LIVE Turkey – Romania, for the World Championship » The team Lucescu is counting on

It's the match that can define a generation, under the “baton” of Mircea Lucescu. For the “tricolors”, it's not just a play-off semi-final, but a real chance to break a 28-year deadlock and finally get closer to the most important final planetary tournament.

Even though, on paper and in the eyes of the bookies, Turkey start as the clear favourites, with players such as Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu and Arda Guler, as well as a team valued at over 450 million euros, things are not that simple. The experience of Mircea Lucescu in relation to football from the “Country of the Crescent”, but also the ambition of the tricolors can balance the balance in a match that promises to be incandescent.

The atmosphere will also be an important factor: over 42,000 spectators are expected at the Beşiktaș stadium, of which approximately 2,500 are Romanians. The arena near the Dolmabahce Palace promises to be a real volcano. The winner will play Slovakia or Kosovo away in the play-off final on March 31, 2026.

LIVE, from 19:00 » Turkey – Romania

Turkey – Romania, which teams are Montella and Lucescu preparing:

Turkey (4-2-3-1): Cakir – Muldur, Kabak, Bardakci, Kadioglu – Kokcu, Yuksek – Guler, Calhanoglu, Yildiz – B. Yilmaz
reserves: Bayindir, Gunok – Kaplan, Elmali, Akaydin, Eskihellac, Karazor, Ayhan, Ozcan, Gul, Kahveci, Akturtoglu, Akgun, Kilicsoy, Aydin
Coach: Vincenzo Montella

Romania (4-3-3): I. Radu – Rațiu, Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu – R. Marin, V. Dragomir, I. Hagi – Man, Bîrligea, Mihăilă
reserves: Aioani, L. Popescu – Sorescu, Ghiță, Rus, Coubiș, K. Ciubotaru, Screciu, N. Stanciu, F. Tănase, Dobre, Petrila, Baiaram, Miculescu, M. Coman (*4 players will remain out of the team)
Coach: Mircea Lucescu

Referee: Francois Letexier (France)
ASSISTANT: Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni (France)
Book: Benoit Bastien (France)

Vincenzo Montella: “I think we will manage to win”

I am very happy to meet Mr. Mircea Lucescu. I respect him a lot. We consider this match as a final, as it is only one leg. We will do everything we can, as we are convinced that Romania will do as well.

If we play the game we want, I think we can win. Due to the fact that it is a single leg, as I said, we consider it as a final. I feel very good in Turkey and I know that football is open to any result, you can win or you can lose, but I don't want to think about a possible departure.

It is a pride to coach the Turkish national team, and after the matches I lose, I prepare myself even better for the future.

Mr. Lucescu knows world football and I respect him a lot, I am honored to play against him. For this reason, I am even more motivated to play against such a coach and we have prepared very well for this game.

– Vincenzo Montella, Turkey coach, at the press conference

Mircea Lucescu: “I wish Turkey and Romania were both at the World Championship”

It gives me great pleasure to return, in general, to Turkish stadiums. They are beautiful and ready for performance, it is no coincidence that European cups are played here. I was pleased when I heard that he was playing in Beşiktaş because I wanted to come back as a coach here. The performance I achieved here is extraordinary, and being here gives me great pleasure.

I am very satisfied with all the people who are present here, I would have liked Turkey and Romania to be together at the World Championship. This cannot be done, but the better team should go on. I don't know what that will be, but Eastern European football deserves to have a World Cup team.

I respect the Turkish team, I also have great words about Montella, I have known him for a very long time. No matter who will play there, our players have the value to be able to dominate their direct opponents. I am convinced of this, we will see tomorrow. We don't discuss before the game what might happen. A coach leads his team from behind the group. It will be written further, but the teams that enter the field tomorrow will decide the final result.

– Mircea Lucescu, Romania selector, at the press conference

Historical context: many friendlies, few games with stakes. However, we are better at direct duels

Over time, Turkey and Romania have met 27 times. Of these, 17 were friendly games, 2 in the Balkan Cup, the others counting once for the preliminaries of a European Championship (1960), the rest counting for the preliminaries of three World Championships – 1966, 1986 and 2014. The last confrontation dates from November 9, 2017, when the “tricolors” prevailed in a friendly played in Cluj, score 2-0, thanks to a “doppietta” brand Gicu Grozav.

