Romania national under-21 football team
Romania's national under-21 football team, also known as Romania under-21s or Romania U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the Romania national football team.
Nickname(s) | Tricolorii mici (The Small Tricolours) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Romanian Football Federation | ||
Head coach | Adrian Mutu | ||
Most caps | Ionuț Luțu (28) | ||
Top scorer | George Puşcaş (18) | ||
Home stadium | Ilie Oană | ||
| |||
Biggest win | |||
(Yerevan, Armenia; 16 November 2004) (Trabzon, Turkey; 25 April 1995) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
(Magdeburg, Germany; 9 September 2014) | |||
UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
Appearances | 2 (first in 1998) | ||
Best result | Semi-Finals 2019 |
This team is for Romanian players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23. As long as they are eligible, players can play for Romania at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side, and again for the U21s. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player has not played a senior competitive game in his previous country.)
The U-21 team came into existence, following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions, in 1976. Romania qualified for the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and under Victor Pițurcă reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by the Netherlands. Romania had been 1–0 up, but were eventually beaten 2–1. The Romanian lineup included players like: Cosmin Contra, Bogdan Lobonț, Cătălin Munteanu, Ionel Dănciulescu and Ion Luțu.
Romania U21s do not have a permanent home. They play in stadia dotted all around Romania, in an attempt to encourage younger fans in all areas of the country to get behind Romania. Because of the lower demand compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds can be used. The team's manager is Adrian Mutu.
Romania once again qualified unbeaten for the finals after topping their group in the qualifying series. The Romanians reached semi-final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time in their history in the 2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro but eventually lost 4-2 to defending champions Germany who scored twice in the dying moments. Romania qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics for their first Olympics since 1964. Overall, Romania was a revelation at the tournament, beating both England and Croatia (4-2 and 4-1), and looked on course for a shock before Germany fought back to make the final.
Competitive record
UEFA U-21 Championship Record
UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship record | UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Qualification record | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
1978 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | |||||||
1980 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||
1982 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | ||||||||
1984 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | ||||||||
1986 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
1988 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||
1990 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | ||||||||
1992 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 10 | |||||||||
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 10 | |||||||||
Quarter-Finals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | ||
Did not qualify | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 8 | ||||||||
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | |||||||||
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||||||||
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 8 | |||||||||
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 3 | |||||||||
10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 6 | |||||||||
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 6 | |||||||||
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 19 | |||||||||
10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 14 | |||||||||
Semi-Finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 4 | ||
To be determined | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Total | 2/22 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 160 | 81 | 29 | 50 | 246 | 174 |
Olympic Games
Football at the Summer Olympics was first played officially in 1908. The Olympiads between 1896 and 1980 was only open for amateur players. The 1984 and 1988 tournaments were open to players with no appearances in the FIFA World Cup. After the 1988 Olympics, the football event was changed into a tournament for U23 or U21 teams with a maximum of three older players. See Romania national football team for competition record from 1908 until 1988.
Olympic Games record | Olympic Games Qualification record ** | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D * | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
Did not qualify | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 10 | ||||||||||
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 8 | ||||||||||
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||
10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 6 | ||||||||||
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 19 | ||||||||||
Qualified | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 11 | |||||||||
To be determined | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Includes both qualification phase and final tournament of UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
- ***Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
EURO 2021
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 2–1 | 13 Oct | 4 Sep | 2–1 | 5–1 | ||
2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 10 | Final tournament if among five best runners-up | TBD | — | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 13 Oct | ||
3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 7 | 0–1 | 4 Sep | — | 8 Sep | 1–1 | 4–0 | |||
4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 3 | 2–3 | 9 Oct | 0–2 | — | TBD | 4–0 | |||
5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 | 8 Sep | 0–0 | 9 Oct | 13 Oct | — | 0–0 | |||
6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 1 | 9 Oct | 8 Sep | TBD | TBD | 4 Sep | — |
Results and fixtures
Win Draw Loss
