Romania national under-21 football team

Romania U-21
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
First colours	Second colours
Biggest win
	Armenia 0–5 Romania ; (Yerevan, Armenia; 16 November 2004); Azerbaijan 0–5 Romania ; (Trabzon, Turkey; 25 April 1995)
Biggest defeat
	Germany 8–0 Romania ; (Magdeburg, Germany; 9 September 2014)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 1998)
Best result	Semi-Finals 2019

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.

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
1994								8	5	0	3	13	10
1996								10	4	4	2	17	10
1998	Quarter-Finals	3	0	0	3	2	5	8	8	0	0	18	4
2000	Did not qualify							8	3	3	2	10	8
2002								8	5	1	2	13	5
2004								8	2	1	5	6	7
2006								10	6	1	3	17	8
2007								2	1	0	1	4	5
2009								8	4	3	1	11	3
2011								10	8	1	1	23	6
2013								8	4	2	2	11	6
2015								8	3	3	2	14	19
2017								10	5	1	4	15	14
2019	Semi-Finals	4	2	1	1	10	7	10	7	3	0	19	4
2021	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
1992	Did not qualify								6	2	0	4	5	9
1996									10	4	4	2	17	10
2000									8	3	3	2	10	8
2004									8	2	1	5	6	7
2008									2	1	0	1	4	5
2012									10	8	1	1	23	6
2016									8	3	3	2	14	19
2020	Qualified								14	9	4	1	29	11
2024	To be determined								0	0	0	0	0	0
2028	To be determined								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 v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	10	8	2	0	21	9	+12	26	Final tournament	—	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	5–1
2	Romania	10	6	2	2	22	7	+15	20	Final tournament	1–1	—	3–0	4–1	3–0	4–1
3	Ukraine	10	5	1	4	17	11	+6	16		2–3	1–0	—	0–2	3–0	4–0
4	Finland	10	4	1	5	14	15	−1	13		0–1	1–3	0–2	—	1–1	4–0
5	Northern Ireland	10	2	3	5	7	13	−6	9		0–1	0–0	1–0	2–3	—	0–0
6	Malta	10	0	1	9	4	30	−26	1		1–3	0–3	1–4	0–1	0–2	—

Source: UEFA

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

2018

24 March 2018 (2018-03-24) Friendly	England	2–1	Romania	Wolverhampton, England
19:15 UTC+02:00	Gray 8' Clarke-Salter 72'	Report	Costache 79'	Stadium: Molineux

27 March 2018 (2018-03-27) Unofficial friendly	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23	2–2	Romania	Wolverhampton, England
19:15 UTC+02:00	Ashley-Seal 59' Ennis 69'	Report	Dobre 32' Nedelcu 90'	Stadium: Molineux

7 September 2018 (2018-09-07) 2019 UEFA U21 Q	Portugal	1–2	Romania	Paços de Ferreira, Portugal
UTC+02:00	Carvalho 84'		Cicâldău 52' Ivan 59'	Stadium: Estádio da Mata Real

11 September 2018 (2018-09-11) 2019 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	2–0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ovidiu, Romania
UTC+02:00	Petre 16' Hagi 71'			Stadium: Viitorul

12 October 2018 (2018-10-12) 2019 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	2–0	Wales	Cluj, Romania
UTC+02:00	Man 55' Pușcaș 71'			Stadium: Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu

16 October 2018 (2018-10-16) 2019 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	4–0	Liechtenstein	Ploiești, Romania
UTC+02:00	Pușcaș 14', 39' Hagi 25' Petre 78'			Stadium: Ilie Oană

15 November 2018 (2018-11-15) Unofficial friendly	Romania	3–3	Belgium	Cluj, Romania
UTC+02:00	Drăguș 45+2' (pen.) Olaru 90' Ciobanu 90+1'		Cools 35' Leya 56' Mbenza 58'	Stadium: Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu

2019

21 March 2019 (2019-03-21) Friendly	Spain	1–0	Romania	Granada, Spain
19:45 UTC+02:00	Merino 67'	Report		Stadium: Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes

25 March 2019 (2019-03-25) Unofficial friendly	Romania	1–0	Denmark	Marbella, Spain
19:15 UTC+02:00	Drăguș 42'			Stadium: Marbella Football Center

18 June 2019 (2019-06-18) 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	Romania	4–1	Croatia	Serravalle, San Marino
18:30	Pușcaș 11' (pen.) Hagi 14' Băluță 66' Petre 90+3'	Report	Vlašić 18'	Stadium: San Marino Stadium Attendance: 4,700 Referee: Bobby Madden (Scotland)

