Romania's futsal team opened its 2028 World Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. In the Sala Sporturilor in Târgu Mureș it lost 1-6 to Portugal, ranked second in the world according to the Romanian Football Federation. That is a group result. It is not qualification and it is not elimination.

The FRF lists the scorers as Tomás Paçó in the first and 19th minutes, Pany Varela in the third, Rúben Góis in the 18th, Diogo Santos in the 32nd and Hugo Neves in the 39th. For Romania, the federation credits Tamás Miklós in the second minute. Gazeta Sporturilor repeats that sheet. The Portuguese federation describes the 1-1 as an own goal by Paçó, after a shot from Richard Iszlai that André Correia saved. Two official versions of the same goal remain.

Portugal had arrived in Târgu Mureș after beating Denmark 10-3 on 16 October in Odivelas. After two matches it has six points. Romania has zero, after one game. Group 7 still has matches left. Wednesday's table is a snapshot, not a World Cup ticket.

The main round puts 36 teams in 12 groups of three, home and away. The 12 group winners and the four best runners-up go to the elite round. The other eight runners-up play a two-legged play-off. The FRF restates that rule in the post-match note. A 1-6 does not close the road and does not open it.

Romania's next match is on 8 November, against Denmark, at the Szabó Kati hall in Sfântu Gheorghe. The 2027 away legs remain, including the return with Portugal on 3 March. Endre Kacsó is Romania's coach. Jorge Braz is Portugal's. Portugal won the 2021 World Cup and the European titles in 2018 and 2022; that is the record, not Wednesday's scoreline.

Romania named a 14-player squad, many of them from CSM Târgu Mureș, CSM Odorheiu Secuiesc and Sepsi SIC. GSP headlined that the team had no chance. The score is clear. Qualification, though, is decided at the end of the group, not after a single opening match.

Image: Rsocol, Targu Mures City Hall, 26 May 2007, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the town hall, not the sports hall on Wednesday night.

Sources consulted: 1-6! Romania n-a avut nicio sansa in fata Portugaliei, in preliminariile Campionatului Mondial - Gazeta Sporturilor, 21 October 2026; Romania futsal team loses to Portugal in World Cup qualifying - FRF, 21 October 2026.