World Cup Qualifying - Europe | Group Stage

Jun 10, 2025 at 7.45pm UK

Arena Nationala

Romania vs Cyprus

Match preview

Romania carried their momentum from winning promotion from League C in the Nations League into their qualifying campaign.

They won all six of their group matches, which included Cyprus, securing an immediate return to League B after being relegated in 2022–23.

Romania have struggled to build on their success in the Nations League at the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, losing two of their opening three matches, including a narrow 1-0 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina on matchday one.

Although Mircea Lucescu's team bounced back with a 5-1 victory against San Marino in March, they failed to secure a result in Sunday's away match against Austria. Florin Tanase's goal in stoppage time was merely a consolation in the 2-1 defeat.

Consequently, they cannot afford to drop points on Tuesday if they are to have any realistic hope of reaching their first World Cup since 1998. They will certainly take confidence from the fact that they have won their last five games against Cyprus.

Cyprus are dreaming of reaching their first major tournament, although this will be difficult as they are the second-lowest ranked team in Group H.

After being appointed in January, Cyprus boss Apostolos Mantzios began his tenure with a 2-0 home win over San Marino, getting his country's World Cup qualifying bid off to the perfect start.

However, they were unable to build on this in their second qualifier of the March international window, falling to a narrow 2-1 away defeat to Bosnia.

Cyprus returned to action on Friday with a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Bulgaria in Plovdiv, showing great character to come from behind on two occasions thanks to goals from Nicolas Koutsakos and Konstantinos Laifis.

Nevertheless, the result extended their winless away run to four matches, which could jeopardise their chances of beating Romania for the first time since their 3-2 victory in February 2000.

Recent Performance

Romania World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:LWL

Cyprus World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:WL

Team News

The hosts will be without key players Radu Dragusin, Ianis Hagi and Valentin Mihaila, who are all sidelined by injury.

Romania are also unable to call upon captain Nicolae Stanciu, who is serving a one-match ban for receiving two yellow cards in the first three World Cup qualifiers.

Tanase is in contention to replace the suspended Stanciu, having come off the bench to score his fourth international goal in Sunday's defeat to Austria.

As for Cyprus, Mantzios is set to make changes to the side that drew 2–2 with Bulgaria, which could see Laifis and Giannis Satsias feature in the back four.

Loizos Loizou and Andronikos Kakoullis are both pushing to bolster Cyprus's attacking options ahead of Tuesday's away fixture.

Koutsakos is hoping to retain his place in the starting line-up after scoring on his international debut at the weekend.

Possible starting lineup

Romania possible starting lineup:

Moldovan; Ratiu, Popescu, Burca, Bancu; Man, Marin, Chiriches, Tanase; Birligea, Dragus

Cyprus possible starting lineup:

Mall; Satsias, SielIs, Laifis, Pileas; Kastanos, Kypriakou; Loizou, Kosti, Kakoullis; Koutsakos