It all happened at the Romanian Football Federation’s official press conference on Monday, which was also attended by Razvan Burleanu, president of the federation, together with Mihai Stoichita, the technical director.
Negotiations between the federation and Hagi have come to an end, with the former international great being the main option to fill the post left vacant after the death of Mircea Lucescu, who took over the national team in August 2024.
“A great honour, a great responsibility to once again represent Romania, as I did as a player, I hope to do it as a coach. All that matters is to perform, to be successful,” were Hagi’s first words as coach.
In his address, Burleanu said, “After several attempts over the years to have Gica Hagi with us, today we can confirm that Gica Hagi is returning to the national team. We are very confident about this journey that we are starting together, with the best players we have at our disposal, to fulfil our objective. Our first objective is to win the next match.”
Hagi ready to make history in second stint
This is Hagi’s second spell in charge of the Romanian national team after his tenure from September 1st to November 27th in 2001.
Installed immediately after retiring as a player and in his first coaching experience, Hagi lasted only three months, ending his tenure immediately after missing out on qualification for the 2002 World Cup after a 1-2 and 1-1 playoff draw with Slovenia.
In his coaching career, Hagi has also managed Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Poli Timisoara, Steaua Bucuresti, FC Viitorul Constanta and Farul Constanta. His record as a coach includes two titles (FC Viitorul and Farul), a Romanian Cup (FC Viitorul), a Romanian Super Cup (FC Viitorul) and a Turkish Cup (Galatasaray).
Hagi succeeds Mircea Lucescu, whose contract expired on April 2nd. Lucescu was urgently hospitalised on March 29th after falling ill during a technical session prior to a training session of the national team, having missed out on qualification for the 2026 World Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Turkey on March 26th.
Later on April 7th, Mircea Lucescu died at the age of 80 at the University Hospital in Bucharest.
