List of Romania national football team captains
The Romania national football team represents the nation of Romania in international association football. It is fielded by the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) and competes as a member of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. The team played its first official international match on 8 June 1922 against Yugoslavia. Since its first competitive match, 802 players have made at least one international appearance for the team. Of them, 89 have served as captain of the national team. This list contains football players who have served as captain of the Romania national team and is listed according to their number of matches captained.
Captains
Appearances and matches captained are composed of FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Football Championship, and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are initially listed by number of matches captained. If there's an equal number of matches captained, then the player who captained the national team first is listed first. Statistics correct as of 26 June 2024.
§ | Still active for the national team[1] | ||
† | Captained the team at a major international tournament[2] | ||
GK | Goalkeeper | ||
---|---|---|---|
DF | Defender | ||
MF | Midfielder | ||
FW | Forward |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Mircea_Lucescu3.jpg/175px-Mircea_Lucescu3.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Gheorghe_Hagi3_cropped.jpg/175px-Gheorghe_Hagi3_cropped.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/RO_B_ROMAUT_Cristian_Chivu_2.jpg/175px-RO_B_ROMAUT_Cristian_Chivu_2.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Adrian_Mutu_2.jpg/175px-Adrian_Mutu_2.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/%D0%A0%D1%8D%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%8D_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%86.jpg/175px-%D0%A0%D1%8D%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%8D_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%86.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Vlad_Chiriche%C8%99_%285_Jun_2012%29.jpg/175px-Vlad_Chiriche%C8%99_%285_Jun_2012%29.jpg)
# | Name | Position | National team career | Caps as captain | Total caps | First captaincy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gheorghe Hagi | MF | 1983–2000† | 65 | 124 | 16 October 1985 |
2 | Cristian Chivu | DF | 1999–2011† | 50 | 75 | 28 March 2001 |
3 | Vlad Chiricheș§ | DF | 2011–0000† | 44 | 75 | 14 August 2013 |
4 | Costică Ștefănescu | DF | 1977–1985† | 43 | 64 | 13 May 1979 |
5 | Cornel Dinu | DF | 1968–1981 | 38 | 67 | 9 February 1969 |
6 | Gheorghe Popescu | DF | 1988–2003† | 34 | 114 | 20 April 1994 |
7 | Răzvan Raț | DF | 2002–2016 | 28 | 113 | 16 November 2005 |
8 | Ladislau Bölöni | MF | 1975–1988 | 23 | 102 | 29 January 1983 |
