Moldova national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Moldova women's national football team.

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 Serghei Cleșcenco. Shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Georgia on 2 July 1991.

Moldova

Association	Federația Moldovenească de Fotbal (FMF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Serghei Cleșcenco
Captain	Artur Ioniță
Most caps	Alexandru Epureanu (100)
Top scorer	Serghei Cleșcenco (11)
Home stadium	Zimbru Stadium
FIFA code	MDA
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	171 3 (6 April 2023)
Highest	37 (April 2008)
Lowest	181 (October 2021)
First international
Unofficial Moldova 2–4 Georgia (Chişinău, Moldavian SSR; 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)

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: Bere Chișinău, Jako, Rusnac, Infront Sports & Media (Moldova), Bemol, iTicket (Moldova), Vizită, Orange (Moldova)

Results and fixtures

Main articles: Moldova national football team results (2020–present) and Moldova national football team results

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

2022

Liechtenstein v Moldova

3 June 2022 (2022-06-03) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–2	Moldova	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Nicolaescu 5' (pen.) Bolohan 90+1'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 903 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Andorra v Moldova

6 June 2022 (2022-06-06) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Andorra	0–0	Moldova	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
20:45		Report		Stadium: Estadi Nacional Attendance: 756 Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Switzerland)

Moldova v Latvia

10 June 2022 (2022-06-10) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Moldova	2–4	Latvia	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45	Nicolaescu 5' (pen.) Moțpan 64'	Report	Gutkovskis 19', 60' J. Ikaunieks 26', 75'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 4,842 Referee: Andrew Madley (England)

Moldova v Andorra

14 June 2022 (2022-06-14) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Moldova	2–1	Andorra	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45	Caimacov 26' (pen.) Nicolaescu 50' (pen.)	Report	M. Vieira 45+4'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 4,275 Referee: Peter Kjaesgaard (Denmark)

Latvia v Moldova

22 September 2022 (2022-09-22) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Latvia	1–2	Moldova	Riga, Latvia
20:45	Ikaunieks 55'	Report	Revenco 26' Nicolaescu 45'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 6,711 Referee: António Nobre (Portugal)

Moldova v Liechtenstein

25 September 2022 (2022-09-25) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Moldova	2–0	Liechtenstein	Chişinău, Moldova
17:45	Stînă 90+2', 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 5,774 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

Moldova v Azerbaijan

16 November 2022 Friendly	Moldova	1–2	Azerbaijan	Chişinău, Moldova
19:00	Moțpan 90+2'	Report	Mahmudov 28' Isayev 42'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 3,742 Referee: Denys Shurman (Ukraine)

Moldova v Romania

20 November 2022 Friendly	Moldova	0–5	Romania	Chişinău, Moldova
20:30			Moruțan 9' Drăguș 40' Cicâldău 61' Paraschiv 71' (pen.) Rus 88'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 6,145 Referee: Yaşar Kemal Uğurlu (Turkey)

2023

Moldova v Faroe Islands

24 March 2023 (2023-03-24) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Moldova	1–1	Faroe Islands	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45	Nicolaescu 87' (pen.)	Report	Mikkelsen 27'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 4,732 Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland)

Moldova v Czech Republic

27 March 2023 (2023-03-27) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Moldova	0–0	Czech Republic	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45		Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 5,120 Referee: Daniel Schlager (Germany)

Albania v Moldova

17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Albania	v	Moldova	Tirana, Albania
20:45		Report		Stadium: Arena Kombëtare

Moldova v Poland

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Moldova	v	Poland	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45		Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium

Faroe Islands v Moldova

10 September 2023 (2023-09-10) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Faroe Islands	v	Moldova	Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
20:45		Report		Stadium: Tórsvøllur

Sweden v Moldova

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12) Friendly	Sweden	v	Moldova	Solna, Sweden
				Stadium: Friends Arena

Poland v Moldova

15 October 2023 (2023-10-15) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Poland	v	Moldova	TBD, Poland
20:45		Report		Stadium: TBD

