Romania will be aiming to make it seven straight wins in all competitions when they open their World Cup 2026 qualification campaign with a home fixture against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday night.
The Tricolours secured promotion to League B of the UEFA Nations League at the end of 2024, having comfortably topped their section, while Bosnia-Herzegovina finished bottom of Group 3 of League A to be relegated to League B.
Match preview
Romania have not managed to qualify for the finals of a World Cup since 1998, when they made it to the round of 16, but they did win five of their 10 qualification fixtures for the 2022 competition.
The Tricolours will play in Group H alongside Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Romania and San Marino, and it is set to be a fascinating section, with arguably four of the five teams having a real chance of finishing in the top two.
Mircea Lucescu‘s side will enter this match off the back of six straight wins, which all came in the recent Nations League campaign, comfortably finishing at the top of Group 2 of League C to earn promotion to League B.
Romania have scored seven times in their last two matches, while they have not been beaten since the middle of last year, so the hosts will enter Friday’s fixture full of confidence.
A talented squad includes Cagliari’s 11-goal midfielder Razvan Marin, while the national side can also call upon Andrei Ratiu, who has been one of the outstanding defenders in Spain’s top flight this season.
Bosnia-Herzegovina did make it to the finals of the 2014 World Cup, winning one of their three group matches at the tournament, but they have not qualified since, missing out in 2018 and 2022.
The national side actually only won one of their qualification matches for the 2022 tournament, so there is plenty of room for improvement in this campaign, especially off the back of a disappointing Nations League campaign.
In truth, the Dragons found it difficult to compete in Group 3 of League A, picking up just two points from their six matches against Germany, Netherlands and Hungary, conceding 17 times in the process.
Sergej Barbarez‘s side drew 1-1 with Netherlands in their last game on November 19, 2024, but their last away game ended in a 7-0 defeat to Germany three days earlier, and the team are now set to take on a talented Romania outfit.
Bosnia-Herzegovina will fancy their chances of picking up positive results in their next two games in the section at home to both Cyprus and San Marino, so a victory in this match would already place them in a strong position in the group.
Team News
Romania are missing a couple of important players for this match through injury, with Radu Dragusin and Valentin Mihaila unavailable for selection, while Alexandru Pascanu is also not in the squad, so there will have to be at least three changes from the team’s last match.
As mentioned, Ratiu has been one of the best defenders in La Liga this season, allegedly drawing the attention of Barcelona and Real Madrid, and the Rayo full-back will be in the home side’s XI here.
Rangers’ Ianis Hagi is also in line for a spot in the side, while Daniel Birligea will be aiming to add to the one goal that he has scored in three appearances for his country when he takes to the field for this 2026 World Cup qualifier.
As for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Edin Dzeko is still going strong at the age of 39, and there will be a start in the final third of the field for the experienced striker, who has scored 67 times for his national side.
Atalanta BC’s Sead Kolasinac, formerly of Arsenal, will be another notable inclusion at the back, while Plymouth Argyle’s Nikola Katic will hope to be involved at some stage of the contest.
There are not expected to be any major surprises in the away side’s XI for this match, with Ermedin Demirovic and Armin Gigovic also in line for positions in the starting side on Friday night.
Romania possible starting lineup:
Nita; Ratiu, Burca, Chipciu, Bancu; R Marin, M Marin, Stanciu; Hagi, Birligea, Alibec
Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Zlomislic; Bicakcic, Barisic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac; Tahirovic, Sunjic, Tahirovic, Gigovic; Demirovic, Dzeko
We say: Romania 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
There has never been a draw between these two sides, with Romania leading the head-to-head record four wins to two, while they were 4-1 winners when the pair last locked horns in September 2022. We are expecting a tight match on Friday evening, though, and have ultimately had to settle on a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