21 June 2019 (2019-06-21) 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	England	2–4	Romania	Cesena, Italy
18:30	Gray 79' Abraham 87'	Report	Pușcaș 76' (pen.) Hagi 85' Coman 89', 90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi Attendance: 8,440 Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden)

24 June 2019 (2019-06-24) 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	France	0–0	Romania	Cesena, Italy
21:00		Report		Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi Attendance: 12,861 Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)

27 June 2019 (2019-06-27) 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	Germany	4–2	Romania	Bologna, Italy
18:00	Amiri 21', 90+4' Waldschmidt 51' (pen.), 90'	Report	Pușcaș 26' (pen.), 44'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Attendance: 16,211 Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel)

10 September 2019 (2019-09-10) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Denmark	2–1	Romania	Aalborg, Denmark
19:30 UTC+02:00	Olsen 3', 55'	Report	Coman 80'	Stadium: Aalborg Stadium Referee: Erez Papir (Israel)

10 October 2019 (2019-10-10) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	3–0	Ukraine	Ploieşti, Romania
20:30 UTC+02:00	Moruţan 75' Petre 80', 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Ilie Oană Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)

14 October 2019 (2019-10-14) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	3–0	Northern Ireland	Voluntari, Romania
20:30 UTC+02:00	Băluţă 48' Mihăilă 59' Ciobanu 67'	Report		Stadium: Anghel Iordănescu Referee: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)

14 November 2019 (2019-11-14) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	4–1	Finland	Voluntari, Romania
UTC+02:00	Mihăilă 8', 16', 78' Hyvärinen 45+5' (o.g.)	Report	Kairinen 3'	Stadium: Anghel Iordănescu Attendance: 2,325 Referee: Robert Hennessy (Republic of Ireland)

19 November 2019 (2019-11-19) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Northern Ireland	0–0	Romania	Ballymena, Northern Ireland
UTC+02:00		Report		Stadium: Ballymena Showgrounds

2020

5 August 2020 (2020-08-05) Unofficial friendly	Romania	6-0	FC Farul Constanța	Mogoșoaia, Romania
UTC+02:00	Chindriș 32' Costache 42' Ganea 49' 73' Cîmpanu 83' 90'	Report

TBD 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	v	Denmark	Romania
UTC+02:00

4 September 2020 (2020-09-04) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Finland	v	Romania	Finland
UTC+02:00

8 September 2020 (2020-09-08) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Malta	v	Romania	Malta
UTC+02:00

9 October 2020 (2020-10-09) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Ukraine	v	Romania	Ukraine
UTC+02:00

13 October 2020 (2020-10-13) 2021 UEFA U21 Q	Romania	v	Malta	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 Finland in 14 November 2019 and Northern Ireland in 19 November 2019.

Caps and goals as of 19 November 2019 after the match against Northern Ireland.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Andrei Vlad	(1999-04-15) 15 April 1999 (age 25)	4	0	FCSB
12	1GK	Mihai Aioani	(1999-11-07) 7 November 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Chindia Târgoviște
23	1GK	Ștefan Târnovanu	(2000-05-09) 9 May 2000 (age 24)	0	0	FCSB

4	2DF	Alex Pașcanu	(1998-09-28) 28 September 1998 (age 25)	20	0	CFR Cluj
2	2DF	Radu Boboc	(1999-04-24) 24 April 1999 (age 25)	9	0	Viitorul Constanța
15	2DF	Andrei Chindriș	(1999-01-12) 12 January 1999 (age 25)	5	0	Botoșani
18	2DF	Andrei Rațiu	(1998-06-20) 20 June 1998 (age 25)	3	0	ADO Den Haag
6	2DF	Ricardo Grigore	(1999-04-07) 7 April 1999 (age 25)	3	0	Dinamo București
13	2DF	Denis Ciobotariu	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 25)	2	0	CFR Cluj
19	2DF	Ștefan Vlădoiu	(1998-12-28) 28 December 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Universitatea Craiova

