Romania was drawn in the so-called "Group of death" alongside the Netherlands, world champions Italy and France, runners-up in the 2006 World Cup. Romania started with a 0–0 draw against a lacklustre France while Italy were soundly beaten by the Netherlands, 3–0. In their next match, against Italy, Adrian Mutu opened the scoring early in the second half. Their lead was a very short one, however, as Italy's Christian Panucci scored a minute later off of a corner kick. Nearing the end of the match, Daniel Niculae earned a penalty for his team, but goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved the subsequent Mutu penalty, leaving Romania with two points and needing a win against the Netherlands, who eliminated France 4–1 that same evening. The Netherlands beat Romania 2–0 in the final game of the group, which meant that Italy joined the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and Romania finished third, ahead of France.