Article by Robert Vîrdol – Published Friday, 20 March 2026, 22:57 / Updated Friday, 20 March 2026 22:57
Turkey – Romania will be played on March 26 in Istanbul. The “Tricolori” hope to pass the national team of the “Janese” to go to the next stage of the pool and then to the World Cup. Gazeta Sporturilor talked to a Turkish journalist, who explained how he sees the duel between the two national teams from his country's perspective.
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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 final for qualification against Slovakia/Kosovo on 31 March 2026
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Gazeta Sporturilur will have 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul, who will send the most important information, the hottest reports and a series of multimedia correspondence
Romania has not reached the World Cup since 1998. This year it has a chance to go to the USA, if it passes Turkey and then Slovakia or Kosovo. At the moment, the first opponent is Vincenzo Montella's team, which has players playing at Inter or Real Madrid.
Gazeta Sporturilor had a dialogue with journalist Burak Ozdemir from Fanatik, who called the big minus of the Romanian national team. Also, the main fear of the Turkish team related to Romania, in his opinion, is the experience of Mircea Lucescu, and not any footballer.
Burak Ozdemir: “In Romania, there are no longer the big stars of the past”
“In Romania, there are no longer the big stars of the past. Names like Gheorghe Hagi, Popescu or Mutu no longer exist. I think this is Romania's main problem. The favorite of this match is Turkey, which has several valuable players in the team.
Although Vincenzo Montella is Italian, he has been in Turkey since 2021. He knows the country and the players very well. He knows how to get the most out of them. In Turkey, the media and fans love him very much. In addition, Turkey has many players in Europe. Arda Guler from Real Madrid, Hakan Calhanoglu from Inter and Kenan Yıldız from Juventus. These players can make the difference.
In Romania there is no player who scares me. The one who worries me is Mircea Lucescu. “Il Luce” is a legend, just like in Romania and Turkey”, said Turkish journalist Burak Ozdemir for Gazeta Sporturilor.
Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian coach
The batch convened by Mircea Lucescu
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GOALKEEPERS: Ionuț RADU (Celta de Vigo | Spain, 7/0), Marian AIOANI (FC Rapid 1923, 0/0), Mihai POPA (CFR Cluj, 0/0);
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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), Andrei BURCĂ (Yunnan Yukun | China, 44/1), Virgil GHIĂĂ (Hannover 96 | Germany, 8/1), Adrian RUS (Universitatea Craiova, 22/1), Andrei COUBIȘ (Universitatea Cluj, 0/0), Nicușor BANCU (Universitatea Craiova, 50/2), Kevin CIUBOTARU (Hermannstadt, 1/0);
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MIDFIELDERS: Vladimir SCRECIU (Universitatea Craiova, 6/0), Vlad DRAGOMIR (Paphos | Cyprus, 5/0), Răzvan MARIN (AEK Athens | Greece, 72/12), Nicolae STANCIU (Dalian Yingbo | China, 84/15), Florin TĂNASE (FCSB, 26/5), Ianis HAGI (Alanyaspor | Turkey, 51/8), Dennis MAN (PSV | Netherlands, 43/11), Alexandru DOBRE (FC Rapid 1923, 5/0), Valentin MIHĂILĂ (Caykur Rizespor | Turkey, 33/5), Claudiu PETRILA (FC Rapid 1923, 2/0), Ștefan BAIARAM (Universitatea Craiova, 2/1);
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FORWARDERS: Daniel BÎRLIGEA (FCSB, 7/2), David MICULESCU (FCSB, 6/0), Marius COMAN (UTA Arad, 0/0).
