Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Friday, 06 March 2026, 14:23 / Updated Friday, 06 March 2026 14:43
Mircea Lucescu announced the preliminary list of foreigners for Romania's dam with Turkeyfrom March 26. In the final group, which will be announced later, there will be some of these players, plus the footballers called up from the Superliga.
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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.
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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.
The selector chose two surprise names: Ioan Vermeșan, the striker from Verona, and Marius Corbu, the midfielder of Ferencvaros.
Two surprises on the preliminary list of foreigners
In addition to the players already used to the national team matches, two surprising names appear on the preliminary list. Ioan Vermesanwho just made his debut in Serie A for Verona, has the opportunity to be in the senior national team for the first time.
The 19-year-old forward will be called up to the U21 national team, and Lucescu will decide whether to include him in the play-off. For the match in Istanbul, the other two foreign strikers present on the preliminary list are Louis Munteanu and Denis Dragus. The second is suspended with the Turks, but could play in the final of the pool, if Romania advances.
Marius Corbubought by the Hungarian champion in the winter, from Apoel Nicosia, is the other surprise of the selector. The attacking midfielder has 18 appearances, 4 goals and 6 assists in the Cypriot league in the first part of this season. In Hungary, he still hasn't scored in 3 games played in the first league.
Ioan Vermeșan, at EURO U19/ photo Imago Images
Ionuț Radu, the only goalkeeper from abroad
On the preliminary list of foreigners there is only one goalkeeper, Ionuț Radu, which means that the other two goalkeepers who will be in the draw come from the Super League.
Horațiu Moldovan and Răzvan Sava, other outside goalkeepers, do not have standing matches at Oviedo and Udinese, respectively, so they were completely ignored by the selector.
Ionuț Radu is the first option for the “tricolor” gate in Istanbul. In addition to him, goalkeepers such as Marian Aioani, Mihai Popa or Ștefan Târnovanu are likely to be in the squad.
Preliminary list of foreigners for Turkey – Romania
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Goalkeeper: Ionut RADU (Celta de Vigo | Spain, 7/0);
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Defenders: 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);
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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);
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Forwards: Louis MUNTEANU (DC United | USA, 4/2), Denis DRĂGUȘ (Gaziantep FK | Turkey, 27/7), Ioan VERMEȘAN (Hellas Verona | Italy, 0/0).
Romania's likely team with Turkey
I. Radu – Rațiu, Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu – M. Marin, Vl. Dragomir – Man, I. Hagi, Mihăilă – Bîrligea.
