At the 1930 World Cup, Romania won their first match against Peru, 3–1, with goals from Adalbert Deșu, Constantin Stanciu, and Nicolae Kovács and Samuel Zauber as goalkeeper, before losing 4–0 by hosts and eventual winners Uruguay.

After world champions Argentina were stunned by Cameroon in the tournament's opening match, Romania did their chances no harm with a convincing win over the Soviet Union at the San Nicola in Bari, with Marius Lăcătuș scoring in each half.

Romania lost to Cameroon next; cult hero[citation needed] Roger Milla, aged 38, came on as a substitute for Emmanuel Maboang Kessack and scored twice before Gavril Balint pulled one back.

After losing in Belgium and suffering a heavy 5–2 defeat in Czechoslovakia, Romania went into their last match at Cardiff Arms Park with Wales needing a win to pip them to a place in the finals.

Paul Bodin of Swindon Town stepped up but hit the woodwork and Romania went on to win 2–1, Florin Răducioiu's late goal proving unnecessary as Czechoslovakia dropped a point in Belgium and were eliminated.

The suspended Răducioiu was hardly missed, as coach Anghel Iordănescu pushed Dumitrescu forward to play as a striker[citation needed] and the player responded by scoring twice in the first 20 minutes, one a subtle left foot flick from a right-wing Hagi cross slotted between the Argentine defenders.

Despite a poor performance at Euro 1996, Romania impressed in qualifying, finishing ten points clear of the Republic of Ireland and were seeded for the final tournament of the 1998 World Cup.

But Romania won with a wonderful late goal from Dan Petrescu, also playing in England with Chelsea, fighting off his club teammate Graeme le Saux and nutmegging goalkeeper David Seaman.

With England–Colombia being the more decisive game, the Stade de France in Paris was an 80,000-strong sell out and the crowd were nearly rewarded with a shock as Skander Souayah scored an early penalty to give the north Africans the lead.

The Romanians impressed, never losing and winning seven times, including a big upset in Porto after defeating Portugal thanks to a late goal scored by Dorinel Munteanu.

A long-range Mehmet Scholl equalizer meant they had to be content with a point and their position looked shaky after Costinha headed a last minute winner for Portugal in their second match.

Romania attacked after the break and were quickly rewarded; Dorinel Munteanu punishing a poor punch from Nigel Martyn, a late replacement for injured goalkeeper David Seaman, to equalize three minutes after the restart.

Unable to retain possession or pose an attacking threat, they fell deep and late on Phil Neville, playing out of position at left-back, conceded a penalty scored by Ioan Ganea in the 89th minute.

With fan hero Gheorghe Hagi now coaching the side, they were confident of getting the win they needed in Bucharest against the Balkan upstarts, but Slovenia took the lead before the hour through Mladen Rudonja.

Right wing-back Cosmin Contra quickly equalized but Romania could not find the goal they needed to force extra time and Slovenia, with maverick manager Srečko Katanec, were in a major tournament again.

Romania were confident of qualifying for the tournament, drawn in Group 2 with seeds Denmark, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina and minnows Luxembourg, with Anghel Iordănescu back as coach.

Romania, however, performed well, losing only away against Bulgaria and beating the Netherlands 1–0 at home with a goal scored by Dorin Goian from a suspicious offside position not seen by referee Kyros Vassaras.

Furthermore, various problems were caused during the poor campaign, such as the retirement from international football of Cosmin Contra, Mirel Rădoi and Adrian Mutu (the latter would later be recalled after a year's absence).

The last two match days were decisive, with Romania securing its place in the play-off with two wins, against Andorra and Estonia, while qualification rivals Turkey and Hungary were both defeated by the winner of the group, the Netherlands.

Less than eight minutes later, Nicușor Stanciu was fouled by Patrice Evra in the French box, and Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai gave Romania a penalty which Bogdan Stancu scored.

The match began good for the Romanian side, but Armando Sadiku's header in the 43rd minute went past Ciprian Tătărușanu, giving Albania the lead and their first ever goal in a tournament.

With only nine points after seven fixtures, Romania had to win against the revelation of the group, Montenegro, in Podgorica, but failed amid a Stevan Jovetić winner and were mathematically eliminated, leading to the sacking of Daum and his replace with Cosmin Contra.

In the opening game, Romania suffered a 1–2 defeat to Sweden in Stockholm, followed by a comfortable 4–1 victory over the Faroe Islands in Cluj-Napoca and a 2–2 draw with Norway in Oslo, with Claudiu Keșerü scoring in the last minute.

In a similar scenario like five years prior, Montenegro comfortably won against Romania 2-0 in Podgorica, which was then followed by another defeat, to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica and a lacklustre victory over Finland in Bucharest.

The terrible Nations League performance meant Romania would be drawn from Pot 3 in Euro 2024 qualifiers, which led them to a group with Switzerland, Israel, Kosovo, Belarus and Andorra.

Two initial victories against Andorra and Belarus in Bucharest, followed by a lacklustre 0-0 against Kosovo in Pristina gave the impression of another despondent campaign before a shocking comeback against Switzerland in Lucerne, Valentin Mihăilă scoring a brace in the last three minutes.

Despite losing 0-3 against the Dutch side and leaving the tournament relatively early, Romania's performance was praised by numerous figures of the football world, achieving a very good result for the overall level of the national team.

The only notable opportunity the two teams have met was in the Second Round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, to which Greece qualifying after defeating Romania in a two-legged play-off, winning 3-1 in Athens and drawing 1-1 in Bucharest.

[17] When Romania played Lithuania on 9 September, Romanian fans chanted anti-Kosovo messages which resulted in a €52,500 fine and a partial closure of Arena Națională for the match against Kosovo the very next month.

Win Draw Loss Fixture Below is the full list of all former coaches for Romania from 1922 onwards:[26] The following 25 players were named in the squad for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Kosovo and Cyprus on 15 and 18 November 2024 respectively.