LIVE Romania – San Marino, final of the preliminaries for the “tricolors”: the team thought by Mircea Lucescu
Romania tonight ends its adventure in the WC 2026 preliminaries with a record match against little San Marino. Defeated in Bosnia, the “tricolors” missed the chance of second place and are rather looking for a consolation victory in front of the group's tail. The game on “Ilie Oană” starts at 21:45 and is liveTEXT on GSP.ro and live on Antena 1.
Excluded from the calculations for second place, following the defeat in Zenica, the Romanian national team ticks off tonight, on “Ilie Oană”, a last performance in the current preliminaries. In Ploiești comes the pinnacle of the FIFA hierarchy, San Marino, which the “tricolors” outclassed in the round, score 5-1.
The game comes in a tense context at the top of Romanian football, with smoldering grievances against the coach and the players and with the future of Mircea Lucescu covered in a dense cloud of uncertainty. In recent days, despite the insistence of the media, the 80-year-old “veteran” vehemently refused any discussion about his continuity at the helm of the national team. The semi-final of the “barrage” is scheduled for March 26.
Romania – San Marino, live from 21:45
- HERE, the most interesting statistics from Group H + the history of direct matches
- Romania comes after the stinging failure in Bosnia, 1-3, and the “tricolors” have no chance for the 2nd place. In the other match of the group, Austria and Bosnia face each other in Vienna with the 1st place on the table.
- With the 'dam' secured via the Nations League route, Romania can meet, in the semifinal on March 26, away, one of Italy, Ukraine, Turkey or Poland.
Romania – San Marino, probable teams:
Romania: Ionuț Radu – Rațiu, Rus, Ghiță, Bancu – I. Hagi, R. Marin, Dragomir – Man, Bîrligea, Tănase Fl.
coach: Mircea Lucescu
San Marino: Colombo – Benvenutti, Cevoli, Rossi, Ricardi – Golinucci, Valli Casadei, Zannoni – Berardi, Lazzari, Nanni
Selector: Roberto Cevoli
Stadium: “Ilie Oană”, Ploiesti
Referee: Mohammad Al-Emara (Finland) / ASSISTANT: Turkka Valjakka and Mika Lamppu / Fourth official: Peiman Simani / VAR camera: Michael Fabbri and Federico La Penna (both from Ital
The situation in group H: Romania consoles itself with 3rd place
Mircea Lucescu keeps the suspense about his future in the national team: “The most important thing is the match with San Marino”
In the press conference preceding the duel with San Marino, Mircea Lucescu, Romania's coach, again refused any discussion related to his future on the national team bench. Asked by the GSP reporter whether he will continue or not, Lucescu avoided giving an answer. “We'll see,” said “Il Lue”.
(no – Will you continue or not?). Don't ask me, ask me about tomorrow's game (no today), that's the most important thing. For the rest, what will happen, we'll see.)
(…) I want to put things right. Since I came, I've been asked when I'm resigning. Did I say I'm not sure I'm staying? I said I didn't want to talk about it. We'll see what happens.
I introduced them to the San Marino team, with their current potential, players, type of game, prospects, what they want to do.
We had a talk last night after we got back quite late. It was difficult to talk after what happened. This morning, with a clearer mind, I re-watched the game and everything that happened, especially in the second half (no with Bosnia). When some directions are not followed that lead to defeat, I have to take action and I have to analyze it. It is not possible”, said the selector.
We are certainly disappointed after the failure in Bosnia. But we are professionals. We have to do our job, go with the best thoughts, win and make the best game possible.P
let's eat more. I don't understand this “that's enough” thing. We are a good generation, we have a good team, unfortunately, we didn't do what we needed to do. We did it with our own hands, but there are still chances.
We go confidently into the month of March. We have to go into March with confidence, we have to build on what was, to be better, to want more and we will definitely succeed if we do all these things. History has been written.
I played a poor second half in Bosnia, so I have nothing to say to change anything. So it was, so it happened, and we move on.
– Virgil Ghiță, defender Romania
Who is San Marino? Workers on construction sites, business consultants and students come to face Romania
The opponents of the tricolors do not play in strong leagues and have semi-professional status. For some of Roberto Cevoli's footballers, the priority is work, before putting on the jersey of the national team. Others alternate classes with workouts.
San Marino is an enclave in the center of Italy. It has 61.2 km/2 and 34,000 inhabitants, according to the 2025 estimate.
Romania goes to the playoffs and will play away
The “tricolors” missed a huge chance to go into the books for second place and are sure that they will finish third in the qualifying group, where Austria and Bosnia will fight for first place.
At the moment, the most likely opponents for Romania, coming from ballot box 1, are Italy, Turkey, Ukraine and Poland.
The chances are very small for the appearance of surprises. Romania will surely play away! On Thursday, from 14:00 Romanian time, liveTEXT on GSP.ro, Lucescu's “tricolors” will know exactly who they will play against in the play-off in March, for a ticket to the North American World Cup.
