FANATIK national survey – INSCOP: The surprising place that Prunea's blunder occupies in the top of the guilty parties from the match against Sweden

Perhaps the quarter-final in the USA 1994 doesn't seem like such a great achievement to give us a "Golden Generation." But for those who lived those magical nights, they know that Hagi and the team offered us more than just a dramatically lost match in the quarter-finals against Sweden. The American World Cup was a state of mind, with emotions in front of the televisions and parties at the University.

The Romanians chose the main reason for the elimination from the 1994 World Cup

What do you think is the reason that the Romanian National Team missed the semi-final against Brazil at the 1994 World Cup?

Bad luck – 25.4%

The Golden Generation (Hagi & co) had reached its maximum potential – 18.5%

Prunea's mistake on Kennet Andersson's goal 16.8%

The decisive penalty missed by Belodedici 7.5%

The higher value of the Swedish team 3.3%

I don't know / I don't answer 28.4%

When do Romanians believe that Romania will return to the World Cup

The 2026 World Cup, with 48 teams, was a chance that the "Soul Generation" gave us the right to dream. More strongly than ever, especially since the final tournament was again in the USA. Spain, Morocco, Portugal, in 2030. Hagi is taking us there! Do Romanians really believe this? Yes!

Do you think Romania will qualify for a World Cup in the next 10 years?

Yes – 65.7%

No – 29.2%

I don't know / I don't answer 5.1%

The data for the FANATIK – INSCOP Survey / 2026 World Cup was collected between June 2-8. The data was obtained with very little time before the start of the competition precisely to maintain its relevance and help with a smaller margin of error.

Methodology: The data for this sample was obtained using the CATI method (telephone interviews). The maximum allowable error of the data is +/- 3%, with a confidence level of 95%. Research method: interview through a questionnaire. The volume of the simple random sample is 1100 people. The sample is representative for significant socio-demographic categories (gender, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 and over.