Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers match.
Romania may not have dwelled too long on their defeats to Bosnia and Herzegovina (0:1) and Austria (1:2), as the squad will have the opportunity to make amends in the second legs. On Tuesday, they face Cyprus with full motivation — their attacking performance tends to be convincing against weaker opposition.
Romania
In the current World Cup 2026 qualification campaign, Romania dismantled San Marino with a 5:1 victory, generating 3.84 xG from 18 shots over 90 minutes. In Vienna, the squad nearly mounted a comeback from 0:2 down — a goal from Florin Tănase, who came off the bench, narrowed the deficit. However, a final xG of 0.57 proved insufficient to earn a draw. Romania still have a realistic chance to finish in the top two, especially with either Bosnia and Herzegovina or Austria guaranteed to drop points in their upcoming head-to-head clash.
Cyprus
Cyprus, meanwhile, have struggled in recent UEFA Nations League meetings with Romania, suffering defeats of 0:3 and 1:4. Like their upcoming opponents, the squad also overcame San Marino, though in a far less dominant manner — securing a modest 2:0 win while holding an 11:2 edge in shots on target. Over the weekend, the squad salvaged a late draw in a friendly against mid-tier Bulgaria, with Konstantinos Laifis scoring a late equaliser to make it 2:2.
Romania vs Cyprus Prediction
Across their two UEFA Nations League encounters, Romania produced a cumulative 4.92 xG against Cyprus, consistently dominating possession in the opposition half. In Bucharest, that gulf in quality is likely to be apparent once again.
