Romania’s participation in World Cups in football (II)

We continue our overview of Romania’s history at the World Cup.

Florin Orban, 12.06.2025, 13:45

In a previous edition, we started discussing the Romanian squad’s participation in world cups. We spoke about the editions of 1930, 1934 and 1938. Romania failed to qualify for the following five editions of the Cup held after WWII, between 1950 and 1966.

However, in 1970, Romania won the qualifying group, which also included Greece, Switzerland and Portugal and made it to the World Cup in Mexico.  Coached at that time by Angelo Niculescu, our footballers were drawn in the toughest group of the final tournament, which included the defending world champions, England, Czechoslovakia and Brazil, the team that went on to win the competition.

Romania’s first opponent was England, whose lineup at that time included among other valuable players, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton. Although with an excellent lineup at that time, the Romanian team preferred to put up a defensive show in an attempt to avoid a defeat and a significant score difference. Mission accomplished: Romania conceded a one-nil defeat in a match they could have won had they opted for a bolder play. However, the Romanians proved their value in the next match they played against Czechoslovakia, when they clinched a 2-1 win. The match’s hero was the late Florea Dumitrache, whose performance on the pitch was noticed by the great coach at that time Helenio Herrera.

Next came the match against Brazil, whose lineup included the famous Pele, Jairzinho, Clodoaldo and Carlos Alberto. It was a dramatic game lost by the Romanians who also managed to score twice through Florea Dumitrache and Emerich Dembrovschi. Final score Brazil – 3, Romania – 2. Brazil would later secure a 4-1 win in the finals against Italy.

Twenty years passed until the Romanians managed another world cup qualification. In order to qualify to the World Cup in Italy in 1990, the Romanians won the group which also included Denmark, Greece and Bulgaria. Denmark at that time boasted a strong football side, with a lineup, upon which they built the team that would win the European championship in 1992. The Romanian side also included several top players, such as Gheorghe Hagi and others part of the lineup of Steaua Bucharest, which won the European Champions Cup in 1986 and made it to finals of the same competition in 1989. Team coach was by Emerich Jenei.

Their group in Italy included the world champion Argentina, the champions of Africa, Cameroon, and the European vice-champions, USSR. The first game, the first win, 2-0 against the USSR by means of the goals scored by Marius Lăcătuş. It was followed by a 1-2 loss to Cameroon, and then the Romanians secured a one-all draw against Argentina, with Diego Maradona in the lineup. Romania and Cameroon advanced to the next phase and our footballers were pitted against Ireland in the round of sixteen, an eleven coached by Jackie Charlton at that time. A very tenacious Irish side managed to prevent our footballers from scoring for 120 minutes. Romania eventually conceded a 5-4 defeat at the penalty shootout. (VP)