtures being scheduled on home turf in Bucharest. The fixtures
count towards the 1st qualifying group for the 2024 edition of the
European championship hosted by Germany. Head-coach Edward Iordănescu summoned
26 footballers, of which 13 play abroad, while other 13 play in the domestic
championship. Romania plays alongside Switzerland, Israel, Belarus, Kosovo and Andorra.
So far, Romania has defeated Andorra, 2-nil, away, and Belarus, 2-1, on home
turf. Romania was held to a blank draw by Kosovo and drew against Switzerland,
2-all, with both fixtures being played away from home. Switzerland is at the
top of the table in the group, followed by Romania, with 8 points and Israel,
with 7 points. Following in descending order are Belarus, with 3 points, Kosovo
also with 3 points and Andorra, with 1 point. On Saturday, Kosovo takes on
Switzerland.