Moldova national football team

Moldova

Association	Federația Moldovenească de Fotbal (FMF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Serghei Cleșcenco
Captain	Alexandru Epureanu
Most caps	Alexandru Epureanu (100)
Top scorer	Serghei Cleșcenco (11)
Home stadium	Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău
FIFA code	MDA
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	181 (23 December 2021)[1]
Highest	37 (April 2008)
Lowest	181 (October 2021)
First international
Unofficial  Moldova 2–4 Georgia  (Chişinău, Moldavian SSR, USSR; 2 July 1991) Official  United States 1–1 Moldova  (Jacksonville, United States; 16 April 1994)
Biggest win
Pakistan 0–5 Moldova  (Amman, Jordan; 18 August 1992)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 8–0 Moldova  (Herning, Denmark; 28 March 2021)

The Moldova national football team (Romanian: Echipa națională de fotbal a Moldovei) represents Moldova in international football and is controlled by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Moldova. Moldova's home ground is Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău and their head coach is Roberto Bordin. Shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Georgia on 2 July 1991.

Two of their three best results in the 1990s came during the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1996, with wins over Georgia (1–0) in Tbilisi and Wales (3–2) in Chișinău. In 2007, Moldova obtained a very good result, defeating Hungary 3–0 in Chișinău in Euro 2008 qualifying. Their best recent result was a 5–2 win over Montenegro during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The team has never qualified for the final stages of the UEFA European Championship nor the FIFA World Cup as of present time.

Following Moldova's 4–0 defeat to England in September 1997, British writer and comedian Tony Hawks travelled to Moldova to challenge and beat all 11 Moldovan international footballers at tennis. The feature film version of the book of the same name, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, was filmed in and around Chișinău in May and June 2010 and was released in the spring of 2012.

History[]

The Moldovan Football Federation was founded in 1990. However, the national football team of Moldova did not play an official international match until 1991, when Moldova lost to Georgia.

Moldova's first attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup was in 1998, but they failed to qualify for the tournament. Moldova has finished either last or second last in all tournament qualifying campaigns entered to date, except UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, in which they finished fifth in the seven-team Group C with 12 points.

Current sponsorship[]

German sports company Jako has been Moldova's official kit manufacturer since 2000.

• Official sponsors: , Jako, , Infront Sports & Media (Moldova), Bemol, (Moldova), , Orange (Moldova)

Results and fixtures[]

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021[]

2022[]

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following 21 players were called up for the international friendly matches against and South Korea on 21 January 2022.^[7]

All caps and goals are correct as of 21 January 2022 after the match against South Korea.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Stanislav Namașco	(1986-11-10) 10 November 1986 (age 35)	55	0	Keşla
23	1GK	Cristian Avram	(1994-07-27) 27 July 1994 (age 27)	8	0	Buzău
12	1GK	Emil Tîmbur	(1997-07-21) 21 July 1997 (age 24)	1	0	Milsami Orhei
15	2DF	Ion Jardan	(1990-01-10) 10 January 1990 (age 32)	47	0	Petrocub Hîncești
3	2DF	Vadim Bolohan	(1986-08-15) 15 August 1986 (age 35)	32	0	Milsami Orhei
8	2DF	Artur Crăciun	(1998-06-29) 29 June 1998 (age 23)	6	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
6	2DF	Ioan-Călin Revenco	(2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 (age 21)	4	0	Petrocub Hîncești
22	2DF	Artiom Litveacov	(1996-10-23) 23 October 1996 (age 25)	2	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe
2	2DF	Denis Furtuna	(1999-10-13) 13 October 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Bălți
16	3MF	Alexandru Antoniuc	(1989-05-23) 23 May 1989 (age 32)	48	3	Milsami Orhei
20	3MF	Sergiu Plătică	(1991-06-09) 9 June 1991 (age 30)	30	0	Petrocub Hîncești
14	3MF	Mihail Caimacov	(1998-07-22) 22 July 1998 (age 23)	10	0	Slaven Belupo
7	3MF	Iaser Țurcan	(1998-01-07) 7 January 1998 (age 24)	7	0	Petrocub Hîncești
9	3MF	Corneliu Cotogoi	(2001-06-23) 23 June 2001 (age 20)	5	0	Petrocub Hîncești
18	3MF	Alexandr Belousov	(1998-05-14) 14 May 1998 (age 23)	4	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
13	3MF	Victor Bogaciuc	(1999-10-17) 17 October 1999 (age 22)	3	0	Petrocub Hîncești
17	3MF	Marius Iosipoi	(2000-04-28) 28 April 2000 (age 21)	3	0	Petrocub Hîncești
5	3MF	Mihai Plătică (Captain)	(1990-03-15) 15 March 1990 (age 31)	2	1	Petrocub Hîncești
19	3MF	Dmitri Mandrîcenco	(1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 (age 24)	2	1	Inhulets Petrove
21	4FW	Maxim Cojocaru	(1998-11-13) 13 November 1998 (age 23)	5	0	Unattached
11	4FW	Virgiliu Postolachi	(2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 21)	3	0	Mouscron

