Romania Under-21

Nickname	Tricolorii Mici (The Small Tricolours)
Association	Romanian Football Federation (FRF)
Head coach	Costin Curelea
Captain	Cătălin Vulturar
Mostcaps	Alexandru Pașcanu (29)
Top scorer	George Pușcaș (18)
Home stadium	Various
Firstcolours Secondcolours Thirdcolours
Biggest win
Armenia 0–5Romania  (Yerevan,Armenia; 16 November 2004)  Azerbaijan 0–5Romania  (Trabzon,Turkey; 25 April 1995)
Biggest defeat
Germany 8–0Romania  (Magdeburg,Germany; 9 September 2014)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	4 (first in1998)
Best result	Semi-finals(2019)

TheRomania national under-21 football team, also known asRomania under-21s orRomania U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for theRomania national football team.

This team is for Romanian players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-yearUEFA European Under-21 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 ofUEFA's youth competitions, in 1976. Romania qualified for the1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and underVictor 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 andIon Luțu.

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 the2019 UEFA Under-21 Euro but eventually lost 4–2 to defending champions Germany who scored twice in the dying moments. Romania qualified for the2020 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.

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.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship 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	Group stage	3	1	2	0	3	2		10	6	2	2	22	7
2023		3	0	1	2	0	4		Qualified as hosts
2025		3	0	0	3	2	5		10	7	1	2	23	10
Total	5/25	16	3	4	9	17	23		170	94	32	54	291	191

Football at the Summer Olympics was first played officially in1908. The Olympiads between 1896 and 1980 was only open foramateur players. The 1984 and 1988 tournaments were open to players with no appearances in theFIFA 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. SeeRomania 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	Group Stage	11th	3	1	1	1	4	7		14	9	4	1	29	11
2024	did not qualify									3	0	1	2	0	4
2028	to be determined									0	0	0	0	0	0

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided onpenalty kicks.

**Includes both qualification phase and final tournament ofUEFA European Under-21 Championship.

***Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	5	0	0	17	2	+15	15	Final tournament		—	2–1	31 Mar '26	6 Oct '26	3–0	7–0
2	Finland	5	3	1	1	15	2	+13	10	Play-offs		25 Sep '26	—	0–0	2–0	31 Mar '26	7–0
3	Kosovo	5	2	2	1	12	3	+9	8			1–3	6 Oct '26	—	27 Mar '26	30 Sep '26	7–0
4	Romania	5	2	1	2	4	4	0	7			0–2	30 Sep '26	0–0	—	2–0	31 Mar '26
5	Cyprus	5	1	0	4	5	14	−9	3			27 Mar '26	0–5	0–4	25 Sep '26	—	6 Oct '26
6	San Marino	5	0	0	5	0	28	−28	0			30 Sep '26	26 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	0–2	0–5	—

The following is a list of matches in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win  Draw  Lose  Fixture

Portugal  v Romania

21 March 2025 (2025-03-21)Friendly	Portugal	0–1	Romania	Vila Nova de Famalicão,Portugal
20:30			Mihai 89'	Stadium:Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho

Romania  v Netherlands

25 March 2025 (2025-03-25)Friendly	Romania	0–2	Netherlands	Bucharest,Romania
19:30		Report	Valente 51' Bergen 59'	Stadium:Arcul de Triumf Stadium

Romania  v Georgia

4 June 2025 (2025-06-04)Friendly	Romania	1–0	Georgia	Vorau,Austria
19:30	Borza 72'	Report		Stadium:Urkraft Arena

Italy  v Romania

11 June 2025 (2025-06-11)2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group stage	Italy	1–0	Romania	Trnava,Slovakia
22:00	Baldanzi 26'	Report		Stadium:Anton Malatinský Stadium Attendance: 2,450 Referee:Vassilis Fotias (Greece)

Spain  v Romania

14 June 2025 (2025-06-14)2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group stage	Spain	2–1	Romania	Bratislava,Slovakia
19:00	Jauregizar 85' Fernández 88'	Report	Munteanu 4'	Stadium:Tehelné pole Attendance: 10,023 Referee:Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)