8	3MF	Dennis Man	(1998-08-26) 26 August 1998 (age 25)	15	3	FCSB
20	3MF	Andrei Ciobanu	(1998-01-18) 18 January 1998 (age 26)	11	1	Viitorul Constanța
14	3MF	Răzvan Oaidă	(1998-03-02) 2 March 1998 (age 26)	8	0	FCSB
17	3MF	Darius Olaru	(1998-03-03) 3 March 1998 (age 26)	7	0	FCSB
10	3MF	Olimpiu Moruțan	(1999-04-25) 25 April 1999 (age 25)	6	1	FCSB
7	3MF	Valentin Mihăilă	(2000-02-02) 2 February 2000 (age 24)	4	4	Universitatea Craiova
21	3MF	Marius Marin	(1998-08-30) 30 August 1998 (age 25)	2	0	Pisa
16	3MF	George Merloi	(1999-10-15) 15 October 1999 (age 24)	2	0	Astra Giurgiu
5	3MF	Cătălin Itu	(1999-10-26) 26 October 1999 (age 24)	0	0	CFR Cluj

11	4FW	Adrian Petre	(1998-02-11) 11 February 1998 (age 26)	12	5	FCSB
9	4FW	George Ganea	(1999-05-26) 26 May 1999 (age 25)	4	0	Viitorul Constanța
22	4FW	Robert Moldoveanu	(1999-03-08) 8 March 1999 (age 25)	0	0	Dinamo București

^[1]

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	(1998-02-15) 15 February 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Universitatea Cluj	v. Northern Ireland, 14 October 2019
GK	Ionuț Rus	(2000-01-20) 20 January 2000 (age 24)	0	0	CFR Cluj	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019

DF	Mihai Velisar ^INJ	(1998-08-30) 30 August 1998 (age 25)	3	0	Gaz Metan Mediaș	v. Finland, 14 November 2019
DF	Constantin Dima	(1999-07-21) 21 July 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Astra Giurgiu	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019
DF	Virgil Ghiță	(1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 25)	2	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. Germany, 27 June 2019
DF	Florin Borța	(1999-06-21) 21 June 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Concordia Chiajna	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 September 2018
DF	Tiberiu Căpușă	(1998-04-06) 6 April 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. England, 24 March 2018

MF	Mihai Neicuțescu ^INJ	(1998-09-29) 29 September 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Dinamo București	v. Northern Ireland, 14 October 2019
MF	Tudor Băluță	(1999-03-27) 27 March 1999 (age 25)	7	2	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Northern Ireland, 14 October 2019
MF	Florinel Coman	(1998-04-10) 10 April 1998 (age 26)	15	4	FCSB	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019
MF	Alex Dobre	(1998-08-30) 30 August 1998 (age 25)	5	1	Dijon	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019
MF	Vlad Dragomir	(1999-04-24) 24 April 1999 (age 25)	4	0	Perugia	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019
MF	Nicolae Carnat	(1998-04-08) 8 April 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe	v. Denmark, 10 September 2019
MF	Ianis Hagi	(1998-10-22) 22 October 1998 (age 25)	14	4	Rangers	v. Germany, 27 June 2019
MF	Carlo Casap	(1998-12-29) 29 December 1998 (age 25)	2	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. Denmark, 25 March 2019
MF	Stephan Drăghici	(1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Gaz Metan Mediaș	v. Denmark, 25 March 2019
MF	Doru Dumitrescu ^INJ	(1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. Belgium, 15 November 2018
MF	Alexandru Mățan	(1999-08-29) 29 August 1999 (age 24)	3	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. Liechtenstein, 16 October 2018
MF	Marco Dulca	(1999-05-11) 11 May 1999 (age 25)	5	0	Viitorul Constanța	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 September 2018
MF	Valentin Costache	(1998-08-02) 2 August 1998 (age 25)	4	1	CFR Cluj	v. England, 24 March 2018
MF	Vladimir Screciu	(2000-01-13) 13 January 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Universitatea Craiova	v. Switzerland, 6 October 2017

FW	Denis Drăguș	(1999-07-06) 6 July 1999 (age 24)	4	0	Standard Liège	v. Northern Ireland, 14 October 2019
FW	Andrei Sîntean	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Hermannstadt	v. Denmark, 25 March 2019

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	Adrian Mutu
Assistant coach	Florin Constantinovici
GK coach	Eugen Anghel
Physical coach	Bogdan Merisanu

References

^ https://www.frf.ro/nationale/masculin/romania-u21/u21-spre-euro-2021-in-linie-dreapta-cu-pregatirile-pentru-meciul-cu-danemarca/

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

[1] ttps://www.frf.ro/nationale/masculin/romania-u21/u21-spre-euro-2021-in-linie-dreapta-cu-pregatirile-pentru-meciul-cu-danemarca/

[1]

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