EURO 2024 Qualifiers: Romania – Kosovo Province 2-0

Romania – Kosovo Province 2-0 was a strange game, as it was disputed between Romania and a territory it doesn’t recognize. Romania is one of the countries that doesn’t have relations with the former Serbian province. Other European countries which don’t recognize the province as a state are Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Greece.

The Romanian team came after a disappointing 1-1 against Israel at home, while the team from the Province of Kosovo came after it scored the equalizer in the last seconds against Switzerland.

During the game, the Romanian supporters from the faction “United under the Romanian Flag” repeatedly shouted “Kosovo je Srbija,” one of the slogans used by the Serbian patriots. Also, the Romanian fans displayed a large banner saying the same thing. Because of these acts, the game was interrupted in the first half in ’17, and the team from the Serbian province left the field.

The game was suspended for an hour before it began once more. The announcement was that the game was suspended for discriminatory behaviour.

After re-entering the field, the Kosovo players provoked the Romanian supporters, trying to get the game suspended and win a 3-0 decision.

The game between Romania and the Province of Kosovo was played in Bucharest at the National Arena. Despite the political implications of the confrontation between the two teams, the match was very disputed, as both teams wanted to gain the three points at stake.

Muriqi from the province team was sent off in ’42 for the second yellow card, but there were more incidents during the game. Romania played with one player more than the opponents, but it did not matter.

In ’61, Nicolae Stanciu missed a penalty for Romania, a big chance for the National Team to score the first goal. The same player scored the game’s first goal in ’83 at the end of a consistent attack. Mihaila scored the second goal in ’90+2, and Romania keeps its second position in group I.