George Daniel Bîrligea (; born 19 April 2000) is a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...

and the Romania national team. Raised in Italy from age 12, Bîrligea started his senior career with

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

in 2020. Two years later, he returned to his native country at defending champions

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

. In 2024, he transferred to domestic rivals FCSB for an initial fee of €2 million. At international level, Bîrligea made his full debut for Romania in October 2023, in a 4–0 UEFA Euro qualifier win over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. The next year, he was selected in the squad for

Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...

Club career

Early career / Teramo

Born in

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

, Bîrligea spent part of his childhood in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

, where he started practising young football with local club Metalul. He also trained at the Gheorghe Hagi Academy, before returning to his native city at Luceafărul Brăila. Bîrligea relocated again at age 12, moving abroad to Italy with his mother and elder sister, and represented the academies of ASD Cantera Ribolla and

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. After the bankruptcy of Palermo, Bîrligea moved to

in 2019. On 22 January 2020, he made his senior debut for in a 1–0

win over

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

. Over the course of two years with ''Il diavolo'', he amassed seven goals from 43 appearances in all competitions.

CFR Cluj

On 26 January 2022, Bîrligea returned to Romania by signing with four-time defending champions

. He made his debut on 5 February, coming on as a 87th-minute substitute for Claudiu Petrila in a 1–1

draw at Universitatea Craiova. Bîrligea scored his first goal for CFR Cluj on 1 May, in a 1–0 league defeat of Farul Constanța. Two weeks later, he started in a 2–1 home victory over Universitatea Craiova, as his club was crowned national champion one fixture prior to the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. On 20 October 2022, Bîrligea scored his first

Cluj derby The Cluj derby () refers to football matches between CFR Cluj and Universitatea Cluj, the most popular clubs in the Romanian region of Transylvania. Background and history The Early derbies in the Antebellum Period The Cluj Derby began two ...

goal in a 1–1 away draw with Universitatea Cluj in the

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. On 10 November, he netted his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 5–0 defeat of Dumbrăvița, also in the national cup. On 16 February 2023, Bîrligea recorded his

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

debut by starting in a 0–1 away loss to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

in the knockout round play-offs of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

. On 9 April, he opened the scoring in a 1–1 home Liga I draw with rivals

. Bîrligea scored his first league hat-trick on 6 April 2024, in a 1–4 away thrashing of

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. In the 2023–24 campaign, he appeared in all 40 Liga I fixtures—of which he started in 33—and was the team's second-highest goalscorer in the competition with 14 goals. On 1 August that year, Bîrligea scored his first two European goals in a 5–0 away win over Neman Grodno in the Conference League

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

FCSB

On 2 September 2024, a deal was agreed for the move of Bîrligea to CFR Cluj's domestic rivals FCSB, subject to a medical. The fee was disclosed by the owners of both clubs as €2 million and 15% interest on a potential future transfer, plus conditional bonuses. Rapid București made a last-minute attempt to hijack the deal, but Bîrligea was officially unveiled by FCSB the following day and handed the number 9 shirt. Bîrligea made his debut for "the Red-Blues" on 21 September, starting and coming off at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

in a 1–1 Liga I draw with Petrolul Ploiești at the Steaua Stadium. Five days later, he opened the scoring in a 4–1 defeat of RFS in the first fixture of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

league phase. On 3 October, he scored the only goal of an away win at Greek reigning champions

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

in the same competition. On 20 October 2024, Bîrligea netted his second league goal for FCSB, a scissor kick in a 2–0 away

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

win at

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

. On 10 November, he scored his first double in a 2–1 away Liga I victory at Universitatea Cluj.

International career

Youth

Bîrligea made his debut for the Romania national under-21 team on 25 March 2022, equalising late in an eventual 2–1 friendly win against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

at the

Stadionul Arcul de Triumf The Arcul de Triumf National Rugby Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bucharest, Romania. Being constructed on the site of the former stadium, it mostly hosts home matches of the Romania national rugby union team and FC Dinamo București. It ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. In June 2023, he was selected by manager

Emil Săndoi Emil Săndoi (born 1 March 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Career A centre-back, who was born in Craiova and debuted in Divizia A with hometown side Universitatea Craiova in 1983. Săndoi made his debut fo ...

in the squad for the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) was the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association f ...

Senior

In September 2023, Bîrligea received his first call-up to the Romania national team for the

Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

matches against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. He made his debut on 15 October that year, starting in a 4–0 home win over

in the same competition. On 7 June 2024, he was selected in Romania's squad for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, but did not feature in any game. On 18 November 2024, Bîrligea scored his first senior international goal by opening a 4–1 Nations League win against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Style of play

Bîrligea is a determined and physical

, focused on exploiting spaces and contributing to his team's pressing efforts. Although primarily a striker, he can also play as a winger, utilising his high

work rate In association football, work rate refers to the extent to which a player contributes to running and chasing in a match while not in possession of the ball. Work rate is generally indicated by the distance covered by a player during a match. An ...

to challenge defences. His play is defined by persistence and an understanding of goalscoring opportunities.

Personal life

Bîrligea's parents separated when he was around eight or nine years old, and he was raised mainly by his mother. He stated that after relocating to

at age 12, he managed to completely understand

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and speak it well in only six months.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bîrligea goal''.

Honours

CFR Cluj *

: 2021–22 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

runner-up:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

FCSB *Liga I: 2024–25 *Supercupa României:

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual *Liga I Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Daniel Bîrligea
at

Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bîrligea, Daniel 2000 births Living people Footballers from Brăila Romanian emigrants to Italy Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serie C players SSD Città di Teramo players Liga I players CFR Cluj players FCSB players Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen