Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s World Cup Qualifying – Europe clash between Romania and San Marino, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Romania‘s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are not over despite the fact they cannot finish in the top two of Group H, but they will be keen to avoid an embarrassing result when they welcome San Marino to Stadionul Ilie Oana in their final qualifying game on Tuesday.
Sitting in third place with 10 points, Romania are six points behind second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina and cannot finish in the top two, though they head into Tuesday’s match 10 points ahead of fifth-placed San Marino.
Match preview
The hosts lost their crunch clash against Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 on Saturday, and that result proved fatal in their quest for a spot in the top two, but perhaps the outcome would have been different had Denis Dragus not been sent off in the 68th minute when the scoreline was 1-1.
Romania can still qualify for the summer’s tournament if they end their World Cup qualifying group as one of the four highest-ranked Nations League group winners to have finished outside the top two, though they will still have to navigate playoffs.
Mircea Lucescu’s side have scored 12 goals in their seven group games, though they have kept just two clean sheets in their last 10 matches in all competitions.
Tricolorii’s loss against Bosnia was their first in four fixtures, a period in which won two and drew one, whereas they had lost three of their prior five.
Romania boast a positive home record, and a win on Tuesday would be their third in a row at Stadionul Ilie Oana, as well as their seventh in nine at the stadium.
San Marino were beaten 4-0 by Cyprus on October 12 in their most recent group match, and their 1-0 loss against the Czech Republic on Thursday in a friendly extended their losing streak to 10 games.
In fact, a defeat for La Serenissima on Tuesday would be their 61st consecutive loss in World Cup qualifiers since they held Latvia to a 1-1 stalemate in 2001.
The visitors’ defeat against the Czech Republic was also the fourth outing in five that they failed to find the back of the net in, and they have not kept a clean sheet in their past 15 fixtures.
It is no surprise that San Marino have lost 100% of their encounters with Romania (four), with their most recent contest a 5-1 thrashing in March 2024.
Boss Roberto Cevoli‘s team have been beaten in 16 of their past 17 away contests, conceding at least twice in 11 of those matches.
Romania World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
Romania form (all competitions):
San Marino World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
San Marino form (all competitions):
Team News
Given that a win could still be important to Romania, expect them to field a strong starting XI, with the likes of Virgil Ghita and Bogdan Racovitan set to appear in the backline.
If any changes are made from the team that lost against Bosnia, then perhaps David Miculescu will come into consideration on the right of attack, though wide attacker Dragus is suspended.
Striker Daniel Birligea will likely lead the line, while Marius Marin may be positioned as the deepest player in midfield.
San Marino forward Filippo Berardi‘s place in the lineup can be assumed, and he may be stationed to the left of striker Nicola Nanni.
Alessandro Golinucci, Gabriel Capicchioni and Samuele Zannoni could be selected to play in midfield.
Romania possible starting lineup:
Radu; Ratiu, Ghita, Racovitan, Chipciu; Hagi, Marin, Tanase; Miculescu, Birligea, Mihaila
San Marino possible starting lineup:
Colombo; Benvenuti, Cevoli, Rossi, Riccardi; Golinucci, Capicchioni, Zannoni; Berardi, Nanni, Lazzari
We say: Romania 3-0 San Marino
There is little reason to doubt Romania’s ability to get over the line against San Marino, and it is a question of how many the hosts can score.
Given World Cup qualification is still a possibility, Romania should be expected to play at their best, and their forwards will likely enjoy a fruitful outing against the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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