Ianis Hagi’s dreams of playing at next year’s World Cup are over, despite a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein.
The Rangers star didn’t start for Romania in a tie they simply had to win to stand any chance of finishing second with the nation also willing North Macedonia to drop points.
North Macedonia defeated Iceland 3-1 however and beat Romania to the second spot in the group.
This means Romania haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 1998 and for a country that’s produced players of such quality as Gheorghe Hagi in the past, they’re going through a barren spell.
Hagi came off the bench in the 74th minute of the game with Romania only winning by one goal.
The Rangers star might not have had much time to make much of an impact,but Romania scored their second with three minutes remaining to win 2-0.
It wasn’t enough, however, and Hagi misses out on following in his father’s footsteps by taking Romania to a World Cup, at least until 2026.
Hagi, who has been one of Rangers finest performers this season, has been linked recently with a £17M move to Roma.
With Steven Gerrard joining Aston Villa, the new manager will see Hagi as one of his key players, and keeping him at the club could be vital for our title ambitions this season.
In other news, ex-Rangers player Colin Hendry has back Giovanni Van Bronckhorst as the next Rangers manager.
