{"id":9509,"date":"2026-03-27T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=9509"},"modified":"2026-03-27T07:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:00:31","slug":"romania-miss-out-on-world-cup-again-after-1-0-defeat-to-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=9509","title":{"rendered":"Romania miss out on World Cup again after 1-0 defeat to Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Romania\u2019s national football team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Turkey in the playoff semifinal in Istanbul on Thursday, March 26. The loss extends Romania\u2019s absence from the tournament, with their last appearance dating back to 1998, <a href=\"https:\/\/agerpres.ro\/sport-extern\/2026\/03\/26\/fotbal-romania-invinsa-de-turcia-cu-1-0-a-ratat-o-noua-calificare-la-cupa-mondiala--1541579\" target=\"_blank\">Agerpres<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The match was decided by a second-half goal from Ferdi Kad\u0131o\u011flu in the 53rd minute, following a pass from Arda G\u00fcler.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey controlled much of the game, but Romania defended compactly and limited clear chances in the first half. Romania\u2019s best early opportunity came through Ianis Hagi, whose shot was blocked, while goalkeeper Ionu\u021b Radu dealt with attempts from the hosts.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat marks Romania\u2019s third unsuccessful World Cup playoff campaign, after previous attempts in 2002 and 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Turkey will now face the winner of the Slovakia-Kosovo matchup in the playoff final.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Mircea Lucescu said after the match that the game was balanced, despite Turkey\u2019s dominance in possession.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe defended very well. They hit the crossbar once, but we hit it twice. The mistake that led to the goal was one that could have been avoided without any problem. Unfortunately, these things happen &#8211; a fraction of a second of inattention. Turkey have a good team, I think they will reach the World Cup. We didn\u2019t come here to fight anyone, we came with the desire to be here,\u201d Lucescu said on Prima TV, as quoted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news.ro\/sport\/meciul-turcia-romania-mircea-lucescu-greseala-care-a-dus-la-gol-putea-fi-evitata-fara-nicun-fel-de-probleme-sunt-multumit-de-baieti-avem-o-baza-turcia-cred-ca-va-ajunge-la-cupa-mondiala-1922404526542026032122391423\" target=\"_blank\">News.ro<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>irina.marica@romania-insider.com<\/p>\n<p>(Photo source:\u00a0<em>Inquam Photos \/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquamphotos.com\/users\/stefanconstantin\">Stefan\u00a0Constantin<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Romania\u2019s national football team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Turkey in the playoff semifinal in Istanbul on Thursday, March 26. The loss extends Romania\u2019s absence from the tournament, with their last appearance dating back to 1998, Agerpres reported. The match was decided by a second-half goal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}