San Marino will host Romania in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers on Monday, 24 March.
After both teams lost their first-round matches, who will get three points from this duel? Read our San Marino vs Romania prediction and preview to find that out and more.
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San Marino vs Romania prediction: An easy win for the guests
Key stats
- San Marino have lost four of their last six games.
- Romania are 38th in FIFA rankings, while San Marino are 210th, which is the last place in the rankings.
- Razvan Marin has scored eight goals in 2024 for Romania.
Correct score prediction: San Marino 0-4 Romania
While Romania did suffer a surprising loss to Bosnia & Hercegovina in the first round of the qualifiers, they are one of the favourites to qualify to the World Cup from this group and there's little doubt that they'll do much better against San Marino, one of the worst teams in the world.
So, a convincing win is expected for Romania and 4-0 sounds like a reasonable correct score prediction to us.
Pre-game odds and win probability: Romania the clear favourites
- HOME: 40/1 (41.00) – 2.40%
- DRAW: 12/1 (13.00) – 7.70%
- AWAY: 1/16 (1.06) – 94.10%
*Odds from Ladbrokes, subject to change
Looking at these San Marino vs Romania odds, we can see that the guests are the expected winners by a huge margin.
This is hardly a surprise considering the difference in quality between these two teams and while San Marino have shown a lot of progress lately, they are still one of the worst national teams in the world.
Anyhow, if you liked our predictions for this duel, remember to also take a look at our best betting tips for today.
Most recent H2Hs: Domination for Romania
The last time these two teams have met each other was back in 2011 and overall they've met three times, with Romania winning all of their duels so far.
San Marino preview: Hoping to avoid a disaster
While San Marino have done well recently, notching their first-ever win in official matches by beating Liechtenstein in league D of UEFA Nations League, which they followed with another win over the same opponent, they remain the worst-ranked team in the world.
So, their chances of actually qualifying for the World Cup are slim, but they could pose a problem for some of their opponents in the qualifiers, on a good day.
Predicted lineup: Colombo (GK), Fabbri, Cevoli, G. Benvenuti, T. Benvenuti, Tosi, Contadini, A. Golinucci, Capicchioni, Berardi & Nanni
Europe - World Cup Qualifying 24/03/25
L
Romania
5
San Marino
1
Europe - World Cup Qualifying 21/03/25
L
Cyprus
2
San Marino
0
UEFA Nations League D 18/11/24
W
Liechtenstein
1
San Marino
3
UEFA Nations League D 15/11/24
D
Gibraltar
1
San Marino
1
International Match 13/10/24
L
Andorra
2
San Marino
0
Romania preview: Can they recover from last round?
After dominating their group in UEFA Nations League C, where they notched all six wins (home game against Kosovo was registered 3-0 after the guests abandoned the match), Romania entered the World Cup qualifiers in high spirits.
However, things haven't gone well for them in the first round since they've lost at home to Bosnia & Hercegovina, so they can't allow any more slip-ups if they want to be among the teams fighting for their spot at the World Cup 2026.
Romania have been dealing with injuries to some important players, including Radu Dragusin, Cristian Manea, Valentin Mihaila, and Darius Olaru.
Predicted lineup: Nita (GK), Ratiu, Popescu, Burca, Bancu, R. Marin, M. Marin, Stanciu, Mitrita, Dragus & Hagi
Europe - World Cup Qualifying 24/03/25
W
San Marino
1
Romania
5
Europe - World Cup Qualifying 21/03/25
L
Bosnia-Herzegovina
1
Romania
0
UEFA Nations League C 18/11/24
W
Cyprus
1
Romania
4
UEFA Nations League C 15/10/24
W
Lithuania
1
Romania
2
UEFA Nations League C 12/10/24
W
Cyprus
0
Romania
3
Player to watch: Razvan Marin
While Marin is a central midfielder, also sometimes employed as a defensive midfielder, he's been one of Romania's top scorers in recent matches. After all he has eight goals in Romania's last 14 matches, so he's a certified threat to the opposition.
One of the reasons for his number of goals is the fact that he's often on penalty duty and that's another reason why he's our player to watch against San Marino.