Romania's Under-17 national team secured a place in the second round of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2026 qualifiers, following a 5-1 (2-1) victory against Azerbaijan on Tuesday in Capbreton, France, in their final Group 9 match of the first qualifying stage.
Ali Bashirov (20) opened the scoring for Azerbaijan, but the the Romanian nationals responded with five goals from Andrei Niculcea (24), Razvan Marincean (40), Eduardo Corlat (65) and Ryan Rusu (77, 90+2).
Head coach Mircea Diaconescu lined up the following team: Tudor Cosa - Cosmin Matei, Eduardo Corlat (captain), Alexandru Miloiu (David Loghin, 81), Lorand Bencze - Matei Padure, Andrei Dancus, Andrei Niculcea (Ryan Rusu, 59) - Darius Tripon (Stefan Rotaru, 70), Darius Bota (Rares Silitra, 59), Razvan Marincean (Eduardo Bodnar, 70).
In the group's other match, France defeated Israel 5-0.
France topped the group with 7 points, followed by Romania (5), Israel (4) and Azerbaijan (0).
The top two teams progress to League A, entering the decisive round for a place at the final tournament. Only eight teams will qualify for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2026, hosted by Estonia.
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