Moldova v Albania

17 November 2023 (2023-11-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Moldova	v	Albania	Chișinău, Moldova
20:45		Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium

Czech Republic v Moldova

20 November 2023 (2023-11-20) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Czech Republic	v	Moldova	Prague, Czech Republic
20:45		Report		Stadium: Sinobo Stadium

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Serghei Cleșcenco
Assistant coaches	Vitalie Culibaba Sergiu Secu
Goalkeeping coach	Denis Romanenco
Fitness coach	Alexei Scorpan

Last updated: 30 March 2021
Source: FMF

Manager history

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

Statistics correct as of match played on 25 September 2022

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–	10	5	1	4	050.00

Players

Current squad

The following 23 players were selected for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches on 24 and 27 March 2023 against Faroe Islands and Czech Republic, respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 27 March 2023, after the match against Czech Republic.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Dumitru Celeadnic	(1992-04-23) 23 April 1992	6	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
12	1GK	Cristian Avram	(1994-07-27) 27 July 1994	9	0	Petrocub Hîncești
23	1GK	Dorian Răilean	(1993-10-13) 13 October 1993	8	0	Unirea Dej
	1GK	Victor Străistari	(1999-06-21) 21 June 1999	0	0	Bălți
3	2DF	Mihail Ștefan	(2001-08-07) 7 August 2001	0	0	Sfîntul Gheorghe
4	2DF	Victor Mudrac	(1994-03-03) 3 March 1994	10	0	Petrocub Hîncești
5	2DF	Veaceslav Posmac	(1990-11-07) 7 November 1990	61	2	Boluspor
14	2DF	Artur Crăciun	(1998-06-29) 29 June 1998	14	0	Hapoel Kfar Saba
15	2DF	Ion Jardan	(1990-01-10) 10 January 1990	49	0	Petrocub Hîncești
20	2DF	Sergiu Plătică	(1991-06-09) 9 June 1991	39	0	Petrocub Hîncești
21	2DF	Ioan-Călin Revenco	(2000-06-26) 26 June 2000	15	1	Petrocub Hîncești
	2DF	Daniel Dumbravanu	(2001-07-22) 22 July 2001	5	0	SPAL
	2DF	Oleg Reabciuk	(1998-01-16) 16 January 1998	39	0	Olympiacos
2	3MF	Alexandr Belousov	(1998-05-14) 14 May 1998	5	0	Spartak Varna
6	3MF	Cristian Dros	(1998-04-15) 15 April 1998	14	0	Slavia Mozyr
7	3MF	Serafim Cojocari	(2001-01-07) 7 January 2001	2	0	Bălți
8	3MF	Nichita Moțpan	(2001-07-17) 17 July 2001	8	2	Bălți
11	3MF	Mihail Caimacov	(1998-07-22) 22 July 1998	20	1	Torpedo Moscow
16	3MF	Victor Stînă	(1998-03-20) 20 March 1998	7	2	Panserraikos
17	3MF	Victor Bogaciuc	(1999-10-17) 17 October 1999	3	0	Petrocub Hîncești
22	3MF	Vadim Rață (captain)	(1993-05-05) 5 May 1993	36	1	Voluntari
9	4FW	Ion Nicolaescu	(1998-09-07) 7 September 1998	32	10	Beitar Jerusalem
10	4FW	Vitalie Damașcan	(1999-01-24) 24 January 1999	26	2	Voluntari
13	4FW	Maxim Cojocaru	(1998-01-13) 13 January 1998	11	0	Petrocub Hîncești
18	4FW	Marius Iosipoi	(2000-04-28) 28 April 2000	6	0	Petrocub Hîncești
19	4FW	Virgiliu Postolachi	(2000-03-17) 17 March 2000	9	0	UTA Arad