9 | Emerich Vogl | DF | 1924–1934† | 22 | 29 | 7 May 1926 |
Mircea Lucescu | FW | 1966–1979† | 22 | 64 | 15 January 1969 | |
11 | Silviu Lung | GK | 1979–1993† | 21 | 76 | 19 October 1988 |
12 | Nicolae Stanciu§ | MF | 2016-† | 20 | 73 | 5 September 2021 |
13 | Gheorghe Albu | DF | 1931–1938 | 19 | 42 | 25 March 1934 |
14 | Adrian Mutu | FW | 2000–2013 | 17 | 77 | 12 February 2003 |
15 | Iosif Petschowski | MF | 1945–1958 | 14 | 32 | 23 October 1958 |
16 | Cornel Popa | DF | 1958–1967 | 13 | 27 | 12 May 1963 |
17 | Alexandru Apolzan | DF | 1949–1960 | 11 | 22 | 28 June 1953 |
Cristian Sapunaru | DF | 2008–2019 | 11 | 36 | 24 March 2018 | |
19 | Ion Dumitru | MF | 1969–1980 | 10 | 50 | 12 May 1976 |
20 | Aurel Guga | FW | 1922–1928 | 9 | 12 | 8 June 1922 |
Anghel Iordănescu | FW | 1971–1981 | 9 | 60 | 5 June 1976 | |
Ilie Balaci | MF | 1975–1987 | 9 | 67 | 12 May 1982 | |
Ciprian Tatarusanu | GK | 2009–2020 | 9 | 73 | 26 March 2019 | |
24 | Bazil Marian | MF | 1941–1949 | 8 | 18 | 30 September 1945 |
25 | Iuliu Bodola | FW | 1945–1958 | 7 | 48 | 8 September 1937 |
Ion Mihăilescu | MF | 1940–1950 | 7 | 15 | 20 June 1948 | |
Marius Lăcătuș | FW | 1984–1998 | 7 | 83 | 5 December 1990 | |
Cosmin Contra | DF | 1996–2010 | 7 | 73 | 24 April 2001 | |
29 | Grațian Sepi | FW | 1928–1937 | 6 | 23 | 10 May 1931 |
Lazăr Sfera | DF | 1931–1941 | 6 | 14 | 29 November 1931 | |
Ion Nunweiller | DF | 1958–1967 | 6 | 26 | 21 September 1966 | |
Dan Coe | DF | 1963–1971 | 6 | 29 | 22 November 1967 | |
Ștefan Sameș | DF | 1973–1982 | 6 | 46 | 18 November 1979 | |
34 | Rudolf Wetzer | FW | 1923–1932† | 5 | 17 | 14 July 1930 |
Adalbert Androvits | DF | 1953–1955 | 5 | 7 | 29 May 1955 | |
Emil Săndoi | DF | 1987–1993 | 5 | 30 | 26 August 1992 | |
Ionuț Lupescu | MF | 1988–2000 | 5 | 73 | 7 June 1995 | |
Dorinel Munteanu | MF | 1991–2007 | 5 | 134 | 14 August 1996 | |
Mirel Rădoi | DF | 2000–2010 | 5 | 67 | 26 May 2006 | |
Ciprian Marica | FW | 2003–2014 | 5 | 72 | 8 June 2011 | |
Dragoș Grigore | DF | 2011–2020 | 5 | 39 | 4 September 2016 | |
42 | Nicolae Covaci | FW | 1929–1938† | 4 | 36 | 4 July 1937 |
Nicolae Tătaru | FW | 1954–1962 | 4 | 21 | 30 August 1959 | |
Gheorghe Constantin | FW | 1956–1967 | 4 | 25 | 25 November 1962 | |
45 | Alexandru Negrescu | DF | 1939–1946 | 3 | 8 | 8 October 1946 |
Nicolae Reuter | MF | 1939–1947 | 3 | 14 | 25 May 1947 | |
Costică Toma | GK | 1953–1959 | 3 | 16 | 26 October 1958 | |
Titus Ozon | FW | 1952–1962 | 3 | 22 | 30 September 1962 | |
Florin Cheran | DF | 1971–1978 | 3 | 29 | 8 May 1977 | |
Gino Iorgulescu | DF | 1974–1986 | 3 | 47 | 28 February 1986 | |
Mircea Rednic | DF | 1981–1991 | 3 | 83 | 23 April 1986 | |
Michael Klein | DF | 1981–1991 | 3 | 89 | 28 August 1986 | |
Ilie Dumitrescu | FW | 1989–1998 | 3 | 61 | 22 September 1993 | |
Dan Petrescu | DF | 1989–2000 | 3 | 96 | 6 September 1997 | |
Constantin Gâlcă | MF | 1993–2005 | 3 | 68 | 16 August 2000 | |
