The Moldova national football team ( ro, Echipa națională de fotbal a Moldovei) represents

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

in international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and is controlled by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for

football in Moldova After gaining its independence from the USSR in 1992, Moldova became a member of FIFA in 1994. Football is the most popular sport in Moldova. In qualification for Euro 2004, Moldova beat Austria 1-0 and Belarus 2–1, but lost to the Netherla ...

. Moldova's home ground is Zimbru Stadium in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the middle of the ...

and their head coach is Serghei Cleșcenco. Shortly before the break-up of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, they played their first match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on 2 July 1991. Two of their three best results in the 1990s came during the qualifiers for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, with wins over

(1–0) in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

(3–2) in Chișinău. In 2007, Moldova obtained a very good result, defeating

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

3–0 in Chișinău in Euro 2008 qualifying. Their best recent result was a 5–2 win over

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The team has never qualified for the final stages of the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

nor the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

as of present time. Following Moldova's 4–0 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in September 1997, British writer and comedian

Tony Hawks Antony Gordon Hawksworth, MBE (born February 27, 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and Bright ...

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

. Moldova's first attempt to qualify for the

was in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 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 Jako AG is a German sportswear company based in the Hollenbach district of Mulfingen, Baden-Württemberg. The company was founded by Rudi Sprügel in 1989 in Stachenhausen. Jako provides kits for teams playing association football, handball, ...

has been Moldova's official kit manufacturer since 2000. * Official sponsors: Bere Chișinău,

, Rusnac, Infront Sports & Media (Moldova), Bemol, iTicket (Moldova), Vizită, Orange (Moldova)

Results and fixtures

2022

2023

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 16 and 20 November 2022. ''Caps and goals updated as of 16 November 2022, after the match against

Recent call-ups

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

:''Players in bold are still active with Moldova.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

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''

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Nations League

By competition

Head-to-head record

:''Last match updated was against on 25 September 2022.''

References

External links

Federația Moldovenească de Fotbal

Reports for all matches of Moldova national team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldova National Football Team Football in Moldova European national association football teams