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Stanislav Namașco	(1986-11-10) 10 November 1986	57	0	Bălți	v. Andorra, 14 June 2022
DF	Igor Armaș	(1987-07-14) 14 July 1987	83	6	Voluntari	v. Romania, 20 November 2022
DF	Iurie Iovu	(2002-07-06) 6 July 2002	3	0	Istra 1961	v. Romania, 20 November 2022
DF	Vadim Bolohan	(1986-08-15) 15 August 1986	40	1	Milsami Orhei	v. Romania, 20 November 2022
DF	Denis Marandici	(1996-09-18) 18 September 1996	7	0	Zrinjski Mostar	v. Andorra, 14 June 2022
MF	Artur Ioniță	(1990-08-17) 17 August 1990	67	3	Modena	v. Romania, 20 November 2022INJ
MF	Mihai Plătică	(1990-03-15) 15 March 1990	9	1	Petrocub Hîncești	v. Romania, 20 November 2022
MF	Eugeniu Cociuc	(1993-05-11) 11 May 1993	29	0	Pyunik	v. Azerbaijan, 16 November 2022
MF	Radu Gînsari	(1991-12-10) 10 December 1991	47	7	Milsami Orhei	v. Andorra, 14 June 2022
MF	Dmitri Mandrîcenco	(1997-05-13) 13 May 1997	5	1	Inhulets Petrove	v. Andorra, 14 June 2022
FW	Nicky Cleșcenco	(2001-07-23) 23 July 2001	4	0	Sion	v. Azerbaijan, 16 November 2022
FW	Andrei Cobeț	(1997-01-03) 3 January 1997	2	0	Slavia Mozyr	v. Andorra, 14 June 2022
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

Main article: List of Moldova international footballers

As of match played 25 September 2022

Players in bold are still active with Moldova.

Most appearances

Alexandru Epureanu is Moldova's most capped player with 100 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Alexandru Epureanu	100	7	2006–2021
2	Igor Armaș	81	6	2008–present
3	Victor Golovatenco	79	3	2004–2017
4	Radu Rebeja	74	2	1991–2008
5	Serghei Cleșcenco	69	11	1991–2006
6	Eugeniu Cebotaru	68	1	2007–2020
7	Artur Ioniță	65	3	2009–present
8	Alexandru Gațcan	63	5	2005–2018
9	Alexandru Suvorov	59	5	2006–2020
	Veaceslav Posmac	59	2	2013–present

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Average	Career
1	Serghei Cleșcenco	11	69	0.16	1991–2006
2	Ion Nicolaescu	9	31	0.29	2018–present
	Serghei Rogaciov	9	52	0.17	1996–2007
4	Sergiu Dadu	8	30	0.27	2002–2013
	Iurie Miterev	8	36	0.22	1992–2006
	Igor Bugaiov	8	54	0.15	2007–2017
7	Eugen Sidorenco	7	35	0.2	2010–2019
	Viorel Frunză	7	37	0.19	2002–2015
	Radu Gînsari	7	47	0.15	2012–present
	Alexandru Epureanu	7	100	0.07	2006–2021

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
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
Year	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	2	6	2	3	1	4	5		48th
2020–21	C	3	8	0	2	6	3	13		48th
2022–23	D	1	6	4	1	1	10	6		51st
2024–25	D	To be determined
Total			20	6	6	8	17	24	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	70	12	11	47	56	141	–85	17.14	67.14
UEFA Nations League	20	7	5	8	17	24	–7	35.00	40.00
Total	158	24	29	105	113	310	–197	15.19	66.46

Head-to-head record

Last match updated was against Liechtenstein on 25 September 2022.

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Albania	5	0	1	4	2	12	−10	000.00
Andorra	8	5	2	1	10	4	+6	062.50
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	7	3	1	3	6	7	−1	042.86
Kosovo	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Kyrgyzstan	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Latvia	5	2	0	3	9	11	−2	040.00
Liechtenstein	4	2	1	1	5	2	+3	050.00
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	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	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	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
Uganda	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	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	267	52	60	155	211	450	−239	019.48

External links

• Official website of the 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)