Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
After suffering a 1-0 loss to Germany in Bucharest, Romania will be aiming to return to winning ways in Group J when they take on Armenia at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Armenians are on a four-game winning run in all competitions, but keep in mind that key player Henrikh Mkhitarian remains sidelined through injury. Khoren Bayramyan, who scored as a substitute in the 2-0 win over Iceland, is pushing for a start for the hosts.
The Tricolori, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in the defeat to Germany, with Joachim Low’s troops missing a number of clear-cut chances to score. Considering that Armenia have been producing fine displays in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. Talented Romania attacker Florinel Coman is out of contention through injury.
Highlighted Player (David Arshakyan):
David Arshakyan is a Russian footballer who currently plays for Chicago Fire as a striker. Arshakyan was born on August 16, 1994 and he played for local club Smena St. Petersburg during his youth career. On the other hand, he started his professional career with Armenian club FC Mika, but he made no more than three appearances for the Mika Stadium outfit.
The Russian footballer then joined Lithuanian side FK Trakai and he scored 36 goals in 57 appearances for the club in two seasons. On July 28, 2016 he produced probably the best performance of his career as he scored a hat-trick in a victory over FK Utenis Utena. Six days later it was announced that he would join MLS side Chicago Fire on a two-year deal.
Arshakyan made his debut for the club on August 27, 2016, coming as a substitute after 56 minutes. Speaking of his international career, the Chicago Fire attacker debuted for Armenian national team on September 4, 2016 against Denmark.
Highlighted Team (Romania):
Romania were one of just four European sides to take part at the first ever World Cup in 1930, and the team have since achieved respectable results on the international stage, albeit failing to challenge for major trophies.
Led by arguably their best ever footballer Gheorghe Hagi, the Tricolorii narrowly missed out on the semi-finals at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, losing to Sweden on penalties. Romania made a total of seven appearances at the World Cup finals, while qualifying for five European Championship tournaments. The Tricolorii went the farthest in 2000, when they were eliminated by Italy in the quarter-finals.
Tied at the top of the goalscoring charts, Gheorghe Hagi and Adrian Mutu are the only two Romanian footballers to have gained worldwide recognition, but Dorinel Munteanu, Dan Petrescu, Gheorghe Popescu and Viorel Moldovan are also worth mention. Romania play their home games at the Arena National in Bucarest.