From a colleague with Hagi to the dream of the 2026 World Cup! Marian Ivan wants Romania to be on the football map: “I've always been optimistic”

Marian Ivan is an observer of the Professional Football League, but he does not miss a moment when he can play football. That's what he did in the last days of 2025 when the “Tournament of the Stars” took place in Brașov.

Ivan went to the 1994 World Cup even though he didn't play a single minute. And more than that, he stayed in the room with Gică Hagi. Now, Romania is preparing for the capital clash with Turkey to hope for a new final tournament.

Marian Ivan: “We hope to surpass the performance of 1994”

“Then everything was perfect, or almost perfect. If everything was perfect, we were going on to the semi-final and I think we were pretty close. We were a family, it was a very good training, exceptional players. I am happy and proud to have been part of that generation and achieved a performance for Romania, first of all“, Ivan tells GSP.RO.

On a tour in Italy with his best friends, Marian Ivan and Nelu Mandoca PHOTO Personal archive

“I am an optimist of sorts and I believe in our chance. There are two games and if we approach them as such, we have every chance of going to the World Championship. We, in 1994, were all focused. Mr. Iordănescu prepared the matches very well. It was something exceptional, with a very good preparation, with exceptional players that we had, and we ended up doing such a performance. We hope to surpass, at some point, this performance, to go higher than in 1994″, revealed the former striker.

After the World Championship I arrived at Dinamo. It was an extraordinary time, from where I left with pleasant memories, with friends for life. Then I went abroad. I had a nice career and I didn't go through football for nothing

Marian Ivan, former striker

“Perhaps, at the twelfth hour, we can bring back performance football to Brașov”

What does Marian Ivan do now besides the position of LPF observer? “I also have a sports association together with Mugurel Buga, in Brașov, where we try to raise talented young people, to reach the heights of glory. To reach at least League 1 and go to the national team. This is the dream of every young footballer: to get to represent his country”, reveals Ivan.

Model of the Youth Stadium – Brașov

With football in Brașov on the ground, without a team, Ivan says that “it's painful!”. “I'm sorry that Brașov is no longer represented by football at the national and international level, as it once was. We hope that, maybe, at the twelfth hour, we can bring back performance football to Brașov“, he says.

He adds that this aspect “doesn't depend on me or my colleagues. It all depends on what happens next. We also want a stadium, we also want to join the ranks of the football world! I am optimistic. I was always optimistic, the years have passed, but we hope it will happen, at some point, at least for future generations”.

I've always said that when the play-offs start, the play-outs actually start the real championship. There will be surprises, that's how it is in football. Let's hope the best team wins the championship

Marian Ivan, former striker