Wednesday, June 11

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Sports Mole previews Tuesday's World Cup Qualifying - Europe clash between Romania and Cyprus, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Romania and Cyprus will both be searching for their second win of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign when they lock horns in Bucharest on Tuesday.

The hosts are in second spot in Group H with three points to their name, while the visitors are in third position on goal difference, with the advantage of a game in hand over their opponents.

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Match preview

Romania carried momentum into their qualifying campaign after they won promotion from League C in the Nations League.

They won all six of their matches in a group that included Cyprus, securing them an immediate return to League B after suffering relegation in 2022-23.

Romania have struggled to build upon their Nations League success at the start of the 2026 World Cup qualifying bid, having lost two of their opening three matches, including a narrow 1-0 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina on matchday one.

Mircea Lucescu's side may have bounced back with a resounding 5-1 win over minnows San Marino in March, but they failed to take anything from Sunday’s away clash with Austria, as Florin Tanase’s stoppage-time effort proved to be a mere consolation in a 2-1 defeat.

As a result, they know they can ill-afford to drop points on Tuesday if they are to have any realistic hopes of reaching their first World Cup since 1998, so they will certainly take confidence from the fact they have won their last five games against Cyprus.

Cyprus are dreaming of reaching their first-ever major tournament, although that will prove to be a difficult challenge as the second-lowest ranked team in Group H.

After being appointed in January, Cyprus boss Apostolos Mantzios began his tenure with a 2-0 home win over San Marino to his country’s World Cup qualifying bid off to the perfect start.

However, they were unable to build upon that win in their second qualifier of the March international window, as they fell to a narrow 2-1 away defeat to Bosnia. 

Cyprus returned to action with a hard-fought 2-2 draw in Friday’s friendly against Bulgaria in Plovdiv, showing great character to come from behind on two occasions, thanks to goals from Nicolas Koutsakos and Konstantinos Laifis.

However, the result did extend their winless away run to four matches, which may dent their hopes of beating Romania for the first time since recording a 3-2 victory in February 2000.

Romania World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Romania form (all competitions):

Cyprus World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Cyprus form (all competitions):

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Team News

The hosts are without key players Radu Dragusin, Ianis Hagi and Valentin Mihaila due to their respective injury issues. 

Romania are unable to call upon captain Nicolae Stanciu, who will serve a one-match ban for picking up two yellow cards in the opening three World Cup qualifiers.

Tanase is contention to replace the suspended Stanciu after coming off the bench to score his fourth international goal in Sunday's defeat to Austria. 

As for Cyprus, Mantzios is set to make changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Bulgaria, which could lead to Laifis and Giannis Satsias featuring in the back four.

Loizos Loizou and Andronikos Kakoullis are both pushing to strengthen Cyprus' attacking options for Tuesday's away fixture.

Koutsakos is hoping to retain his place in the starting lineup after marking his international debut with a goal at the weekend. 

Romania possible starting lineup:

Moldovan; Ratiu, Popescu, Burca, Bancu; Man, Marin, Chiriches, Tanase; Birligea, Dragus

Cyprus possible starting lineup:

Mall; Satsias, SielIs, Laifis, Pileas; Kastanos, Kypriakou; Loizou, Kosti, Kakoullis; Koutsakos

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We say: Romania 3-1 Cyprus

 

Romania may have lost two of their opening three World Cup qualifiers, but they will draw inspiration from the fact that they have won each of their previous five meetings with Cyprus, including a 4-1 victory in November's home clash in the Nations League.

With that in mind, we think the hosts should have enough quality in their ranks to claim a relatively comfortable victory in Tuesday's fixture. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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