On Monday, April 20, 2026 at 4:00 PM, Thomas Siniecki from Media365 reported that the Romanians, who have yet to experience the World Cup in the 21st century, are trying to turn the tragic page of the death of Mircea Lucescu as dignifiedly as possible.
It may be the most beautiful tribute to Mircea Lucescu and the ultimate purpose of his life as the coach of the Romanian national team to see Gheorghe Hagi succeed him, the greatest player in the country’s history. Mircea Lucescu, who passed away two weeks ago at the age of 80, had been in charge since August 2024, and like his illustrious junior, it was not his first time leading the team. He was previously the coach from 1981 to 1986, whereas Gheorghe Hagi’s tenure was much shorter: less than three months from September to November in 2001.
During this brief mission, he failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup after losing a playoff against Slovenia, following his retirement as a player. Since then, the “Maradona of the Carpathians,” who finished fourth in the 1994 Ballon d’Or (after a quarter-final with Romania in the World Cup), has notably managed Galatasaray and Steaua Bucharest.
“It is a great honor and a great responsibility to represent Romania again. I hope to do it as a coach like I did as a player. What matters is to play well and to win,” said Gheorghe Hagi. The president of the team, Razvan Burleanu, revealed that he had tried several times over the years to bring Gheorghe Hagi on board: “We are very confident about this adventure that we are starting together, with our best players, to achieve our goals. The first one is to win the next match.” In reality, their aim is to qualify for Euro 2028 and, especially, the 2030 World Cup, as the Romanians have not reached the World Cup finals since 1998 in France, which marks seven consecutive absences. Gheorghe Hagi was indeed their captain and number 10, leading them to the round of 16 before being eliminated by Croatia (0-1 on a penalty from Davor Suker).
