Ioan Vermeșan, the first reaction after the preliminary call to the national team: “I didn't expect it”

Ashley Davis06/03/2026

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Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published Friday, 06 March 2026, 18:20 / Updated Friday, 06 March 2026 18:20

Ioan Vermeșan, the footballer from Verona, reacted after his name appeared on the preliminary list of foreigners which Mircea Lucescu takes into account for the semi-final of the 2026 World Championship.

Turkey – Romania will be played on March 26, from 19:00, match broadcast by Prima TV. If we win, we play the World Cup qualification final against Slovakia/Kosovo on March 31, 2026.
Gazeta Sporturilor will have 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul, who will send the most important information, the hottest reports and a series of multimedia correspondence.

After debuting in the Verona senior team, Vermeșan can be in the senior national team for the first time. He said that he was taken by surprise by the news.

Ioan Vermeșan's first reaction after being included on Mircea Lucescu's preliminary list: “I was surprised”

“Definitely I was surprised by the fact that I am on the preliminary list. I did not expect it, but I always wanted to be able to reach the National. It is an even greater joy that this can happen under the command of Mr. Mircea Lucescu. What I can say is that I will give my best, so as not to disappoint and stay at the National.

If I don't make the final list, I'll go play for the U21s, it won't be a problem. I want to make as many appearances as possible for my club team and continue to enjoy football”, Ioan Vermeșan said, according to primasport.ro.

Ioan Vermeșan played at junior level in Romania at LPS Banatul, Poli Timișoara, Academia Hagi, UTA Arad and Ripensia Timișoara, before transferring to Verona in 2022. He played at junior level for the Italians, and recently debuted in Serie A: he played in 2 games, totaling 29 minutes. If he doesn't catch Romania's final team, Vermeșan will go to help the U21 team, where he already has 4 matches.

Preliminary list of foreigners for Turkey – Romania

defense: Andrei RAțIU (Rayo Vallecano | Spain, 36/2), Deian SORESCU (Gaziantep FK | Turkey, 23/0), Radu DRĂGUȘIN (Tottenham | England, 27/1), Virgil GHIȚA (Hannover 96 | Germany, 8/1), Bogdan RACOVIȚAN (Raków | Poland, 5/0), Andrei BURCĂ (Yunnan Yukun | China, 44/1), Lisav EISSAT (Maccabi Haifa | Israel, 2/0);

Midfielders: Marius MARIN (Pisa | Italy, 35/0), Răzvan MARIN (AEK Athens | Greece, 72/12), Vlad DRAGOMIR (Paphos | Cyprus, 5/0), Nicolae STANCIU (Dalian Yingbo | China, 84/15), Adrian ȘUT (Al Ain | UAE, 8/0), Ianis HAGI (Alanyaspor | Turkey, 51/8), Marius CORBU (Ferencváros | Hungary, 0/0), Valentin MIHĂILĂ (Caykur Rizespor | Turkey, 33/5), Dennis MAN (PSV | Netherlands, 43/11);