Romania World Cup 2026 squad: Mircea Lucescu's latest selection ahead of the World Cup qualifying play-offs

Romania will bid to qualify for their first World Cup since the 1998 tournament when they take on Turkey in this week's play-off semi-final.

Mircea Lucescu's side finished third in their World Cup qualification behind Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning they were placed into Path C of UEFA's second round of qualifying.

Should Romania get past the Turks, they will then face either Slovakia or Kosovo for a place in this summer's tournament.

Romania's last appearance in the World Cup finals came at France '98, where Gheorghe Hagi inspired his bleached-blonde team-mates to the last-16, where they came unstuck against Croatia.

That was Romania's sixth appearance at the finals, the first of which came in the very first edition of the tournament in 1930.

Romania's veteran head coach Mircea Lucescu, who will turn 81 this summer, has named a 26-man squad for the play-off which mainly draws from domestic-based players.

There are players from leagues scattered across the globe, including China, Turkey, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and England. The most experienced member of the squad is midfielder Nicolae Stanciu.

Squad

Romania World Cup 2026 squad: The March selection

• GK: Marian Aioani (Rapid București)
• GK: Cătălin Căbuz (Argeș Pitești)
• GK: Laurențiu Popescu (Universitatea Craiova)
• DF: Nicușor Bancu (Universitatea Craiova)
• DF: Andrei Burcă (Yunnan Yukun)
• DF: Andrei Rațiu (Rayo Vallecano)
• DF :Radu Drăgușin (Tottenham Hotspur)
• DF: Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep)
• DF: Adrian Rus (Universitatea Craiova)
• DF: Virgil Ghiță (Hannover 96)
• DF: Kevin Ciubotaru (Hermannstadt)
• DF: Andrei Coubiș (Universitatea Cluj)
• MF: Nicolae Stanciu (Dalian Yingbo)
• MF: Răzvan Marin (AEK Athens)
• MF: Ianis Hagi (Alanyaspor)
• MF: Dennis Man (PSV)
• MF: Valentin Mihăilă (Çaykur Rizespor)
• MF: Florin Tănase (FCSB)
• MF: Vladimir Screciu (Universitatea Craiova)
• MF: Alexandru Dobre (Rapid București)
• MF: Vlad Dragomir (Pafos)
• MF: Ștefan Baiaram (Universitatea Craiova)
• MF: Claudiu Petrila (Rapid București)
• FW: Daniel Bîrligea (FCSB)
• FW: David Miculescu (FCSB)
• FW: Marius Coman (UTA Arad)

Fixtures and results

March 26, 2026: Turkey v Romania, Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey

November 18, 2025: Romania 7-1 San Marino, Ilie Oana Stadium, Ploiesti, Romania

November 15 2025: Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 Romania, Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

October 12, 2025: Romania 1-0 Austria, Arena Nationala, Bucharest, Romania

October 9, 2025: Romania 2-1 Moldova, Arena Nationala, Bucharest, Romania

September 9, 2025: Cyprus 2-2 Romania, GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus

September 5, 2025: Romania 0-3 Canada, Arena Nationala, Bucharest, Romania

Manager

Who is Romania's manager?

Mircea Lucescu is one of the most experienced and decorated managers of all time, with a career in the dugout which began when he was still a player in 1979.

The 80-year-old won 64 Romania caps in his playing career, during which he won seven Romania titles with Dinamo Bucuresti. He would then embark on a managerial career which has seen him manage in Romania, Italy, Turkey and Ukraine, while he is currently enjoying his second stint as Romania boss.

The Bucharest-born boss has won 38 trophies during his career and in 2015 he became the fifth coach to take charge of 100 Champions League matches, alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho.

Romania's Star Player

Who is Romania's star player?

Attacking midfielder Nicolae Stanciu is the most experienced player in the current Romania squad and the man that his team-mates will look to for creative inspiration.

The 32-year-old skippered his side at Euro 2024 and opened the scoring in their 3-0 win over Ukraine, which was Romania's first victory in the competition for 24 years. That goal also meant he was the first player to score at a European Championship while playing for a Saudi Arabian club, having made the move to Saudi Pro League side Damac Club the year before.

That was then the latest stop in a nomadic career which has also seen Stanciu play in his homeland, plus Belgium, the Czech Republic, China and Italy.

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