The Romanian national team won the final of the mini-football world championship in Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) on penalties with a score of 14:13 in Kazakhstan.

Romania – Kazakhstan 2-2 (14-13 after penalties), in the final of the 2023 World Cup in mini-football

The only major trophy that was not in the showcase of the Kazakhstan national team, the tricolors won on Saturday, opening the scoring at the end of the first half, in their first dangerous phase, with an own goal by Ungur.

After a very successful first half, Romania lost the initiative in the second, and Tarzhanov made it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

The ending was incendiary. In the 49th minute, Balog realized the VAR penalty, and in extra minutes, the same player scored for the tricolor team, which sent the match into extra time.

Although Romania was more dangerous in two halves of five minutes each, but the winner was determined after kicks from 7 meters.

The draw was dramatic, after the first three series the two teams went to each other, and in three series, when the Kazakhs missed, the Romanians also missed.

In the end, the score was 14-13 in favor of the national team, which was prepared by Virgil Bejenar, on whose field was former player Oleksandr Bourchanu.

The Romanian mini-football team is the most successful national team in the history of European mini-football, with 6 continental titles (2010-2015) and 2 silver medals.

Romania won two bronze medals at the World Championships (USA 2015 and Australia 2019).

The results of Romania at the 2023 World Cup in mini-football

Groups: 10-1 vs. Sudan, 3-2 vs. Spain, 0-0 vs. USA

Best: 7-0 against Thailand

Quarter-finals: 2-0 against the United Arab Emirates

Semi-final: 3-0 against Hungary.