Romania at the FIFA World Cup

Participation of Romania's national football team in the FIFA World Cup

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This is a record of Romania's results at the FIFA World Cup. Romania have participated at 7 of 21 final tournaments of the World Cup. They were one of the few European participants at the inaugural edition held in Uruguay in 1930. The best performance of the team was in 1994 in United States, when Romania reached quarter-finals after defeating Diego Maradona's Argentina. They eventually lost to Sweden after a penalty shoot-out. The last time Romania qualified was in 1998 in France, when they reached the round of 16, losing to Croatia. The team's top scorer at the World Cup is Florin Răducioiu, with 4 goals, all scored in 1994.

## Record at the FIFA World Cup

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FIFA World Cup record

Year  | Round  | Position  | Pld | W | D*  | L | GF | GA
1930 | Group stage | 8th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5
1934 | Round of 16 | 12th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
1938 | 9th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5
1950 | Did not enter
1954 | Did not qualify
1958
1962 | Withdrew
1966 | Did not qualify
1970 | Group stage | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5
1974 | Did not qualify
1978
1982
1986
1990 | Round of 16 | 12th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3
1994 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 9
1998 | Round of 16 | 11th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3
2002 | Did not qualify
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026 | To be determined
2030
2034
Total | Quarter-finals | 7/25 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 30 | 32

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out
Romania's World Cup record

First match  |  Romania 3–1 Peru
(14 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Biggest win  |  Romania 3–1 Peru
(14 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Romania 2–0 Soviet Union
(9 June 1990; Bari, Italy)
Romania 3–1 Colombia
(18 June 1994; Pasadena, United States)
Biggest defeat  |  Uruguay 4–0 Romania
(21 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Best result  | Quarter-finals in 1994
Worst result  | Group stage in 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1970

### By Match

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World Cup  | Round  | Opponent  | Score  | Result  | Venue  | Scorers

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1930 | Group 3 |  Peru | 3–1 | W | Montevideo | A. Deșu, C. Stanciu, N. Kovács
Uruguay | 0–4 | L | Montevideo | —
1934 | Round of 16 |  Czechoslovakia | 1–2 | L | Trieste | Ș. Dobay
1938 | Round of 16 |  Cuba | 3–3 | D | Toulouse | S. Bindea, I. Baratky, Ș. Dobay
Cuba | 1–2 | L | Toulouse | Ș. Dobay
1970 | Group 3 |  England | 0–1 | L | Guadalajara | —
Czechoslovakia | 2–1 | W | Guadalajara | A. Neagu, F. Dumitrache
Brazil | 2–3 | L | Guadalajara | F. Dumitrache, E. Dembrovschi
1990 | Group B |  Soviet Union | 2–0 | W | Bari | M. Lăcătuș (2)
Cameroon | 1–2 | L | Bari | G. Balint
Argentina | 1–1 | D | Naples | G. Balint
Round of 16 |  Republic of Ireland | 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 pen.) | D | Genoa | —
1994 | Group A |  Colombia | 3–1 | W | Pasadena | F. Răducioiu (2), G. Hagi
Switzerland | 1–4 | L | Pontiac | G. Hagi
United States | 1–0 | W | Pasadena | D. Petrescu
Round of 16 |  Argentina | 3–2 | W | Pasadena | I. Dumitrescu (2), G. Hagi
Quarter-finals |  Sweden | 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 pen.) | D | Stanford | F. Răducioiu (2)
1998 | Group G |  Colombia | 1–0 | W | Lyon | A. Ilie
England | 2–1 | W | Toulouse | V. Moldovan, D. Petrescu
Tunisia | 1–1 | D | Saint-Denis | V. Moldovan
Round of 16 |  Croatia | 0–1 | L | Bordeaux | —

### Record by Opponent

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FIFA World Cup matches (by team)

Opponent  | Wins  | Draws  | Losses  | Total  | Goals Scored  | Goals Conceded
Argentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3
Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3
Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2
Colombia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1
Croatia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1
Cuba | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5
Czechoslovakia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3
England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2
Peru | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1
Republic of Ireland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0
Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0
Sweden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2
Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4
Tunisia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1
United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0
Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4

## Record players

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Gheorghe Popescu and Gheorghe Hagi, Romania's top World Cup players, were team-mates at Steaua, Barcelona and Galatasaray. They became brothers-in-law when Hagi married Popescu's sister.

