Octavian Popescu

Early career

Popescu started practising football at age eight with the team of his local high school from Nucet, Dâmbovița County. In 2014, he moved to Regal Sport București, where he was teammates with Radu Drăgușin and Luca Florică among others. The capital-based club loaned him out to Rapid București and Universitatea Craiova, respectively, before Popescu joined FCSB in 2020.

FCSB

2020–2021: Debut season

Popescu was loaned out by FCSB to second tier side Turris Turnu Măgurele on 20 August 2020, but was immediately recalled to his parent club after general manager Mihai Stoica and owner Gigi Becali found out the deal was agreed over their heads. One month later, aged 17, he made his professional debut for FCSB by coming on for Robert Ion in the 50th minute of a 3–0 Liga I win over Argeș Pitești. Popescu scored his first career goal and also provided an assist on 30 January 2021, in a 3–1 defeat of Politehnica Iași at the Arena Națională. On 15 April 2021, he started in a 1–4 penalty shoot-out loss to CFR Cluj in the Supercupa României. FCSB also lost the national title to the latter opponent, and he ended his debut season as a senior with four goals from 34 appearances in all competitions.

2021–present: Development and inconsistency

On 25 July 2021, Popescu scored in a 4–1 league defeat of his former youth team Universitatea Craiova, and on 12 September netted in a 6–0 derby thrashing of Dinamo București. In January 2022, he…

Popescu did not represent Romania at any level prior to 2021, in spite of being considered a talented prospect. He made his debut for the under-21 side in March 2021, aged 18, after entering as a substitute in the UEFA European Championship group stage matches against Hungary and Germany, which ended 2–1 and 0–0, respectively. In June 2021, Popescu featured for the under-23 team in friendlies against Mexico and Australia, but was later not allowed by FCSB to participate in the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. On 25 March 2022, 19-year-old Popescu was handed his full debut for Romania in a 0–1 exhibition loss to Greece at the Stadionul Steaua, being brought on for Alexandru Mitriță in the 62nd minute. On 15 June 2023, Popescu returned to the Romania under-21 squad and was selected for his second European Championship.

Club

As of match played 20 September 2026

International

As of match played 28 March 2023

His father, Beniamin, was also a footballer who played for FCM Târgoviște and Jiul Petroșani.