Romania  v Slovakia

17 June 2025 (2025-06-17)2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group stage	Romania	1–2	Slovakia	Bratislava,Slovakia
22:00	Akdağ 67'	Report	Obert 11' Suslov 57'	Stadium:Tehelné pole Referee:Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania)

Romania  v Kosovo

5 September 2025 (2025-09-05)2027 UEFA Q	Romania	0–0	Kosovo	Iași, Romania
18:30 UTC+3		Report		Stadium:Emil Alexandrescu Stadium Attendance: 8,565 Referee: Mehmet Türkmen (Turkey)

San Marino  v Romania

9 September 2025 (2025-09-09)2027 UEFA Q	San Marino	0–2	Romania	Serravalle, San Marino
21:30 UTC+3		Report	Biliboc 11' Trică 87'	Stadium:San Marino Stadium Attendance: 354 Referee: Antoine Chiaramonti (Andorra)

Romania  v Serbia

10 October 2025 (2025-10-10)Friendly	Romania	0–1	Serbia	Arad, Romania
19:00 UTC+3		Report	Kuljanin 79'	Stadium:Francisc von Neuman Stadium

Romania  v Cyprus

14 October 2025 (2025-10-14)2027 UEFA Q	Romania	2–0	Cyprus	Cluj-Napoca, Romania
19:00 UTC+3	Trică 4' Burnete 74'	Report		Stadium:Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium Attendance: 5,831 Referee: Ladislav Szikszay (Czech Republic)

Finland  v Romania

14 November 2025 (2025-11-14)2027 UEFA Q	Finland	2–0	Romania	Turku, Finland
17:00 UTC+2	Ruoppi 23' Siltanen 73' (pen.)	Report		Stadium:Kupittaa Football Stadium Attendance: 1,503 Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia)

Romania  v Spain

18 November 2025 (2025-11-18)2027 UEFA Q	Romania	0–2	Spain	Sibiu, Romania
19:00 UTC+2		Report	G. García 17' Fresneda 53'	Stadium:Sibiu Municipal Stadium Attendance: 9,732 Referee: Matteo Marchetti (Italy)

Kosovo  v Romania

27 March 2026 (2026-03-27)2027 UEFA Q

Kosovo

v

Romania

Romania  v San Marino

31 March 2026 (2026-03-31)2027 UEFA Q

Romania

v

San Marino

Cyprus  v Romania

25 September 2026 (2026-09-25)2027 UEFA Q

Cyprus

v

Romania

Romania  v Finland

30 September 2026 (2026-09-30)2027 UEFA Q

Romania

v

Finland

Spain  v Romania

6 October 2026 (2026-10-06)2027 UEFA Q

Spain

v

Romania

The following players were called up for the2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group A matches againstFinland andSpain on 14 and 18 November 2025 respectively.^[1]

Note: Names initalics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.

