Turkiye vs Romania Preview & Prediction | 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (UEFA)
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Turkiye are aiming for their first FIFA World Cup qualification since 2002 as Vincenzo Montella’s Turks take on Romania in their playoff semi-final on Thursday.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – FOX Sports
How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Disney+
Key stats
- Romania lead the head‑to‑head between the sides with 14 wins to Türkiye’s five, along with seven draws. This will be their first meeting since Romania’s 2-0 home friendly victory in November 2017.
- Having last graced the FIFA World Cup™ in 2002, Türkiye are aiming to end a 24-year hiatus from the global stage and make a third tournament appearance.
- Since their last tournament campaign at the 2002 edition, which was secured courtesy of a play-off win over Austria, Türkiye have twice fallen short in the play-offs. They were eliminated by Switzerland on the away-goals rule on the road to the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and then ousted 3-1 by Portugal in the play-off semi-finals for Qatar 2022™.
- Türkiye have lost only three of their last 18 World Cup qualifying matches (W10 D5).
- Türkiye have lost only two of their last 13 home World Cup qualifying matches (W7 D4) and have won three of their four most recent such fixtures (L1).
- Romania have lined up in seven editions of the FIFA World Cup™, the last of which was at France 1998.
- Since their last qualification, Romania have twice fallen short in the play‑offs — losing 3-2 on aggregate to Slovenia for the 2002 finals and 4-2 on aggregate to Greece in the race for Brazil 2014.
- Romania have lost only three of their last 11 World Cup qualifying matches (W6 D2).
Turkiye vs Romania prediction
In a tough qualifying group, Turkiye were blown away at home by European champions Spain but they have been strong and improving for the last few years under Vincenzo Montella – albeit inconsistent. The Turks have some real quality dotted around the park, most notably in-form Real Madrid attacking midfielder Arda Guler.
They now face a Romania side that finished third in their qualifying group, behind both Austria and, underwhelmingly, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Romanians’ most recent outing saw them dispatch of minnows San Marino by seven goals to one at the Ilie Oana Stadium in Ploiesti in November.
Romania do have some quality and will fancy themselves to bloody the nose of the Turks but Turkiye have to remain favourites, especially with home advantage.
Turkiye vs Romania tip: Turkiye to win & both teams to score
