Turkey beat Romania in the play-offs, close in on the World Cup | OneFootball

The Turkey National Team beat Romania 1-0 this Thursday in Istanbul and advanced to the second round of the European playoff for the 2026 World Cup. 

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Match situation

With the win, Turkey advanced to face the winner of the matchup between Slovakia and Kosovo, which will also be played this Thursday at 4:45 p.m. (Brasília time). Romania, meanwhile, has been eliminated and will not play in the World Cup.

The second-round match, which will decide the team that qualifies for the World Cup group stage, will take place on Monday at 9 p.m. (Brasília time). The winner will join Group D alongside the United States, Paraguay, and Australia.

📋 Match summary

🔴⚪TURKEY 1 X 0 ROMANIA🔵🟡🔴

🏆 Competition: European World Cup playoff (Path C) – Round 1 🏟️ Venue: Vodafone Park, Istanbul (TUR) 📅 Date: March 26, 2026 (Thursday) ⏰ Kickoff time: 2 p.m. (Brasília time)

Goals

How the match unfolded

In a first half with few chances, Turkey controlled possession and looked more dangerous going forward. In the second half, just seven minutes in, Arda Güler played a long ball to Ferdi Kadioglu, who rounded goalkeeper Ionut Radu and scored the home side’s winning goal.

Next match

Turkey vs Slovakia or Kosovo

🏆 Competition: European World Cup playoff (Path C) – Round 2 📅 Date: March 30, 2026 (Monday) ⏰ Kickoff time: 9 p.m. (Brasília time) 🏟️ Venue: To be decided

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.