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Turkish national football team’s draw against Romania in the UEFA play-off route for the FIFA 2026 World Cup has triggered a clear sense of anxiety in Romania’s sports media, where former stars, federation officials and current players all describe Türkiye as the favourite and repeatedly warn that the away match atmosphere will be “like hell.”
Under the current European play-off format, Türkiye will host Romania in a single-leg semifinal. If the Crescent Star team wins, it will then play the final away against the winner of Slovakia versus Kosovo, and only the winner of that final will reach the World Cup in North America. Romanian commentators accept that this path leaves them facing what they call one of the most in-form national teams in Europe, and possibly even in the world.
Romanian great Gheorghe Hagi, who is a legend for both Galatasaray and the Romanian national team, told Romanian broadcaster DigiSport that the tie will be extremely difficult because it will be played away from home. He stressed that playing in Türkiye will make the match “very, very hard,” yet he also underlined that nothing is impossible as long as the team holds on to confidence, belief and courage, and produces an excellent performance.
Hagi called on players to spend the months until March thinking about this match and to stay in top form, saying that Türkiye have a very talented and highly gifted squad, something he has seen himself while watching their games on television. At the same time, he insisted that Romania is not short of talent either, and that what really matters is that all Romanian players arrive healthy, in good shape and mentally and physically prepared, so that they can push themselves beyond their usual level.
Looking at Türkiye’s strengths, Hagi pointed out that the hosts will have the advantage of playing at home in front of their own supporters. Apart from that, he put the tie at 50–50 and singled out young attacking talents Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz as “two extraordinary players.”
Another former star, Adrian Mutu, who is now working as a coach, also placed Türkiye among the strongest teams in the entire playoff field. He said that, together with Italy, Türkiye had been among his main favorites even before the draw, and admitted that he would have preferred to face Ukraine first, then Denmark, and only after that Türkiye or Italy. Although he recalled that Romania had often played well and won against Türkiye in the past and did not always manage the same against Italy, he still underlined that in the current situation, “the favorites are the Turks.”
Mutu described Türkiye as the team that has made the biggest progress in recent years among the four sides he mentioned, and as the national team that now offers the toughest atmosphere and the highest pressure for visiting opponents. He noted that Türkiye can call up players from clubs such as Roma, Juventus, Inter and Real Madrid, and argued that if Romania somehow beat Türkiye, they would then go into the play-off final as favourites against either Slovakia or Kosovo, even if that match is away from home. He personally said he would rather face Slovakia than Kosovo because, in his view, the atmosphere in Kosovo would also be very demanding.
Romanian Football Federation official Andrei Vochin tried to calm the mood when he appeared on a television program, reminding viewers of past disappointments when the national team failed to advance from a group that was considered the easiest, alongside Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He pointed out that Romania had then finished third behind those two countries, even though Bosnia had been seen as the only weaker side and still managed to beat Romania both home and away.
While calling for optimism and warning that there could be no truly easy opponent at this stage, Vochin spoke openly about the draw. He referred to the market value of the Romanian team and stated that it was clear that they would inevitably meet a side with a higher rating. He openly admitted that, “to be honest,” he would not have wanted Türkiye as an opponent, recalling also that there had been a strong wish in the past to qualify from a group with Austria, and that at that time veteran coach Mircea Lucescu was working in Türkiye and knew Turkish football better than any Romanian coach, including Marius Sumudica.
Gaziantep FK midfielder Alexandru Maxim, who has been playing in the Turkish Super Lig since January 2020 and has scored seven goals in 56 appearances for Romania, said he had a feeling even before the draw that Romania would end up facing Türkiye. He told team mate Deian Sorescu this prediction in advance and added that it was a pity, because in his view, Türkiye is the most valuable team Romania could have drawn, especially as they will play at home.
Maxim underlined that Turkish teams are very strong when they play on their own soil and that, wherever the match is staged, the atmosphere is always intense. For this reason, he said that the play-off tie in Türkiye will be “like hell,” explaining that Turkish supporters are extremely passionate and help their national team a great deal. He suggested that Türkiye will most likely choose to play in Istanbul, preferably at Galatasaray’s stadium, where the noise level and pressure on visiting players are particularly high.
Headlines in Türkiye have also noted that in Slovakia and Kosovo, where the potential final opponents are based, the Turkish national team has already been described as a “very strong team,” and other Romanian coaches, such as Marius Sumudica have been quoted saying that Türkiye are favorites and that the atmosphere will again be “hell.”
Romania Under–20 head coach Adrian Iencsi also reacted negatively to the draw, calling it a stroke of bad luck and saying that there had been no need for such a difficult opponent at this stage. He underlined that all the teams in the play-off route are strong, yet added that many people in Romania had hoped for Ukraine, because the fact that Ukraine cannot play in its own country would have given Romania a small advantage.
Iencsi stated that Romania would now face a very powerful national team led by a very experienced coach, and emphasized that this coach knows the Turkish league and its players extremely well. In his assessment, Türkiye is “the most in form team in Europe, and maybe even in the world.” He described the Turkish squad as clearly superior in terms of quality, with most players active in strong European leagues, and as a very united and robust group.
Even so, he argued that the play-off will come at a different moment, with a different mood and a different kind of pressure, and suggested that Romanian players might play with extra hunger after their current qualifying campaign. He expressed great confidence in coach Mircea Lucescu’s ability to handle such a moment and called the upcoming match highly anticipated and closely followed.
Looking ahead, Iencsi said that if Romania were to beat Türkiye and qualify for the World Cup, this would represent the most important qualification since the tournament that took place in the United States, and stressed how vital it will be for Romanian fans to travel to Türkiye and support the team. In his words, Romanian players will need to prove that they are better than the Turks, even though he again reminded audiences that Türkiye’s squad depth and experience clearly stand out.
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