Romania 2-1 Poland: Cicâldău and Man end Hagi's losing run

Alexandru Cicâldău and Dennis Man scored four minutes apart as Romania beat Poland 2-1 at the Arena Națională in Bucharest on Saturday, earning their first points of the UEFA Nations League campaign after four straight defeats. Marcel Reguła's late header was not enough for Jan Urban's side, who can no longer finish second in Group B4. More international reports are on BetAlert News.

Match facts

• Result: Romania 2-1 Poland (half-time 0-0)
• Competition: UEFA Nations League B, Group B4, Matchday 5
• Date: Saturday 14 November 2026
• Venue: Arena Națională, Bucharest
• Scorers: Romania - Cicâldău 68', Man 72'; Poland - Reguła 82'
• Red cards: None
• Attendance: 45,827
• Referee: Sebastian Gishamer (Austria)
• Next: Bosnia and Herzegovina v Romania and Poland v Sweden, Tuesday 17 November

How the match unfolded

Poland had the ball in the net inside the first ten minutes, but Robert Lewandowski was offside and the goal was ruled out. The rest of the first half produced few clear chances.

Romania thought they had gone ahead in the 59th minute when Florinel Coman finished, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review for a foul by Andrei Rațiu in the build-up. Otto Hindrich then saved from Lewandowski at the other end.

Gheorghe Hagi made a double substitution in the 67th minute, sending on Marius Corbu for his son Ianis and Daniel Bîrligea for Coman. A minute later Cicâldău ran at the Poland defence and shot from distance, and the ball deflected off Jakub Kiwior past Bartłomiej Drągowski.

Urban replaced Lewandowski with Adrian Benedyczak, but Romania struck again in the 72nd minute. Bîrligea held the ball up, turned his marker and slipped Man through, and the forward finished one-on-one. Substitute Ianis Stoica should have made it 3-0 two minutes later from another Bîrligea pass, but shot wide.

Hindrich kept out a Benedyczak effort before Reguła headed in Sebastian Szymański's free-kick in the 82nd minute, his first goal for Poland, with the goal standing after a VAR check. Mateusz Żukowski had a stoppage-time shot blocked as Romania held on.

What it means for both teams

UEFA's standings after the completed matchday show Sweden on 13 points, Bosnia and Herzegovina on eight, Poland on four and Romania on three. Sweden are promoted and Bosnia (report) are certain of second place and the League A/B play-offs.

The fourth-placed team goes into the League B/C play-offs. According to UEFA, Poland avoid that if they beat Sweden in Wrocław or if Romania do not win in Zenica. Romania need to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina and hope Poland do not beat Sweden.

It was a turnaround from October, when Romania lost 6-0 to Poland in Warsaw (report) and then 1-0 at home to Sweden (report), and Hagi's first competitive win of his current spell in charge.

"Let's not exaggerate now and compare the national team with my generation. It's just a nice win, welcome for the confidence and enthusiasm of the group," Hagi said at his news conference, as reported by Agerpres.

Urban told his news conference that Poland had "helped the opponent" with both goals: "The first from a deflection, the second from poor behaviour by our players at a throw-in, where we simply left the opponent unmarked."

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