Bosnia – Romania, the fiery final for 2nd place. What does the national team win today with a great result in Zenica
Romania plays tonight, from 21.45 (Prima TV) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to take revenge for the defeat in the debut match of the World Cup 2026 preliminaries, but especially to occupy the second position in the group. In case of success in Zenica, the tricolors will only need to score against San Marino (November 18, Ploiesti), in the last match of the qualifiers for the final tournament.
The national team is playing the match of truth tonight. FRF Facebook photo
And a draw is good in Bosnia, provided that today's opponent loses Tuesday's confrontation with the leader Austria, in which case our national team would end the group in 2nd place. But what is the stake of the second position in the group, given that Mircea Lucescu's students have already secured the berth for WC 2026, via the League of Nations?
2nd place puts us in another valuable urn
Ranking 2nd in the preliminary group would give the tricolors an important advantage. At the moment, Romania is in the fourth ballot in the draw for the group stage, but if it finished the group in the second position, it would go up to the 3rd ballot and avoid, in the first phase, high-calibre opponents – Italy, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales -, going to face Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Not that it would be much easier, especially since we will play the semi-final away from home, and in a possible final we will probably also meet a team from the first prize pool.
There is also a scenario where the national team could be placed in the second pot of the draw, meaning they will play the semi-final at home against Slovakia, Scotland, Albania, Kosovo or Iceland. For this we would need two victories, plus Slovakia not beating Germany (November 17), or Iceland drawing with Ukraine on November 16.
The draw is on November 20
Regardless of how the game results, the tricolors will find out their opponent in the semifinals of the pool on November 20. If it passes this hop, Romania will play the play-off final and, in case of success, will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
They are still to be played in group H
Today: Cyprus – Austria (19.00), Bosnia and Herzegovina – Romania (21.45)
Tuesday: Romania – San Marino (21.45), Austria – Bosnia and Herzegovina (21.45)
*In the play-off, teams from pool 1 will play one leg with teams from pool 4 (teams from pool 1 play at home) and teams from pool 2 will play teams from pool 3 in one leg (teams from pool 2 play at home). Then, the winners will play each other in a final, in a single leg, to determine the last 4 teams that take the place at the World Cup. For the final, the host country will be determined by lot.
