Liga I facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
SuperLiga

Organising body	Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal (Liga I)
Founded	1909; 116 years ago (1909)
Country	Romania
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	16 (since 2020–21)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Liga II
Domestic cup(s)	Cupa României Supercupa României
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	FCSB (28th title) (2024–25)
Most championships	FCSB (28 titles)
Most appearances	Ionel Dănciulescu (515)
Top goalscorer	Dudu Georgescu (252 goals)
TV partners	Digi Sport Prima Sport

The SuperLiga, also known as Liga I, is the top professional football league in Romania. It's where the best 16 clubs in the country compete to become the national champion.

The league uses a system of promotion and relegation. This means that the worst-performing teams at the end of the season drop down to the second league, Liga II, while the best teams from Liga II move up to take their place.

The season is split into two parts. First, all 16 teams play each other twice in the "regular season." After that, the top six teams go into a "championship play-off" to decide the winner. The other ten teams go into a "relegation play-out" to see who stays in the league.

The league was started way back in 1909. It is run by the Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal (LPF). The most successful club in the league's history is FCSB, with 28 titles. Their biggest rival is Dinamo București, who have won 18 times.

How the Competition Works

Since 2020, 16 teams play in the SuperLiga. The season has two main stages.

The Regular Season

In the first stage, every team plays every other team twice, once at home and once away. This makes for a total of 30 games for each club. Teams get points for winning or drawing matches.

Play-offs and Play-outs

After the 30 games, the league splits in two.

• Championship Play-off: The top six teams move into this group. Their points from the regular season are cut in half. They then play each other twice more (10 games) to decide who will be the champion of Romania.
• Relegation Play-out: The bottom ten teams go into this group. Their points are also halved. They play each other once (9 games). The two teams that finish last are automatically relegated to Liga II. The teams finishing 7th and 8th in this group have to play extra matches against teams from Liga II to fight for their spot in the top league.

The teams that do well in the SuperLiga get to play in big European competitions like the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Conference League.

History of the League

The First Championships (1909–1921)

Olympia București, the very first champions of Romania in 1909.

The first official football championship in Romania was held in 1909. It was organized by the Romanian Football Federation, which was a new organization at the time.

Only three clubs played in the first season: Olympia and Colentina from the city of Bucharest, and United from the city of Ploiești. Olympia București won and became the first-ever Romanian champions. For the next several years, the championship was played as a small tournament. The competition was paused between 1916 and 1919 because of World War I.

Divizia A (1921–2006)

In 1921, the league became a national competition called Divizia A. The first winner of this new league was Chinezul Timișoara. They were a very strong team, winning six championships in a row.

The UTA Arad team in the 1946–47 season.

After World War II, new powerful teams emerged. UTA Arad, CCA București (which later became Steaua and then FCSB), and Petrolul Ploiești dominated the league. In the 1960s, Dinamo București became a top team, thanks to great goalscorers like Florea Dumitrache.

The 1970s belonged to another Dinamo legend, Dudu Georgescu. He was the top scorer in the league for four seasons and even won the European Golden Shoe twice for being the top scorer in all of Europe.

For a long time, Romanian teams did well in European competitions. The biggest success came in 1986 when Steaua București won the European Cup, which is now called the UEFA Champions League. This was a huge achievement for Romanian football.

Liga I and SuperLiga (2006–present)

CFR Cluj (pictured here playing against Chelsea in 2008) has won eight championships since the league was renamed.

In 2006, the league had to change its name from Divizia A to Liga I because of a legal issue. The lower leagues were also renamed.

For a while, teams from Bucharest continued to win, but then new champions appeared. CFR Cluj and Unirea Urziceni won their first-ever titles. Later, Oțelul Galați, Astra Giurgiu, and Viitorul Constanța also became champions for the first time.

In recent years, CFR Cluj has been the most successful team, winning five titles in a row from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, the league changed its name again to SuperLiga because of a new sponsorship deal.

Play in the FIFA Video Game

Good news for gamers! Since 2019, the SuperLiga has been featured in the EA Sports FIFA video game series. This means you can play as your favorite Romanian clubs, with their real players and kits.

Clubs

Who Has Won the Most Titles?

Here is a list of all the clubs that have won the top Romanian league. Clubs in bold are playing in the SuperLiga this season. Teams in italics do not exist anymore.

Club	Wins	Winning years
FCSB	28	1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2023–24, 2024–25
Dinamo București	18	1955, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07
CFR Cluj	8	2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Venus București	7	1919–20, 1928–29, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1939–40
UTA Arad	6	1946–47, 1947–48, 1950, 1954, 1968–69, 1969–70
Chinezul Timișoara	6	1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27
Universitatea Craiova	4	1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1990–91
Petrolul Ploiești	4	1929–30, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1965–66
Ripensia Timișoara	4	1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38
Rapid București	3	1966–67, 1998–99, 2002–03
Argeș Pitești	2	1971–72, 1978–79
Unirea Tricolor București	2	1920–21, 1940–41
Prahova Ploiești	2	1911–12, 1915–16
Colentina București	2	1912–13, 1913–14
Olympia București	2	1909–10, 1910–11
Farul Constanța	2	2016–17, 2022–23
Astra Giurgiu	1	2015–16
Oțelul Galați	1	2010–11
Unirea Urziceni	1	2008–09
Club Atletic Oradea	1	1948–49
CSM Reșița	1	1930–31
Colțea Brașov	1	1927–28
Româno-Americană București	1	1914–15

Teams in the 2024–25 Season

These are the 16 clubs competing in the SuperLiga during the 2024–25 season.

League Records

Here are some of the all-time records for players in the Romanian top league.

Players with Most Games

Top Ten Players With Most Appearances
As of 8 August 2025

Player		Games	Main Clubs
1	Ionel Dănciulescu	515	Dinamo București, Steaua București
2	Costică Ștefănescu	490	Universitatea Craiova
3	Florea Ispir	485	ASA Târgu Mureș
4	László Bölöni	484	ASA Târgu Mureș, Steaua București
5	Dan Nistor	484	Dinamo București, Universitatea Craiova
6	Costel Câmpeanu	470	Dinamo București, Gloria Bistrița
7	Petre Marin	468	Național București, Steaua București
8	Paul Cazan	465	Sportul Studențesc
9	Cornel Dinu	454	Dinamo București
10	Constantin Stancu	447	Argeș Pitești

Top Goalscorers

Top Ten Highest Goalscorers
As of 8 August 2025

Player		Goals	Main Clubs
1	Dudu Georgescu	252	Dinamo București
2	Ionel Dănciulescu	214	Dinamo București, Steaua București
3	Rodion Cămătaru	198	Universitatea Craiova, Dinamo București
4	Marin Radu	190	Argeș Pitești, Steaua București
5	Florea Dumitrache	170	Dinamo București
5	Ion Oblemenco	170	Universitatea Craiova
7	Mircea Sandu	167	Sportul Studențesc
8	Victor Pițurcă	166	Steaua București
9	Mihai Adam	160	Universitatea Cluj, CFR Cluj
10	Titus Ozon	157	Dinamo București, Rapid București

See also

In Spanish: Liga I para niños