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Romania European Championship Record
Quarter-final: 2000
Group stage: 1984, 1996, 2008
Did not qualify: 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 2004, 2012
Total: W1 D4 L8 8:17
Romania Euro 2021 Qualifying Record
W5 D5 L0 11:2
Romania Euro 2021 Group Fixtures
10th June @21:00 – France vs Romania (Stade de France, Paris)
15th June @18:00 – Romania vs Switzerland (Parc des Princes, Paris)
19th June @21:00 – Romania vs Albania (Stade de Lyon, Lyon)
Road to Euro 2021
Romania were quite fortunate to be placed in arguably the weakest group in the Euro 2021 qualifiers, and their qualification bid was also helped by one of Greece’s most disappointing campaigns in recent years. The Tricolorii, nonetheless, did well to take advantage of the opportunity that presented itself, taking 20 points from 10 games to finish one point behind winners Northern Ireland and book their ticket to France.
Romania finished the campaign as the only unbeaten side in the group, recording five wins and as many draws, and while they struggled up front, scoring mere 11 goals, their back line was on top of their game, allowing just two goals on the road to France. Only the starting centre-back pairing Vlad Chiriches and Dragos Grigore featured in all ten qualifiers, while coach Anghel Iordanescu made plenty of changes in other areas of the team as most players struggled to nail down a regular starting berth.
Style of Play
Anghel Iordanescu was called out of retirement to help Romania return to old glory days, but even though he has managed to secure qualification to the Euro 2021 in France, he has been getting a lot of stick for his failure to improve the national team and rightly so. Granted, the Tricolorii recorded some very good results in the qualifying campaign and conceded mere two goals in ten games, but we have to look at the record from a different perspective.
They were competing in by far the weakest group and yet could only record one resounding triumph agains Faroe Islands, which speaks volumes about the quality of this team or lack thereof. Anghel Iordanescu is known as a very defence-minded coach, not ready to take any risks even when his side are up against weaker opposition and that is probably the main reason for the impressive defensive record in the Euro 2021 qualifiers.
But, while most top sides only adopt a somewhat negative approach so that they can hurt the opposition on the break, Romania are not exactly dangerous on the counter, while they have unbelievable problems up front. Strikers Rusescu, Marica, Keseru and Andone have scored just three goals between them and no wonder that nobody knows who will be the starting striker at the tournament finals. Claudiu Keseru and Florin Andone are the most serious contenders, but their scoring record in the national team is far from impressive.
Romania will be lining up in 4-2-3-1 formation that will more resemble 4-5-1 when defending, with two defence-minded central midfielders that will be virtually forbidden from making forward runs. Having impressed in a March friendly against Spain, talented midfielder Nicolae Stanciu is probably the only one who can create something out of nothing, but it remains to be seen whether his inexperience will prove an issue at the tournament finals.
The fact of the matter is that this side lack any imagination and Anghel Iordanescu’s tactical restrictions will further prevent players from expressing themselves on the pitch, so we fully expect Romania to be one of Euro 2021’s lowest scoring sides. Their back line may have looked good against the likes of Faroe Islands, Finland and Northern Ireland, but don’t expect the trend to continue in games vs France and Switzerland.
Strong Points
- Impressive defensive record in qualifiers
- Defend in numbers
- Experienced team
Weak Spots
- Huge problems in attack
- Plenty of changes to the starting line-up
- Poor creative department
- Lack of individual quality
- Tend to struggle at major tournaments
Romania Euro 2021 Starting Line-Up
Prediction
Romania’s impressive defensive record in the Euro 2021 qualifiers can be deceiving as they not only faced defence-minded sides that tend to struggle up front, but also refused to take any risks and settled for mediocre results. And while such an approach proved enough to secure qualification to the tournament finals, chances are it will also cost them dearly in France when they will be facing much stronger sides.
There is an evident lack of quality in the Romania team, especially in the creative department and attack, and Anghel Iordanescu’s obsolete tactics is definitely not helping. The Tricolorii cannot be expected to match sides like France and Switzerland in Group A, meaning we can virtually rule out a top 2 finish for them, so everything suggests they will be vying Romania for the third place in the group that might not ultimately prove enough to qualify for the knockout stages.
IST Tip: Romania to finish third in Group A
Odds: 2.75 (7/4) @Winner
Interesting Markets
*Romania to finish bottom of Group A is 3.25 (9/4) @Betfair
*Romania to qualify is 1.80 (4/5) @BetVictor
*Romania to be eliminated in group stage is 2.25 (5/4) @888sport
*Romania to take one group stage point is 4.85 (77/20) @888sport
Last updated: 6th May 2016