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months.^[8]

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Dumitru Celeadnic	(1992-04-23) 23 April 1992 (age 29)	2	0	Sheriff Tiraspol	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
GK	Alexei Koșelev	(1993-11-19) 19 November 1993 (age 28)	25	0	Júbilo Iwata	v.  Israel, 31 March 2021
GK	Nicolai Calancea	(1986-09-29) 29 September 1986 (age 35)	19	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe	v.  Faroe Islands, 25 March 2021 PRE
DF	Maxim Potîrniche	(1989-06-13) 13 June 1989 (age 32)	14	0	Petrocub Hîncești	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022
DF	Denis Marandici	(1996-09-18) 18 September 1996 (age 25)	5	0	Celje	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022 PRE
DF	Veaceslav Posmac	(1990-11-07) 7 November 1990 (age 31)	51	2	Tuzlaspor	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
DF	Oleg Reabciuk SUS	(1998-01-16) 16 January 1998 (age 24)	31	0	Olympiacos	v.  Israel, 12 October 2021
DF	Igor Armaș	(1987-07-14) 14 July 1987 (age 34)	74	5	Voluntari	v.  Israel, 12 October 2021
DF	Daniel Dumbravanu	(2001-07-22) 22 July 2001 (age 20)	2	0	Siena	v.  Faroe Islands, 7 September 2021
DF	Igor Arhirii	(1997-02-17) 17 February 1997 (age 24)	2	0	Milsami Orhei	v.  Turkey, 3 June 2021
DF	Alexandru Epureanu	(1986-09-27) 27 September 1986 (age 35)	100	7	İstanbul Başakşehir	v.  Israel, 31 March 2021
DF	Maxim Focșa	(1992-04-21) 21 April 1992 (age 29)	1	0	Slutsk	v.  Faroe Islands, 25 March 2021 PRE
MF	Artur Ioniță	(1990-08-17) 17 August 1990 (age 31)	61	3	Benevento	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
MF	Eugeniu Cociuc	(1993-05-11) 11 May 1993 (age 28)	27	0	Pyunik Yerevan	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
MF	Cristian Dros	(1998-04-15) 15 April 1998 (age 23)	12	0	Slavia Mozyr	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
MF	Vadim Rață SUS	(1993-05-05) 5 May 1993 (age 28)	25	1	Voluntari	v.  Scotland, 12 October 2021
MF	Andrei Cojocari	(1987-01-21) 21 January 1987 (age 35)	43	2	Zimbru Chișinău	v.  Azerbaijan, 6 June 2021
MF	Gheorghe Anton	(1993-01-27) 27 January 1993 (age 29)	10	0	Brașov	v.  Azerbaijan, 6 June 2021
MF	Evgheni Oancea	(1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 26)	0	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe	v.  Azerbaijan, 6 June 2021
MF	Cătălin Carp	(1993-10-20) 20 October 1993 (age 28)	36	2	Dinamo București	v.  Israel, 31 March 2021
MF	Ion Dragan	(1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 25)	1	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe	v.  Israel, 31 March 2021
MF	Teodor Lungu	(1995-06-12) 12 June 1995 (age 26)	0	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe	v.  Faroe Islands, 25 March 2021 PRE
MF	Victor Stînă	(1998-03-20) 20 March 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Panserraikos	v.  Faroe Islands, 25 March 2021 PRE
FW	Danu Spătaru	(1994-05-24) 24 May 1994 (age 27)	22	0	Ararat-Armenia	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022
FW	Ion Nicolaescu	(1998-11-07) 7 November 1998 (age 23)	23	4	Maccabi Petah Tikva	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022 PRE
FW	Vladimir Ambros	(1993-12-30) 30 December 1993 (age 28)	12	1	Petrocub Hîncești	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022 PRE
FW	Artiom Puntus	(1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 26)	4	0	Kukësi	v.  Uganda, 18 January 2022 PRE
FW	Radu Gînsari	(1991-12-10) 10 December 1991 (age 30)	46	7	Xanthi	v.  Austria, 15 November 2021
FW	Mihail Ghecev	(1997-11-05) 5 November 1997 (age 24)	4	0	Veres Rivne	v.  Scotland, 12 October 2021
FW	Nicolae Milinceanu	(1992-08-01) 1 August 1992 (age 29)	15	2	AEL Limassol	v.  Faroe Islands, 7 September 2021
FW	Nicky Cleșcenco	(2001-07-23) 23 July 2001 (age 20)	3	0	Sion	v.  Faroe Islands, 7 September 2021
FW	Vitalie Damașcan	(1999-01-24) 24 January 1999 (age 23)	20	2	Sepsi OSK	v.  Azerbaijan, 6 June 2021
FW	Alexandru Bejan	(1996-05-07) 7 May 1996 (age 25)	0	0	Zimbru Chișinău	v.  Israel, 31 March 2021
FW	Alexandru Boiciuc	(1997-08-21) 21 August 1997 (age 24)	10	0	Universitatea Cluj	v.  Faroe Islands, 25 March 2021 PRE
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records[]

As of match played 21 January 2022^[9][10]

Players in bold are still active with Moldova.

Coaching staff[]

Current coaching staff[]

Position	Staff
Head coach	Serghei Cleșcenco
Assistant coachs	Vitalie Culibaba Sergiu Secu
Goalkeeping coach	Denis Romanenco
Fitness coach

Manager history[]

Former forward and all-time top goalscorer of Moldova is the current head coach of Moldova national team since December 2021.^[11]

Statistics correct as of match played on 21 January 2022^[12]

Coach	Nat.	Period	Played	Win	Drawn	Loss	% Won
Ion Caras		1991–1992	2	0	1	1	000.00
Eugen Piunovschi		1992	5	3	0	2	060.00
Ion Caras		1992–1997	27	5	3	19	018.52
Alexandru Mațiura (interim)		1998	1	0	0	1	000.00
Ivan Daniliants		1998–1999	14	2	7	5	014.29
Alexandru Mațiura		1999–2001	16	4	4	8	025.00
Alexandru Spiridon		2001	4	1	0	3	025.00
Viktor Pasulko		2002–2005	35	7	8	20	020.00
Anatol Teslev		2006	6	1	2	3	016.67
Igor Dobrovolski		2007–2009	30	7	9	14	023.33
Gavril Balint		2010–2011	18	5	2	11	027.78
Ion Caras		2012–2014	27	6	7	14	022.22
Alexandru Curtianu		2014–2015	10	0	4	6	000.00
Ștefan Stoica (interim)		2015	3	0	0	3	000.00
Igor Dobrovolski		2016–2017	18	2	5	11	011.11
Alexandru Spiridon		2018–2019	16	3	5	8	018.75
Semen Altman		2019	4	0	0	4	000.00
Engin Fırat		2019–2020	11	0	2	9	000.00
Roberto Bordin		2021	12	1	1	10	008.33
Serghei Cleșcenco		2022–	2	0	0	2	000.00

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup[]

FIFA World Cup record											Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1938	Part of  Romania										Part of  Romania
1950 to 1990	Part of  Soviet Union										Part of  Soviet Union
1994	Not a FIFA member										Not a FIFA member[13]
1998	Did not qualify										5th	8	0	0	8	2	21
2002											5th	10	1	3	6	6	20
2006											6th	10	1	2	7	5	16
2010											6th	10	0	3	7	6	18
2014											5th	10	3	2	5	12	17
2018											6th	10	0	2	8	4	23
2022											6th	10	0	1	9	5	30
2026	To be determined										To be determined
Total	0/7										–	68	5	13	50	40	145

UEFA European Championship[]

UEFA European Championship record											Qualifying record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1992	Part of  Soviet Union and  CIS										Part of  Soviet Union and  CIS
1996	Did not qualify										4th	10	3	0	7	11	27
2000											5th	8	0	4	4	7	17
2004											4th	8	2	0	6	5	19
2008											5th	12	3	3	6	12	19
2012											5th	10	3	0	7	12	16
2016											6th	10	0	2	8	4	16
2020											6th	10	1	0	9	4	26
2024	To be determined										To be determined
Total	0/7										–	68	12	9	47	55	140

UEFA Nations League[]

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	6	2	3	1	4	5		48th
2020–21	C	6	0	1	5	1	11	TBD	48th
2022–23	To be detemined
Total		12	2	4	6	5	16	48th

By competition[]

Competition	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Loss %
FIFA World Cup qualification	68	5	13	50	40	145	–105	7.35	73.53
UEFA European qualification	68	12	9	47	55	140	–85	17.65	69.12
UEFA Nations League	12	2	4	6	5	16	–11	16.67	50.00
Total	148	19	26	103	100	301	–201	12.84	69.59

Head-to-head record[]

Last match updated was against  Austria on 15 November 2021.^[14]

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Albania	5	0	1	4	2	12	−10	000.00
Andorra	6	4	1	1	8	3	+5	066.67
Armenia	5	1	3	1	7	5	+2	020.00
Austria	8	1	0	7	3	14	−11	012.50
Azerbaijan	11	4	5	2	9	6	+3	036.36
Belarus	9	2	4	3	7	10	−3	022.22
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	050.00
Bulgaria	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	000.00
Cameroon	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Canada	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Congo	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Croatia	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	000.00
Cyprus	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Czech Republic	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	000.00
Denmark	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12	000.00
El Salvador	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
England	4	0	0	4	0	16	−16	000.00
Estonia	5	1	1	3	1	3	−2	020.00
Faroe Islands	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Finland	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	025.00
France	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	000.00
Georgia	12	4	4	4	14	17	−3	033.33
Germany	4	0	0	4	3	18	−15	000.00
Greece	7	0	1	6	2	13	−11	000.00
Hungary	7	1	2	4	6	10	−4	014.29
Iceland	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	000.00
Indonesia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Iraq	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Israel	8	0	3	5	6	14	−8	000.00
Italy	5	0	0	5	2	15	−13	000.00
Ivory Coast	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Jordan	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	050.00
Kazakhstan	5	2	1	2	4	5	−1	040.00
Kosovo	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Kyrgyzstan	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Latvia	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	033.33
Liechtenstein	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Lithuania	8	2	4	2	9	11	−2	025.00
Luxembourg	6	1	4	1	3	6	−3	016.67
Malta	7	3	3	1	7	6	+1	042.86
Montenegro	4	1	0	3	5	7	−2	025.00
Netherlands	4	0	0	4	1	9	−8	000.00
North Macedonia	3	0	3	0	3	3	+0	000.00
Northern Ireland	2	0	2	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Norway	5	0	1	4	1	6	−5	000.00
Pakistan	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00
Poland	6	0	1	5	2	10	−8	000.00
Portugal	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	000.00
Qatar	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Republic of Ireland	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	000.00
Romania[a]	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	000.00
Russia	4	0	2	2	2	4	−2	000.00
San Marino	8	8	0	0	17	0	+17	100.00
Saudi Arabia	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
Scotland	4	0	1	3	1	6	−5	000.00
Serbia	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	000.00
Slovakia	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	033.33
Slovenia	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9	000.00
South Korea	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Sudan	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Sweden	8	0	0	8	3	21	−18	000.00
Switzerland	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	000.00
Turkey	12	0	2	10	3	31	−28	000.00
Ukraine	5	0	2	3	3	6	−3	000.00
United Arab Emirates	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
United States	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	000.00
Venezuela	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Wales	4	1	0	3	3	9	−6	025.00
Total	257	47	59	151	197	435	−238	018.29
^ Moldova have played four more matches (0–1–3) against Romania, but they are not considered official.[14]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moldova national football team.

• Federația Moldovenească de Fotbal (in Romanian and Russian)
• RSSSF archive of results: 1991–present (in English)
• Reports for all matches of Moldova national team (in English)