Romanian Football's Busy Summer: A New Liga I Season Kicks Off and Craiova Flies the Flag in Europe

The Romanian football calendar rarely slows down, and the summer of 2026 has been no exception. As fans across the country turned their attention back to the pitch, two stories ran in parallel, the start of a brand new domestic season and the familiar drama of European qualifying, where a Romanian club carried the nation's hopes onto the continental stage.

A new Liga I season begins

The centrepiece of the summer was the return of Liga I, the country's top flight. The 2026 to 2027 campaign, the 109th edition of the competition, kicked off on 18 July 2026 and is scheduled to run all the way through to May 2027. For supporters, it marked the end of the off season wait and the beginning of another long chase for silverware.

Sixteen teams in the hunt

As in recent years, the league features 16 teams competing for the title. The format is designed to keep the season competitive from start to finish. After a regular season in which all 16 clubs face each other once, the table splits, with the top six entering a playoff round to decide the champion and European places, while the bottom ten contest a play-out round to settle relegation.

This two stage structure has become a familiar feature of Romanian football, adding an extra layer of tension to the campaign. Rather than a single long table, the split means the most important matches are often concentrated in the closing weeks, when the playoff and play-out groups sharpen the stakes for clubs chasing glory at the top or fighting for survival at the bottom.

New faces and familiar absences

Every new season brings changes to the cast of clubs. For the 2026 to 2027 campaign, three teams earned promotion from Liga II, namely Corvinul Hunedoara, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe and Voluntari. They replaced the three sides that dropped down at the end of the previous season, Unirea Slobozia, Metaloglobus București and Hermannstadt.

These movements are more than just administrative footnotes. Promotion offers smaller clubs a rare chance to test themselves against the country's biggest names, while relegation can reshape a club's ambitions and finances almost overnight. The arrival of Corvinul Hunedoara, Sepsi and Voluntari adds fresh storylines to a division that already boasts some of Romania's most storied names.

The big names line up

Among the clubs contesting the season are several of the most recognisable names in Romanian football. FCSB, Dinamo București, Universitatea Craiova, CFR Cluj and Rapid București are all part of the top flight, ensuring that the traditional rivalries and historic fixtures that define the Romanian game remain firmly on the calendar throughout the coming months.

Craiova carries the flag in Europe

While the domestic season was getting under way, Universitatea Craiova was busy representing Romania on the European stage. The club entered the Champions Path of the 2026 to 2027 Champions League qualifying, taking on ML Vitebsk in the first qualifying round in a two legged tie that would test their credentials against continental opposition.

Craiova made a statement in the first leg on 7 July 2026, travelling away and returning with an emphatic 4 to 1 victory over ML Vitebsk. The result gave them a commanding cushion heading into the return fixture and immediately eased any nerves about their European campaign, setting a confident tone for the rest of the tie.

The second leg, played on 14 July 2026, saw Craiova complete the job with a 1 to 0 win at home. That result sealed a 5 to 1 aggregate triumph and sent the Romanian side through to the second qualifying round, keeping alive their hopes of progressing deeper into one of the most prestigious competitions in the sport.

A long road still ahead

For any club coming through the early rounds, the path remains demanding. The Champions League qualifying schedule stretched across the summer, with the third qualifying round set for the 4th and 5th of August as well as the 11th of August, followed by the play-off round on the 18th and 19th and then the 25th and 26th of August. Each stage brought tougher opponents and higher stakes.

Taken together, the summer of 2026 captured the dual rhythm of Romanian football, the steady heartbeat of a new domestic season and the high wire tension of European nights. With Liga I under way and Universitatea Craiova flying the flag abroad, supporters had plenty to follow, and the months ahead promise to reveal whether this promising start can grow into a memorable campaign.