Sports Roundup

The latest in handball, rugby and football

Florin Orban, 23.02.2026, 13:46

The Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina have come to an end, with Norway in first place in the medal standings. The best Romanian performance was a 5th place won by Mihai Tentea and George Iordache in two-man bobsleigh. The next edition of the Winter Olympics will take place in 2030, in the French Alps.

The teams representing Romania in the Women’s Handball Champions League have moved up from the group stage. CSM Bucharest finished second in Group B and goes straight into the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the playoff between Podravka Koprivnica and Esbjerg. On Saturday, in the last match of the group stage, CSM beat Ikast in Bucharest, 33-24. The Danish team will be Gloria Bistrita’s opponent in the playoff for the quarterfinals. Gloria ranked 4th in Group A, and on Sunday they defeated Storhamar in Norway, 34-30.

Of the Romanian teams that played in the EHF European League groups, the second-tier continental competition in women’s handball, Rapid Bucharest, which won Group C, is the only one to go into the quarterfinals. In their last game, on Sunday, Rapid lost at home to Lokomotiva Zagreb, 29-24. At the end of March, Rapid will take on the Danish team Viborg in the quarterfinals. Minaur Baia Mare finished 3rd in Group A after losing 26-28 to Mosonmagyaróvár in Hungary on Saturday. Corona Braşov finished 3rd in Group D, and on Saturday they defeated the Polish team Zaglebie Lubin at home 33-30.

In their last match in Rugby Europe Championship’s Group B, Portugal defeated Romania 44-7 at home. The points for Romania were scored by Tudor Butnariu and Alin Conache. Romania finished 2nd in the group and will play Georgia in the semi-finals in early March.

Over the weekend, games took place in the Romanian Football Super League’s round 28. On Friday, in Galaţi, Oţelul tied with UTA Arad 2-2, and Universitatea Cluj beat FC Botoşani 3-1 away from home. On Saturday, CFR Cluj defeated Petrolul Ploieşti 2-1 at home, and in Bucharest, Rapid won the derby with Dinamo with the same score. On Sunday, in Mioveni, FC Argeş beat Farul Constanţa 1-0, and in Slobozia, Universitatea Craiova beat Unirea 3-0. The last two games of the round, on Monday: Csikszereda vs Hermannstadt and FCSB vs Metaloglobus. Craiova tops the standings with 56 points. Dinamo and Rapid follow, with 52 points each. (AMP)