A hard-fought point against Slovakia was enough to see Romania finish top of Group E at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt.
Slovakia have also qualified for the EURO2024 knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams, with Belgium finishing second and Ukraine rock bottom.
Ondrej Duda and Răzvan Marin netted the all-important goals in an entertaining draw on German soil to cause a European Championship upset for the ages.
As it happened
Heading into the final matchday of EURO2024’s Group E, it could not have been any closer. All four teams entered the humid German evening level on points.
Belgium were always the favourites to finish top of the group, sitting third in FIFA’s Men’s International Rankings – for them to have suffered a loss and a draw is a shock in itself, but it goes to show that you cannot write any of these sides out.
The fans were ready for this one, especially those donning the dashing yellow strips of Romania. The travelling Tricolorii faithful made their voice heard in what became nothing short of an incredible atmosphere inside the Deutsche Bank Park.
The deafening noise was there to inject belief into Iordănescu’s side, but it was Slovakia who drew the first blood.
Embed from Getty ImagesRepre dominated the opening exchanges of the match and found their breakthrough in the 24th minute through the head of midfielder Ondrej Duda.
It was a brilliant whipped cross from Juraj Kucka to set up a huge goal and send Slovakia top of Group E.
The lead wouldn’t last long though, with a familiar name in the world of football earning Romania a huge penalty to get back into the game.
Ianis Hagi looked to weasel his way into the penalty area, but an outstretched leg from left-back David Hancko forced VAR to intervene.
The contact was right on the white line of the box, and there was a massive call to be made. Was the collision forced, or was it unavoidable?
VAR took a long, hard look, and eventually awarded a penalty – much to the unwavering delight of the supporters in yellow. Răzvan Marin scored, and we were back to square one in Frankfurt.
Embed from Getty ImagesWe entered half-time with Romania now sitting top of the group, with the match between Belgium and Ukraine still sitting at 0-0 in Stuttgart.
Newcastle ‘keeper Martin Dúbravka was called into action as the floodgates began to open, stopping an audacious toe-poked effort creeping into the back of the net.
Romania’s Florin Niță followed up with a big save of his own as the ball skidded across the drenched pitch, meeting his outstretched left leg.
A complete 180 in atmospheric conditions forced a drastic change in playing conditions. Mistake after mistake started to creep into either side, with misjudged passes becoming commonplace as the match entered its closing 20 minutes.
The Tricolorii were oh-so desperate to hold onto their hard-earned point. After all, with the group’s other match still at a stalemate, they found themselves mere moments away from being the benefactors of a major upset.
It was undeniably tense inside the Deutsche Bank Park. Both teams knew that a goal in the latter stages would wildly change the future of their EURO2024 journeys.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe ending of the match wasn’t as entertaining as the earlier stages, but who could blame either side? As the referee put the whistle to his lips for one last time, both Romania and Slovakia sealed their status as knockout teams.
As we said back in our Tricolorii preview, Iordănescu’s side were expected by many to come dead last in Group E, but a great escape was far from impossible. Today they proved all of their doubters wrong. Who doesn’t love an underdog story?
The lineups
SVK: Dúbravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Škriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Strelec, Haraslín
ROM: Niță; Rațiu, Burcă, Drăgușin, Bancu; M.Marin; Hagi, R.Marin, Stanciu, Coman; Drăguș