No.  | Name  | Matches  | World Cups

|
|
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1  | Gheorghe Popescu | 13 | 1990, 1994 and 1998
2  | Gheorghe Hagi | 12 | 1990, 1994 and 1998
3  | Dorinel Munteanu | 9 | 1994 and 1998
Dan Petrescu | 9 | 1994 and 1998
5  | Ilie Dumitrescu | 8 | 1990, 1994 and 1998
Ionuţ Lupescu | 8 | 1990 and 1994
7  | Florin Răducioiu | 7 | 1990 and 1994
8  | Constantin Gâlcă | 6 | 1994 and 1998
Bogdan Stelea | 6 | 1994 and 1998
10  | Marius Lăcătuș | 5 | 1990 and 1998
Miodrag Belodedici | 5 | 1994
Daniel Prodan | 5 | 1994

## Top goalscorers

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No.  | Name  | Goals  | World Cups

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|
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1  | Florin Răducioiu | 4 | 1994
2  | Ștefan Dobay | 3 | 1934 (1) and 1938 (2)
Gheorghe Hagi | 3 | 1994
4  | Florea Dumitrache | 2 | 1970
Gavril Balint | 2 | 1990
Marius Lăcătuș | 2 | 1990
Ilie Dumitrescu | 2 | 1994
Dan Petrescu | 2 | 1994 and 1998
Viorel Moldovan | 2 | 1998
10  | Eight players | 1

## See also

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* Romania at the UEFA European Championship

* v
* t
* e

Countries at the FIFA World Cup

* Team appearances
* All-time table

AFC|

* Australia1
* China
* Indonesia2
* Iran
* Iraq
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kuwait
* North Korea
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* South Korea
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan

CAF|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Cameroon
* DR Congo2
* Egypt
* Ghana
* Ivory Coast
* Morocco
* Nigeria
* Senegal
* South Africa
* Togo
* Tunisia

CONCACAF|

* Canada
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* El Salvador
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Panama
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States

CONMEBOL|

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Uruguay

OFC|

* New Zealand

UEFA|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Czech Republic2
* Denmark
* East Germany3
* England
* France
* Germany2
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Israel1
* Italy
* Netherlands
* Northern Ireland
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Republic of Ireland
* Romania
* Russia2
* Scotland
* Serbia2
* Slovakia2
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* Wales

1 Have been member of multiple confederations. 2 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.

* v
* t
* e

Romania national football team

General|

* Romanian Football Federation
* History
* Managers

Venues|

* Arena Națională
* Stadionul Ion Oblemenco
* Cluj Arena
* Stadionul Ilie Oană

Results|

* 1922–39
* 1940–59
* 1960–79
* 1980–99
* 2000–19
* 2020–present

Statistics|

* Results
* Competitive records
* Head to head
* Honours

Players|

* Players
* International footballers
* Hat-tricks
* Captains

Performances|

* FIFA World Cup
* UEFA European Championship

World Cup|

* 1930
* 1934
* 1938
* 1970
* 1990
* 1994
* 1998

UEFA Euro|

* 1984
* 1996
* 2000
* 2008
* 2016
* 2024

Rivalries|

* Hungary

Matches|

* Yugoslavia 1–2 Romania (1922)

