Romania host Kosovo at their National Arena in Bucharest on Tuesday in a Euro 2024 qualifier.

Kosovo have underwhelmed when it really mattered in a section where they would have hoped to be dark horses, while Romania remain well in the hunt for a top two spot.

Match preview

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Romania's draw with Israel on Saturday night was ultimately disappointing, but it does keep the Tricolorii in the top two for now.

Had Edward Iordanescu's men got the better of Israel, they would have started matchday six top of the group after Switzerland's surprise draw with Kosovo.

Romania left Prishtina with the same result against their upcoming opponents, but had it not been for goalkeeper Horatiu Moldovan, they would have come away empty-handed.

They remain the slight favourites to finish in the top two along with top seeds Switzerland, and qualification would end a run of three straight failures to reach a major tournament.

Reaching the finals in Germany next summer would banish the ghosts of failing to reach Euro 2020, when Bucharest was one of the host venues.

Once at major finals, Romania also must improve, considering their win over England at Euro 2000 is still their only victory this century.

Romania remain unbeaten in the section, but three draws from their last three games means the door is still wide open for Israel to keep the pressure on.

Their next three games are set to be crucial, against the bottom three, before potentially group-defining clashes versus Switzerland and Israel in November.

UEFA's youngest nation Kosovo have shown immaturity and inconsistency despite undoubtedly having the quality in their ranks to be competitive.

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Some awful results in the section have held them back in what could have been a phenomenal opportunity for them to reach a first-ever major tournament, just seven years after becoming a UEFA and FIFA member.

A draw at home to Andorra early in the campaign was arguably their worst competitive result yet, while a defeat to Belarus undid all the good work done in recording draws against Romania and Israel.

Kosovo should have beaten both Romania and Israel given the balance of play, but they could not take their chances and were eventually punished.

Their draw with Switzerland at the weekend only further adds to the frustration of those two poor results against Andorra and Belarus, as the top three are still yet to beat them.

Five games and no wins means their race is all but run for this campaign, unless they can turn all of their draws into wins in the second half of the campaign.

After a fantastic performance in Euro 2020 qualifying which saw Kosovo go on a two-year unbeaten run and finish agonisingly short of the top two, this campaign looks more likely to end up how their two World Cup qualifying sections have gone, where they took just six points from 18 matches.

Team News

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Despite a move to the Qatari Stars League, Denis Alibec was kept in the Romania side and repaid his manager's faith by scoring against Israel.

Valentin Mihaila may have felt aggrieved at being left on the bench again though, following his last-minute heroics in Switzerland where he scored the two goals which salvaged an unlikely point.

Italian-based duo Dennis Man and Ionut Nedelcearu have missed out on this squad, along with goalkeepers Florin Nita and Ionut Radu.

The three goalkeepers in the Romanian squad have just five caps between them, but Moldovan appears to be the new preferred number one.

The unrelated pair of Razvan Marin and Marius Marin should line up in midfield along with captain Nicolae Stanciu here.

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Kosovo captain and Napoli regular Amir Rrahmani will hope to quickly get over his unfortunate own goal at the weekend as he could play a key role for the visitors.

Vedat Muriqi is the key man in attack, as he has scored better than a goal every other game following his two at the weekend - taking his tally to 26 in 49 caps.

Arber Zeneli is one of the eight-strong Turkish Super Lig contingent in the Kosovo squad, but he was surprisingly left on the bench for the visit of Switzerland, with manager Primoz Gliha preferring Bernard Berisha on the left wing.

Zeneli, along with Milot Rashica and potential incomers Edon Zhegrova and Florent Muslija, could all stake a claim to start in order to bring some creativity to the Kosovo side this time around.

Zymer Bytyqi and Elbasan Rashani are both missing with injury, while none of the Ballkani side which reached the Europa Conference League groups for the second successive year are among the 23-man squad

Romania possible starting lineup:
Moldovan; Sorescu, Manea, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu; R Marin, M Marin, Stanciu; Mihaila, Alibec

Kosovo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Hadergjonaj, Rrahmani, Aliti, Paqarada; Vojvoda, V Berisha, Loshaj, Zeneli; Muriqi, Rashica

We say: Romania 2-1 Kosovo

It is unlikely to be easy for Romania, but the Tricolorii should just get the better of tricky opposition to maintain their spot in Group I's top two.

Kosovo have just struggled to get over the line and claim victories against supposed superior opposition in this group, and they could come up just short again.


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Written by
Andrew Delaney

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