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Aron Wright - March 23, 2021
Romania vs North Macedonia
World Cup Qualification
Date: Thursday, 25 March 2021
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Stadionul Ilie Oană.
The Tricolours are ranked 37th in the world, and have lately been in good form. Especially at home, they have been doling out good performances consistently. Note that they are also scoring at an impressive rate in recent match-ups.
They also had a good campaign in the previous World Cup Qualifiers, and fell just seven points short of qualification.
Moreover, they were placed in League C in the 2018-19 UNL, but with credible displays, they managed to secure a promotion at the end of the campaign.
In the next edition, they did try their best to secure a promotion to the top-most League A, but fell short by just five points.
Most importantly, they finished second in Group F in the 2016 Euro Qualifiers, and thus earned a ticket to the main competition. They did fail to progress to the knockouts, but with the likes of France and Switzerland in the same group – it was an expected outcome.
Meanwhile, the Red Lynxes are ranked 65th in the world, and are going through a barren run on the road.
In the previous World Cup Qualifiers, they had to settle for just a fifth-place finish in Group G. Note that the group had a total of just six teams, and the dead-last placed squad was Liechtenstein – one of the worst in the world.
Furthermore, they are placed in League C in the UNL as of now, and in the 2016 Euro Qualifiers, they had a campaign to forget. They finished dead last in the group with a single win to their name. Take note that they had finished even beneath Luxembourg.
Moreover, Mirel Radoi’s men also have a good h2h record against this opponent over the years.
As such, expect Romania to have the upper hand this Thursday.
Radoi’s men are on a three-game unbeaten run, and had recorded wins in two of these. They had also scored a total of nine goals in the process.
At home, they were also unbeaten in 17 of their last 21 appearances, and the four losses during this stretch had come against Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Austria – some of the best teams in the world.
On top of that, they also have a superb h2h record against this foe over the last thirty years, and have scored in plenty in the process.
On the contrary, their opposite number have a total of four wins to their name since 2017, and all of these had come against some of the weakest teams in the world.
Taking these observations into account, expect Romania to have the edge this Thursday.
