Full scoreboard: the 4 World Cup play-off finals have been decided. What's next for Romania?
On Thursday, all eight matches of the play-off semi-finals for qualification to this summer's World Championship took place.
Sandro Tonali, goal and assist for Italy Photo/Platforma X
The first match played was the one between Turkey and Romania, which ended with the victory of the hosts, 1-0, while the rest of the matches started later, from 21:45. In another spectacular duel, Kosovo prevailed away from Slovakia, score 4-3, so the next opponent of the “tricolors”, in a non-stakes game scheduled for Tuesday, will be the Slovak national team.
No-stakes match against Slovakia on March 31
The European play-off finals are scheduled for March 31, and the winning teams will secure their presence at the final tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The headliner of the day was the match between Turkey and Romania, lost by our national team at the limit. Following this result, Romania missed the qualification in the play-off final for the World Cup.
The most spectacular game was played in Slovakia, where the hosts lost a goal-filled game to Kosovo, 3-4. If they had passed Turkey, Romania would have met the Kosovar national team again. Instead, the tricolors will play a friendly away match against Slovakia on March 31.
Play-off finals for WC 2026:
All results recorded in the pool semi-finals for WC 2026:
- Turkey – Romania 1-0;
- Italy – Northern Ireland 2-0;
- Ukraine – Sweden 1-3;
- Czech Republic – Ireland 1-1, 4-3 dld;
- Denmark – North Macedonia 4-0;
- Wales v Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1, 2-4 dld;
- Poland – Albania 2-1;
- Slovakia – Kosovo 3-4.