The same Grozav is the one who scored in the last official success of the “tricolors” against Turkey, score 1-0, in Istanbul, in the preliminaries for the 2014 World Championship. Later, on the return, the “Semilunei” team beat us in Bucharest, 2-0, goals, Burak Yilmaz and Erdinc.

Two other notable games are those from the campaign for the Mexican World Cup in '86, 3-0 and 1-3, with Mircea Lucescu on the bench, the one of sad memory, ours losing qualification to the detriment of Northern Ireland.

There is also a special match, played precisely in 1914. Eight years before the Romanian national team played the first official match recognized today by statisticians, a representative team of the country was already playing in an international duel, with echoes now, before the tie for the World Championship in North America between Turkey and Romania.

All official head-to-head matches between Turkey and Romania, in the table below:

• RECORD IN OFFICIAL MATCHES = 6 WINS, 1 DIE, 3 DEFEATS

• RECORD IN FRIENDLY GAMES = 8 WINS, 7 DIES, 2 LOSSES

• TOTAL FOR ROMANIA VS TURKEY = 14 WINS, 8 DIES, 5 LOSSES

Radu Drăgușin and Arda Guler, the stars of the two national teams, at the same level of confidence and optimism:

We believe (in qualification)! If we didn't believe, we wouldn't be here. As I said, the atmosphere is good, we are confident, but it is not enough. We have to show that we deserve to be present at the World Cup! The support of the supporters is very important. Even though we are playing away, our fans make us feel like we are playing at home. It will be the same tomorrow, we always feel them close. With them, we can achieve important things together.

– Radu Drăgușin, defender Romania / Tottenham

I know that Romania has a very good team. I know Mircea Lucescu, a very important man, who also worked in Turkey. We are focused on qualifying for the World Championship. I am very honored to be compared to Gheorghe Hagian extremely well-known player. I know that Romania will also do everything in its power to qualify.

We know it won't be an easy game, being in one leg. The Romanians will fight and it won't be as simple as you think.

– Arda Guler, midfielder Turkey / Real Madrid

453.2 million eurossums up the group of Turks, according to the transfermarkt specialist portal. Of the “tricolors”, four times less: 104 million euros.

25is the place occupied by Turkey in the FIFA ranking. The “Tricolori” are on the 49th.

Turkey's squad for the match with the “tricolors”:

• porter: Altay Bayindir (Manchester United), Mert Günok (Fenerbahce), Muhammed Sengezer (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ugurcan Cakir (Galatasaray)

• defense: Abdulkerim Bardakci (Galatasaray), Ahmetcan Kaplan (NEC Nijmegen), Eren Elmalı (Galatasaray), Ferdi Kadıoğlu (Brighton), Merih Demiral (Al Ahli), Mert Müldür (Fenerbahce), Mustafa Eskihellaç (Trabzonspor), Ozan Kabak (Hoffenheim), Samet Akaydin (Rizespor), Zeki Celik (AS Roma)

• midfielders: Atakan Karazor (Stuttgart), Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter), Ismail Yuksek (Fenerbahce), Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray), Orkun Kökçü (Besiktas), Salih Ozcan (Borussia Dortmund)

• ATTACKERS: Arda Güler (Real Madrid), Barış Alper Yılmaz (Galatasaray), Deniz Gül (FC Porto), Irfan Can Kahveci (Kasimpasa), Kenan Yıldız (Juventus), Kerem Akturkoglu (Fenerbahce), Oguz Aydin (Fenerbahce), Semih Kılıçsoy (Cagliari), Yunus Akgun (Galatasaray).

The batch moved from Romania to Istanbul:

• porter: Ionuț RADU (Celta Vigo, 7/0), Laurentiu POPESCU (Universitatea Craiova, 0/0), Marian AIOANI (FC Rapid 1923, 0/0), Cătălin CĂBUZ (FC Argeș, 0/0);

• defense: 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 GHIȚ (Hannover 96 | Germany, 8/1), Adrian RUS (Universitatea Craiova, 22/1), Andrei COUBIȘ (Cluj University, 0/0), Nicușor BANCU (Craiova University, 50/2), Kevin CIUBOTARU (Hermannstadt, 1/0);

• midfielders: Vladimir SCRECIU (Universitatea Craiova, 6/0), Vlad DRAGOMIR (Pafos | 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);

• ATTACKERS: Daniel BÎRLIGEA (FCSB, 7/2), David MICULESCU (FCSB, 6/0), Marius COMAN (UTA Arad, 0/0).