List of Romania national football team captains

Last updated

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 5 September 2025.

Key
§
Still active for the national team [1]
Captained the team at a major international tournament [2]
GK Goalkeeper
DF Defender
MF Midfielder
FW Forward
Mircea Lucescu captained Romania at 1970 FIFA World Cup Mircea Lucescu3.jpg
Mircea Lucescu captained Romania at 1970 FIFA World Cup
Gheorghe Hagi captained Romania for a record 65 times Gheorghe Hagi3 cropped.jpg
Gheorghe Hagi captained Romania for a record 65 times
Cristian Chivu captained Romania at UEFA Euro 2008 RO B ROMAUT Cristian Chivu 2.jpg
Cristian Chivu captained Romania at UEFA Euro 2008
Adrian Mutu former Romania captain Adrian Mutu 2.jpg
Adrian Mutu former Romania captain
Razvan Rat the current vice-captain Rezvan Dinke Rats.jpg
Răzvan Raț the current vice-captain
Vlad Chiriches the current captain Vlad Chiriches (5 Jun 2012).jpg
Vlad Chiricheș the current captain


List of Romania national team football players who have served as captain of the team [3]
#NamePositionNational team
career
Caps as captainTotal capsFirst captaincy
1 Gheorghe Hagi MF1983–20006512416 October 1985
2 Cristian Chivu DF1999–2011507528 March 2001
3 Vlad Chiricheș §DF2011–447714 August 2013
4 Costică Ștefănescu DF1977–1985436413 May 1979
5 Cornel Dinu DF1968–198138679 February 1969
6 Gheorghe Popescu DF1988–20033411420 April 1994
7 Nicolae Stanciu §MF2016-29835 September 2021
8 Răzvan Raț DF2002–20162811316 November 2005
9 Ladislau Bölöni MF1975–19882310229 January 1983
10 Emerich Vogl DF1924–193422297 May 1926
Mircea Lucescu FW1966–1979226415 January 1969
12 Silviu Lung GK1979–1993217619 October 1988
13 Gheorghe Albu DF1931–1938194225 March 1934
14 Adrian Mutu FW2000–2013177712 February 2003
15 Iosif Petschowski MF1945–1958143223 October 1958
16 Cornel Popa DF1958–1967132712 May 1963
17 Alexandru Apolzan DF1949–1960112228 June 1953
Cristian Sapunaru DF2008–2019113624 March 2018
19 Ion Dumitru MF1969–1980105012 May 1976
20 Aurel Guga FW1922–19289128 June 1922
Anghel Iordănescu FW1971–19819605 June 1976
Ilie Balaci MF1975–198796712 May 1982
Ciprian Tatarusanu GK2009–202097326 March 2019
24 Bazil Marian MF1941–194981830 September 1945
25 Iuliu Bodola FW1945–19587488 September 1937
Ion MihăilescuMF1940–195071520 June 1948
Marius Lăcătuș FW1984–19987835 December 1990
Cosmin Contra DF1996–201077324 April 2001
29 Grațian Sepi FW1928–193762310 May 1931
Lazăr Sfera DF1931–194161429 November 1931
Ion Nunweiller DF1958–196762621 September 1966
Dan Coe DF1963–197162922 November 1967
Ștefan Sameș DF1973–198264618 November 1979
34 Rudolf Wetzer FW1923–193251714 July 1930
Adalbert AndrovitsDF1953–19555729 May 1955
Emil Săndoi DF1987–199353026 August 1992
Ionuț Lupescu MF1988–20005737 June 1995
Dorinel Munteanu MF1991–2007513414 August 1996
Mirel Rădoi DF2000–201056726 May 2006
Ciprian Marica FW2003–20145728 June 2011
Dragoș Grigore DF2011–20205394 September 2016
42 Nicolae Covaci FW1929–19384364 July 1937
Nicolae Tătaru FW1954–196242130 August 1959
Gheorghe Constantin FW1956–196742525 November 1962
Razvan Marin §MF2016-46911 November 2020
46Alexandru NegrescuDF1939–1946388 October 1946
Nicolae ReuterMF1939–194731425 May 1947
Costică Toma GK1953–195931626 October 1958
Titus Ozon FW1952–196232230 September 1962
Florin CheranDF1971–19783298 May 1977
Gino Iorgulescu DF1974–198634728 February 1986
Mircea Rednic DF1981–199138323 April 1986
Michael Klein DF1981–199138928 August 1986
Ilie Dumitrescu FW1989–199836122 September 1993
Dan Petrescu DF1989–20003966 September 1997
Constantin Gâlcă MF1993–200536816 August 2000
Daniel Prodan DF1993–20013545 December 2000
Bogdan Lobonț GK1998–201838621 November 2007
Gabriel Tamaș DF2003–20183679 February 2011
60 Gheorghe Ciolac FW1928–193722415 September 1929
Silviu Bindea FW1932–194222712 October 1941
Dumitru PavloviciGK1936–194221523 August 1942
Nicolae GeorgescuMF1955–19652182 May 1965
Ion BarbuDF1966–1968271 May 1968
Nicolae Dobrin MF1966–19782465 June 1968
Mihai Mocanu MF1966–197123127 October 1968
Marin Dragnea MF1984–19862514 March 1986
68 Francisc Rónay FW1922–19321810 June 1923
Dumitru VețianuDF19231126 October 1923
Paul SchillerFW1922–19241231 August 1924
Mircea StroescuGK1923–1925121 May 1925
Petre Steinbach MF1930–193511828 June 1932
Ștefan Dobay FW1930–19391419 June 1938
Iuliu Barátky FW1933–194012014 July 1939
Silviu Ploeșteanu FW1937–194111122 September 1940
Mircea David GK1936–194311213 June 1943
Ion LunguFW1949–19501514 May 1950
Gheorghe BăcuțMF1945–195612810 September 1956
Tiberiu Bone MF1951–196111214 May 1961
Ion Ionescu FW1962–19691244 January 1967
Nicolae Lupescu DF1964–197212111 November 1970
Flavius Domide FW1968–197211830 January 1972
Aristică GhițăGK1969–19721323 April 1972
Gheorghe Mulțescu MF1974–19831157 September 1983
Ștefan Iovan DF1983–199013417 May 1989
Laurențiu Roșu MF1998–20071384 February 2000
Adrian Ilie FW1993–200515524 March 2001
Ionel Ganea FW1998–200614527 May 2004
Daniel Pancu MF2001–20051278 September 2004
Bogdan Stelea GK1988–200519117 November 2004
Adrian Iencsi DF2000–200613028 February 2006
Gabriel Mureșan MF2007–20111912 June 2011
Bănel Nicoliță MF2005–201413710 August 2011
Dorin Goian DF2005–201416015 November 2011
Marius Niculae FW2000–201314427 January 2012
Andrei Burcă §DF2019-14220 November 2022
Ianis Hagi §MF2018-1477 June 2024
Andrei Rațiu §DF2021-13210 June 2025

References

  1. 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.
  2. Includes FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship.
  3. "Capitanii nationalei Romaniei". Statistici Fotbal. Archived from the original on 2011-11-28.