Caps and goals are correct as of 18 November 2025, after the match againstSpain

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Ștefan Lefter	(2004-11-18)18 November 2004 (age 21)	6	0	Universitatea Cluj
	1GK	Vlad Rafailă	(2005-02-17)17 February 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Betis Deportivo
	1GK	Rafael Munteanu	(2006-03-01)1 March 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Farul Constanța
	2DF	Tony Strata	(2004-09-07)7 September 2004 (age 21)	12	0	Vitória Guimarães
	2DF	Matteo Duțu	(2005-11-23)23 November 2005 (age 20)	9	0	Milan Futuro
	2DF	Mario Tudose	(2005-01-21)21 January 2005 (age 20)	6	0	FC Argeș
	2DF	Kevin Ciubotaru	(2004-02-02)2 February 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Hermannstadt
	2DF	Mark Țuțu	(2004-01-02)2 January 2004 (age 21)	2	0	UTA Arad
	2DF	Ștefan Duțu	(2004-02-16)16 February 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Farul Constanța
	2DF	Ionuț Pop	(2004-02-12)12 February 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Concordia Chiajna
	2DF	Robert Sălceanu	(2004-01-13)13 January 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Petrolul Ploiești
	3MF	Cătălin Vulturar	(2004-03-09)9 March 2004 (age 21)	16	1	Rapid București
	3MF	Cristian Mihai	(2004-09-23)23 September 2004 (age 21)	10	2	Dinamo București
	3MF	Rareș Pop	(2005-06-14)14 June 2005 (age 20)	8	0	Rapid București
	3MF	Alexandru Musi	(2004-07-17)17 July 2004 (age 21)	7	0	Dinamo București
	3MF	Lorenzo Biliboc	(2006-10-22)22 October 2006 (age 19)	6	1	CFR Cluj
	3MF	Alin Boțogan	(2004-02-21)21 February 2004 (age 21)	6	0	Petrolul Ploiești
	3MF	Luca Szimionaș	(2006-09-03)3 September 2006 (age 19)	4	0	Hellas Verona
	3MF	Robert Jălade	(2005-03-28)28 March 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Sevilla Atlético
	3MF	Omar El Sawy	(2004-03-16)16 March 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Universitatea Cluj
	3MF	David Matei	(2006-07-19)19 July 2006 (age 19)	1	0	Universitatea Craiova
	4FW	Rareș Burnete	(2004-01-31)31 January 2004 (age 21)	12	1	Juve Stabia
	4FW	Atanas Trică	(2004-07-09)9 July 2004 (age 21)	6	2	Universitatea Cluj

Players born in or after 2004 are eligible for the2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players have also been called up in the past to the Romania under-21 squad and remain eligible to play in the qualification matches for2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Adrian FrănculescuINJ	(2005-02-28)28 February 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Steaua București	v. Finland, 14 November 2025
GK	Codruț Sandu	(2006-04-17)17 April 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Corvinul Hunedoara	v. San Marino, 9 September 2025
DF	Răzvan PașcalăuINJ	(2004-05-05)5 May 2004 (age 21)	2	0	CS Dinamo București	v. Finland, 14 November 2025
DF	Antonio David	(2004-01-08)8 January 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Inter Milan U23	v. Cyprus, 14 October 2025
DF	David MafteiINJ	(2004-07-12)12 July 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Farul Constanța	v. Kosovo, 5 September 2025
DF	Andrei Borza	(2005-11-12)12 November 2005 (age 20)	14	2	Rapid București	v. Slovakia, 17 June 2025
DF	Robert Bădescu	(2005-04-02)2 April 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Rapid București	v. Netherlands, 25 March 2025
MF	Eduard Radaslavescu	(2004-07-30)30 July 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Farul Constanța	v. Cyprus, 14 October 2025
MF	Mihnea RădulescuINJ	(2005-09-17)17 September 2005 (age 20)	3	1	Universitatea Craiova	v. Serbia, 10 October 2025
MF	Ștefan BanăINJ	(2004-10-29)29 October 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Oțelul Galați	v. Kosovo, 5 September 2025
FW	Ioan Vermeșan	(2006-10-18)18 October 2006 (age 19)	4	0	Hellas Verona	v. Cyprus, 14 October 2025
FW	Adrian Mazilu	(2005-09-13)13 September 2005 (age 20)	7	0	Dinamo București	v.  Switzerland, November 21, 2023

Notes

• ^INJ = Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury
• ^SUS = Player is serving suspension
• ^WD = Player withdrew from the squad
• ^COV = Player withdrawn from the squad due to positive COVID-19 test
• Names initalics denote players that have been capped for the Senior team.

Role	Name
Head Coach	Costin Curelea
Assistant coaches	Lucian Sânmartean Răzvan Rotaru
Goalkeeping coach	Răzvan Stanca
Fitness Coach	Daniel Ene
Video Analyst	Vlăduț Lakatoș
Doctor	Dan Costin
Physioterapists	Florin Dragne Mădălin Tălpălaru
Masseur	Vladimir Foia
Kit man	Ionuț Niculici

• Romania national football team
• Romania Olympic football team

• 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

• European national under-21 association football teams
• Romania men's national football teams
• Romania national youth football teams

• CS1 Romanian-language sources (ro)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2019