Turkey and Romania face off in the first match of the day in the UEFA World Cup Play-Offs. The match will kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET in Istanbul. The winner of this match will advance to the Path C final to take on the winner of Slovakia and Kosovo for a spot in the World Cup. Turkey is the favorite to make it out of the group, with odds of -115 to qualify for the World Cup on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Turkey is a -250 favorite to win on Thursday and Romania is +600. There are +425 odds that a draw will send the match to penalties.
Turkey vs. Romania preview
It was a bit of an unlucky draw for Turkey in World Cup qualification. They were stuck in a group with Spain, the champions of UEFA Euro 2024. Turkey has a great team, winning all four matches against Georgia and Bulgaria. The Crescent-Stars even managed a draw in one of their two matches against Spain. However, a 6-0 thrashing in the other tilt sent Spain through to the World Cup and Turkey into the play-offs. However, Turkey did get lucky with its draw in this group. The Crescent-Stars are the clear favorite to make it out and get back to the World Cup.
Turkey has only made the World Cup twice in its history, in 1954 and 2002. In 2002, Turkey went on an incredible run to finish in third place at the World Cup. It has not made it back since. However, in 2024, Turkey showed how far its national football team has come by finishing in fifth place at the Euros. This is a group that knows it belongs in the World Cup and has a great chance to get Turkey back to the biggest stage for the first time in 24 years.
Romania has not made it to the World Cup this century. The team had an incredible run in the 90s, making the Round of 16 or quarterfinals in three consecutive World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998. However, the Tricolours have not made it back since that 1998 World Cup. The great Mircea Lucescu is hoping to be the man to bring Romania back to the biggest stage in world football. He was a great footballer himself, but has arguably become the greatest Romanian football manager of all-time, leading teams like Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray and Dynamo Kyiv to great success before returning to manage his national team. It will be an uphill battle for Romania here, but with Lucescu managing, the Tricolours have a shot.
Turkey vs. Romania prediction, pick
My best bet for this match is for both teams to score, with odds of -115 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Romania is a team that plays open football under Mircea Lucescu. In qualifying, the Tricolours scored 19 goals, but also gave up 10. San Marino only scored two goals in qualifying and both came against Romania. Turkey will almost certainly score at least once, especially with the likes of Kenan Yildiz and Arda Guler up top.
Meanwhile, Romania should create some chances of its own. Romania scored at least one goal in seven of its eight qualifying matches. On the other side, Turkey conceded at least one goal in seven of its eight qualifying matches. Dennis Man, who plays his club football for PSV, is a dangerous goal-scoring threat. However, it’s the manager, Lucescu, who knows how to get the most out of his squad. Romania is desperate to get through to the Path C final and will do everything in its power to steal a goal.