Daniel Prodan | DF | 1993–2001 | 3 | 54 | 5 December 2000 | |
Bogdan Lobonț | GK | 1998–2018 | 3 | 86 | 21 November 2007 | |
Gabriel Tamaș | DF | 2003–2018 | 3 | 67 | 9 February 2011 | |
Razvan Marin§ | MF | 2016- | 3 | 59 | 11 November 2020 | |
60 | Gheorghe Ciolac | FW | 1928–1937 | 2 | 24 | 15 September 1929 |
Silviu Bindea | FW | 1932–1942 | 2 | 27 | 12 October 1941 | |
Dumitru Pavlovici | GK | 1936–1942 | 2 | 15 | 23 August 1942 | |
Nicolae Georgescu | MF | 1955–1965 | 2 | 18 | 2 May 1965 | |
Ion Barbu | DF | 1966–1968 | 2 | 7 | 1 May 1968 | |
Nicolae Dobrin | MF | 1966–1978 | 2 | 46 | 5 June 1968 | |
Mihai Mocanu | MF | 1966–1971 | 2 | 31 | 27 October 1968 | |
Marin Dragnea | MF | 1984–1986 | 2 | 5 | 14 March 1986 | |
68 | Francisc Rónay | FW | 1922–1932 | 1 | 8 | 10 June 1923 |
Dumitru Vețianu | DF | 1923 | 1 | 1 | 26 October 1923 | |
Paul Schiller | FW | 1922–1924 | 1 | 2 | 31 August 1924 | |
Mircea Stroescu | GK | 1923–1925 | 1 | 2 | 1 May 1925 | |
Petre Steinbach | MF | 1930–1935 | 1 | 18 | 28 June 1932 | |
Ștefan Dobay | FW | 1930–1939† | 1 | 41 | 9 June 1938 | |
Iuliu Barátky | FW | 1933–1940 | 1 | 20 | 14 July 1939 | |
Silviu Ploeșteanu | FW | 1937–1941 | 1 | 11 | 22 September 1940 | |
Mircea David | GK | 1936–1943 | 1 | 12 | 13 June 1943 | |
Ion Lungu | FW | 1949–1950 | 1 | 5 | 14 May 1950 | |
Gheorghe Băcuț | MF | 1945–1956 | 1 | 28 | 10 September 1956 | |
Tiberiu Bone | MF | 1951–1961 | 1 | 12 | 14 May 1961 | |
Ion Ionescu | FW | 1962–1969 | 1 | 24 | 4 January 1967 | |
Nicolae Lupescu | DF | 1964–1972 | 1 | 21 | 11 November 1970 | |
Flavius Domide | FW | 1968–1972 | 1 | 18 | 30 January 1972 | |
Aristică Ghiță | GK | 1969–1972 | 1 | 3 | 23 April 1972 | |
Gheorghe Mulțescu | MF | 1974–1983 | 1 | 15 | 7 September 1983 | |
Ștefan Iovan | DF | 1983–1990 | 1 | 34 | 17 May 1989 | |
Laurențiu Roșu | MF | 1998–2007 | 1 | 38 | 4 February 2000 | |
Adrian Ilie | FW | 1993–2005 | 1 | 55 | 24 March 2001 | |
Ionel Ganea | FW | 1998–2006 | 1 | 45 | 27 May 2004 | |
Daniel Pancu | MF | 2001–2005 | 1 | 27 | 8 September 2004 | |
Bogdan Stelea | GK | 1988–2005 | 1 | 91 | 17 November 2004 | |
Adrian Iencsi | DF | 2000–2006 | 1 | 30 | 28 February 2006 | |
Gabriel Mureșan | MF | 2007–2011 | 1 | 9 | 12 June 2011 | |
Bănel Nicoliță | MF | 2005–2014 | 1 | 37 | 10 August 2011 | |
Dorin Goian | DF | 2005–2014 | 1 | 60 | 15 November 2011 | |
Marius Niculae | FW | 2000–2013 | 1 | 44 | 27 January 2012 | |
Andrei Burc㧠| MF | 2019- | 1 | 30 | 20 November 2022 | |
Ianis Hagi§ | MF | 2018- | 1 | 38 | 7 June 2024 |
References
- ^ Players who are still active for the national team are players who haven't retired from international football and are, subsequently, eligible to be called up.
- ^ Includes FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship.
- ^ "Capitanii nationalei Romaniei". Statistici Fotbal. Archived from the original on 2011-11-28.