Article by Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Friday, November 28, 2025, 5:36 p.m. / Updated Friday, November 28, 2025, 5:38 p.m.
Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian national team coach, decided not to participate in the draw for the 2026 World Cup groups.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup groups will take place on Friday, December 5, from 19:00 (Romanian time). Our national team will find out the 3 opponents it can meet in the group if it passes the barrage in March.
There, Romania will play Turkey in the semi-final and can play the winner between Kosovo and Slovakia in the final.
Mircea Lucescu decided not to go to the World Cup group draw
Mircea Lucescu would have already informed the FRF officials that he will not take part in the draw that will take place in Washington, according to golazo.ro.
He would not want to travel the 12-hour route from Istanbul to Washington. “I'm having coxarthrosis surgery on both hips, it would really be an extraordinary effort to go all the way to the US just for the draw“, the Romanian coach would have said. The FRF bosses do not see this as an indication that Lucescu would not want to lead the team to the playoffs.
The last coxarthrosis operation suffered by the coach was at the beginning of the year, and he needed a month's recovery.
The Romanian delegation will consist of: president Răzvan Burleanu, general secretary Radu Vișan, national team manager Cătălin Gheorghiu and press officer Cătălin Popescu.
Mircea Lucescu. Photo: Imago
Romania will be in the 4th prize pool at the draw, just like any other team that qualifies after the play-off. No less than 64 national teams will be in the polls.
The World Championship in the USA, Mexico and Canada will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. It will be the first edition in which 48 teams will participate, 50 percent more than the previous ones.