2018
24 March 2018 Friendly | England | 2–1 | Wolverhampton, England | |
19:15 UTC+02:00 | Gray Clarke-Salter |
Report | Costache |
Stadium: Molineux |
27 March 2018 Unofficial friendly | Wolverhampton Wanderers U23 | 2–2 | Wolverhampton, England | |
19:15 UTC+02:00 | Ashley-Seal Ennis |
Report | Dobre Nedelcu |
Stadium: Molineux |
7 September 2018 2019 UEFA U21 Q | Portugal | 1–2 | Paços de Ferreira, Portugal | |
UTC+02:00 | Carvalho |
Cicâldău Ivan |
Stadium: Estádio da Mata Real |
11 September 2018 2019 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 2–0 | Ovidiu, Romania | |
UTC+02:00 | Petre Hagi |
Stadium: Viitorul |
12 October 2018 2019 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 2–0 | Cluj, Romania | |
UTC+02:00 | Man Pușcaș |
Stadium: Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu |
16 October 2018 2019 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 4–0 | Ploiești, Romania | |
UTC+02:00 | Pușcaș Hagi Petre |
Stadium: Ilie Oană |
2019
21 March 2019 Friendly | Spain | 1–0 | Granada, Spain | |
19:45 UTC+02:00 | Merino |
Report | Stadium: Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes |
25 March 2019 Unofficial friendly | Romania | 1–0 | Marbella, Spain | |
19:15 UTC+02:00 | Drăguș |
Stadium: Marbella Football Center |
18 June 2019 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Romania | 4–1 | Serravalle, San Marino | |
18:30 | Pușcaș Hagi Băluță Petre |
Report | Vlašić |
Stadium: San Marino Stadium Attendance: 4,700 Referee: Bobby Madden (Scotland) |
21 June 2019 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | England | 2–4 | Cesena, Italy | |
18:30 | Gray Abraham |
Report | Pușcaș Hagi Coman |
Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi Attendance: 8,440 Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) |
24 June 2019 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | France | 0–0 | Cesena, Italy | |
21:00 | Report | Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi Attendance: 12,861 Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria) |
27 June 2019 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Germany | 4–2 | Bologna, Italy | |
18:00 | Amiri Waldschmidt |
Report | Pușcaș |
Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Attendance: 16,211 Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel) |
10 September 2019 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Denmark | 2–1 | Aalborg, Denmark | |
19:30 UTC+02:00 | Olsen |
Report | Coman |
Stadium: Aalborg Stadium Referee: Erez Papir (Israel) |
10 October 2019 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 3–0 | Ploieşti, Romania | |
20:30 UTC+02:00 | Moruţan Petre |
Report | Stadium: Ilie Oană Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland) |
14 October 2019 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 3–0 | Voluntari, Romania | |
20:30 UTC+02:00 | Băluţă Mihăilă Ciobanu |
Report | Stadium: Anghel Iordănescu Referee: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia) |
14 November 2019 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | 4–1 | Voluntari, Romania | |
UTC+02:00 | Mihăilă Hyvärinen |
Report | Kairinen |
Stadium: Anghel Iordănescu Attendance: 2,325 Referee: Robert Hennessy (Republic of Ireland) |
19 November 2019 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Northern Ireland | 0–0 | Ballymena, Northern Ireland | |
UTC+02:00 | Report | Stadium: Ballymena Showgrounds |
2020
5 August 2020 Unofficial friendly | Romania | 6-0 | Mogoșoaia, Romania | |
UTC+02:00 | Report |
4 September 2020 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Finland | v | Finland | |
UTC+02:00 |
8 September 2020 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Malta | v | Malta | |
UTC+02:00 |
9 October 2020 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Ukraine | v | Ukraine | |
UTC+02:00 |
13 October 2020 2021 UEFA U21 Q | Romania | v | Romania | |
UTC+02:00 |
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 8 match against
- Caps and goals as of 19 November 2019 after the match against
Northern Ireland.
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Romania under-21 squad and remain eligible:
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Cosmin Dur-Bozoancă | 15 February 1998 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
GK | Ionuț Rus | 20 January 2000 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
DF | Mihai Velisar INJ | 30 August 1998 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
DF | Constantin Dima | 21 July 1999 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
DF | Virgil Ghiță | 4 June 1998 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
DF | Florin Borța | 21 June 1999 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
DF | Tiberiu Căpușă | 6 April 1998 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Mihai Neicuțescu INJ | 29 September 1998 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Tudor Băluță | 27 March 1999 | 7 | 2 | v. | |
MF | Florinel Coman | 10 April 1998 | 15 | 4 | v. | |
MF | Alex Dobre | 30 August 1998 | 5 | 1 | v. | |
MF | Vlad Dragomir | 24 April 1999 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Nicolae Carnat | 8 April 1998 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Ianis Hagi | 22 October 1998 | 14 | 4 | v. | |
MF | Carlo Casap | 29 December 1998 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Stephan Drăghici | 30 January 1998 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Doru Dumitrescu INJ | 25 May 1998 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Alexandru Mățan | 29 August 1999 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Marco Dulca | 11 May 1999 | 5 | 0 | v. | |
MF | Valentin Costache | 2 August 1998 | 4 | 1 | v. | |
MF | Vladimir Screciu | 13 January 2000 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
FW | Denis Drăguș | 6 July 1999 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
FW | Andrei Sîntean | 16 June 1999 | 1 | 0 | v. |
- Notes
- INJ = Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury
- SUS = Player is serving suspension
- Names in italics denote players that have been capped for the Senior team.
Coaching staff
Head coach | |
Assistant coach | |
GK coach | |
Physical coach | |
External links
- UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive
- The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.
- FRF.ro