Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 00:21 / Updated Wednesday, November 19, 2025 03:52
After Romania – San Marino 7-1the last match in the preliminaries of the World Championship, Gică Popescu said who he would like to see on the national team's bench in the draw in March 2026.
The former captain of Romania believes that the selector Mircea Lucescu he must continue his term and prepare the spring dam.
On Thursday, Romania will find out its opponent in the semifinal of the pool, by drawing lots. The “Tricolori” will meet one from Italy, Denmark, Turkey and Ukraine.
Gică Popescu: “Mircea Lucescu has two assets”
“We have a coach, Mircea Lucescu. It is normal for him to take this race to the end. Mircea Lucescu has two assets. One, experience. Two, he loves the national team a lot.
At one point, what the national team meant in the 80s was due to him. He took the team to tournaments outside to see the comparison with Western countries”, said Gică Popescu, on Antena 1.
I want Turkey to be our opponent. I want to see the level at which Turkey is compared to us now. In the 90s, we were far above Turkey, I want to see now.
– Gică Popescu, former international
Romania qualified for the play-offs thanks to winning the Nations League group. He will play away, against a team from the first ballot. The “Tricolori” are in the fourth, last urn.
In the preliminary group, Romania finished in 3rd place. If they had finished in 2nd place, they would have had an easier route to the playoffs. They would have been in Pot 3 in the draw and played a team in Pot 2.
The 4 urns in the pool semi-final draw
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Urn 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine
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Urn 2: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia
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Urn 3: Ireland, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo
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Urn 4: Sweden, Romania, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland
