Moldova national football team

The Moldova national football team (Romanian: Echipa națională de fotbal a Moldovei) represents Moldova in men's international football and is administered by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Moldova. Moldova's home ground is Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău. 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 2020s came during the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2024, with a win over Poland (3–2) in Chișinău, coming back from a 0–2 deficit, and a draw against Czech Republic (0–0) in Chișinău. In 2007, Moldova upset Hungary 3–0 in Chișinău in Euro 2008 qualifying. Another notable 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 since first entering qualifying in 1994.

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.

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 4–2 to Georgia. Alexandru Spiridon was the first player to score a goal in the team's history.

Moldova entered the 1992 Jordan International Tournament, a tournament consisting of friendly matches. Moldova obtained its biggest win to date, a 5–0 victory against Pakistan, in which Serghei Alexandrov scored four goals, this being Moldova's first hat-trick. Moldova's second hat-trick was scored by Iurie Miterev in a 3–1 win against Congo in the same tournament.^[3][4]

Moldova became a UEFA member in 1993 and a FIFA member in 1994.^[5] Moldova's first match recognised by FIFA was a 1–1 draw against the United States. Moldova's first attempt to qualify for an international tournament was in UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying, its first competitive match being a 1–0 win over Georgia. The Moldovans beat Georgia twice and Wales once, placing 4th out of 6 and failing to qualify.^[6] Moldova's following qualifying campaign, their first attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, was the 1998 qualifiers, but they lost all matches, placing last in the group.^[7] Moldova also placed last in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. The Moldovans obtained 4 draws, two with Northern Ireland, one each with Turkey and Finland.^[8]

In 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification Moldova lost 6–0 against Sweden, which stood as its biggest defeat for almost 20 years. Moldova was the second-last team in the group above Azerbaijan, which it beat 2–0.^[9] In UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying the Moldovans beat Austria and Belarus, placing above the latter in the group.^[10] Moldova finished last in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, however it drew with Norway and Scotland.^[11]

In a 2006 friendly against Lithuania, Serghei Cleșcenco scored his 11th and last goal, remaining Moldova's top goalscorer until 2023.^[12] In UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Moldova finished fifth in the seven-team Group C with 12 points, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 and Hungary 3–0.^[13] Following these qualifiers Moldova placed 37th in April 2008 FIFA Ranking, the highest position it ever reached.^[14] In 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification the Moldovans placed last in the group. They drew with Greece once and Luxembourg twice.^[15] Between the games for these qualifiers Moldova beat Armenia 4–1 in Yerevan in a friendly match.^[16]

Moldova beat Finland 2–0 in Euro 2012 qualifying, placing only above San Marino.^[17] The Moldovans finished only above San Marino again in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, but they beat Montenegro 5–2 and drew with Ukraine and Poland.^[18] During UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Moldova achieved a 1–1 draw against Russia at Moscow during UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. The equalising goal was Alexandru Epureanu's last international goal, who went on to become the first Moldovan with 100 appearances for the national team.^[19] In the same competition, Moldova suffered a humiliating 0–1 defeat against the Liechtenstein on home ground, placing last in the group. In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification the Moldovans placed last in the group again, only obtaining two draws with Georgia.

In the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, the Moldovans played in League D, the competition's lowest division. They placed third in their group, above San Marino. Moldova's victory over them was its first competitive win since 2014. In UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Moldova suffered another disappointing result, a 0–1 loss to Andorra, finishing last in the group.

Moldova was the best third-placed team of 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D and obtained promotion to 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C due to a revamp of the competition's format. Moldova obtained only one point, a draw with the Kosovo, placing last in its group. Thus, Moldova had to play the relegation play-outs. Between the matches for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, Moldova suffered a 6–0 defeat to Italy in a friendly match, which equaled Moldova's worst defeat at the time.^[20]

In 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Moldova obtained only one point, a draw with the Faroe Islands. Moldova also suffered what was at the time its worst defeat ever during these qualifiers, an 8–0 loss against Denmark. During these qualifiers Moldova placed 181st in October 2021 FIFA Ranking, the lowest position it ever reached.^[21] After losing to Kazakhstan on penalties in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League relegation play-outs, the Moldovans were relegated to 2022–23 UEFA Nations League D. Moldova was tied on points with Latvia, but because of a lower goal difference placed second, failing to achieve promotion.

The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying was a watershed moment for Moldova. The Moldovans came agonisingly close to a historic Euro debut, acquiring ten points in a group of five; the Moldovans also gained an impressive feat by being undefeated at home throughout the qualification, including a historic shock 3–2 comeback win over Poland^[22][23] and were one win away from qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024.^[24] However, a denting away loss to the Czech Republic in the final matchday killed off Moldova's qualification hopes, as they finished fourth and were eliminated due to an inferior record.^[25][26] Ion Nicolaescu scored his 11th and 12th international goals in the 3–2 win against Poland, becoming Moldova's top goal scorer. With 4 goals in the competition, he became the first Moldovan to be the top goal scorer of a qualifying group.^[27]

On 9 September 2025, Moldova suffered their biggest defeat ever in a 11–1 loss against Norway at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway, where Erling Haaland scored 5 goals in this match. Two days after the match, Serghei Cleșcenco resigned as Moldova's head coach.^[28]

Official sponsors: maib, Mastercard, Orange, Jako, OM, Cricova, Invitro Diagnostics, Estate Invest Company.

The Moldova national football team plays its official games at Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău. The stadium is a privately held structure, but is under administration of FMF until 2026.^[29] The senior team, along with youth teams use Stadionul CPSM for training purposes. It is located in Vadul lui Vodă, a village along the Dniester River, approximately 25 kilometres from Chișinău.

From 1991 to 2006, Moldova played its matches at the Republican Stadium in Chișinău. The team also played its home matches in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying and some friendlies, the latest in 2013, at Sheriff Arena in Tiraspol.

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

Former Moldova international Lilian Popescu is the current head coach of Moldova since September 2025.^[30]

As of 16 November 2025^[31]

The following players were selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Italy and Israel on 13 and 16 November 2025, respectively.^[32]

Caps and goals are correct as of 16 November 2025, after the match against Israel.

The following players have also been called up to the Moldova squad within the last 12 months.^[33]

As of 16 November 2025^[34][35]

Players in bold are still active with Moldova.

As of 16 November 2025, after the match against Israel.^[37]

• Football in Moldova
• Moldova national under-21 football team
• Moldova national under-19 football team
• Moldova national under-17 football team
• Moldova national futsal team
• Moldova national beach soccer team

• Official website of the Moldovan Football Federation (in Romanian, Russian, and English)
• Moldova at FIFA
• Moldova at UEFA
• RSSSF archive of results: 1991–present (in English)
• Reports for all matches of Moldova national team (in English)