Other Romanian teams|

* Olympic
* U-21
* U-20
* U-19
* U-17
* Futsal
* Beach soccer
* Women

Squads

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1930 FIFA World Cup

* FW Barbu
* MF Borbely
* DF Bürger
* DF Czako
* FW Deșu
* MF Eisenbeisser
* FW Glanzmann
* FW Kocsis
* FW Kovács
* GK Lăpușneanu
* MF Raffinsky
* MF Robe
* FW Stanciu
* MF Steinbach
* DF A.Steiner
* MF R.Steiner
* FW Subășeanu
* MF Vogl
* FW Wetzer
* GK Zauber
* Coach: Rădulescu

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1934 FIFA World Cup

* DF Albu
* FW Barátky
* FW Beke
* FW Bindea
* FW Bodola
* DF Bürger
* FW Ciolac
* DF Cuedan
* MF Deheleanu
* FW Dobay
* MF Juhász
* FW Klimek
* GK Konrad
* MF Kotormány
* FW Kovács
* MF Moravetz
* GK Püllöck
* FW Schwartz
* FW Sepi
* DF Sfera
* DF Vogl
* MF Weichelt
* GK Zombori
* Coach: Uridil & Rădulescu

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1938 FIFA World Cup

* FW Baratky
* MF Bărbulescu
* FW Bindea
* FW Bodola
* FW Bogdan
* MF Brandabura
* FW Braun-Bogdan
* DF Bürger
* DF Chiroiu
* MF Cossini
* GK David
* FW Dobay
* DF Felecan
* FW Kovács
* FW Moldoveanu
* FW Nagy
* GK Pavlovici
* FW Prassler
* MF Raffinsky
* MF Răşinaru
* GK Sadowski
* DF Sfera
* Coach: Săvulescu & Rădulescu

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1970 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Răducanu
* 2 Sătmăreanu
* 3 Lupescu
* 4 Mocanu
* 5 Dinu
* 6 Coe
* 7 Dembrovschi
* 8 Dobrin
* 9 Dumitrache
* 10 Nunweiller
* 11 Lucescu (c)
* 12 Ivăncescu
* 13 Deleanu
* 14 Gergely
* 15 Dumitru
* 16 Neagu
* 17 Tătaru
* 18 Tufan
* 19 Domide
* 20 Pescaru
* 21 Adamache
* 22 Gornea
* Coach: Niculescu

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Lung (c)
* 2 Rednic
* 3 Klein
* 4 Andone
* 5 Rotariu
* 6 G. Popescu
* 7 Lăcătuș
* 8 Sabău
* 9 Cămătaru
* 10 Hagi
* 11 Lupu
* 12 Stelea
* 13 A. Popescu
* 14 Răducioiu
* 15 Mateuț
* 16 Timofte
* 17 Dumitrescu
* 18 Balint
* 19 Săndoi
* 20 Muzsnay
* 21 Lupescu
* 22 Liliac
* Coach: Jenei

* v
* t
* e

Romania squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Prunea
* 2 Petrescu
* 3 Prodan
* 4 Belodedici
* 5 Lupescu
* 6 Popescu
* 7 Munteanu
* 8 Chiriță
* 9 Răducioiu
* 10 Hagi (c)
* 11 Dumitrescu
* 12 Stelea
* 13 Selymes
* 14 Mihali
* 15 Panduru
* 16 Vlădoiu
* 17 Moldovan
* 18 Gâlcă
* 19 Papură
* 20 Stîngă
* 21 Ivan
* 22 Preda
* Coach: Iordănescu

* v
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* e

Romania squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Stângaciu
* 2 Petrescu
* 3 Dulca
* 4 Doboș
* 5 Gâlcă
* 6 Ghe. Popescu
* 7 Lăcătuș
* 8 Munteanu
* 9 Moldovan
* 10 Hagi (c)
* 11 Ilie
* 12 Stelea
* 13 Ciobotariu
* 14 Niculescu
* 15 Marinescu
* 16 Ga. Popescu
* 17 Dumitrescu
* 18 Filipescu
* 19 Stîngă
* 20 Selymes
* 21 Craioveanu
* 22 Prunea
* Coach: Iordănescu

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