An unusual situation has arisen in the rules of the preliminaries! If Romania loses the match against Turkey, it will be forced to play one more match, a friendly one, against the defeated team in the Slovakia-Kosovo duel.
Romania National Team Photo/Sportspicture
This additional match should be played on March 31, the day on which the play-off finals are also scheduled.
At Thursday’s draw, Romania found out that it will play away to Turkey in the semi-final of the World Cup qualifier. If she wins, our national team will go to the final, where she will meet the winner between Slovakia and Kosovo.
However, if Romania loses against Turkey, it does not end its March program there. The preliminary rules include a strange provision: the defeated team in the semi-final must play one more game.
The reason? During the period for the national team matches in March, each representative must play two games. The teams that win the semifinals will play the final anyway, five days apart. But the eliminated teams are also obliged to tick two matches.
The rule applies without exception
Thus, the teams that lose in the semifinals will play a friendly match between them. Therefore, if Turkey eliminates Romania, the “tricolors” will play away with the other team defeated in the other duel, i.e. Slovakia or Kosovo.
“The two losing semi-finalists are required to play a friendly in March 2026. Teams on the same routes must agree for a match to be played in the arena that was reserved for the play-off final!“is the passage from the regulation.
The representatives of the Romanian Football Federation stated, according to Golazo, that this rule applies without exception. This means that the national team will still play a second match on March 31, regardless of whether they win or lose the play-off game on March 26.
ROUTE A
Italy – Northern Ireland;
Wales – Bosnia;
ROUTE B
Ukraine – Sweden;
Poland – Albania;
ROUTE C
Turkey – Romania;
Slovakia – Kosovo;
ROUTE D
Denmark – Macedonia;
Czech Republic – Ireland.
