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
1990s
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.[2][3]
Moldova became a UEFA member in 1993 and a FIFA member in 1994.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] Moldova also placed last in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. The Moldovans obtained 4 draws, two with Northern Ireland, one each with Turkey and Finland.[7]
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.
2020s
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.[19]
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.[20] 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[21][22] and were one win away from qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024.[23] 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.[24][25]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.[26]
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.[28] 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.
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.
↑Additional matches are scheduled to be played in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first world cup, however they are not considered to be official hosts of the tournament.[36]
↑Due to the Gaza war, Israel were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[29]
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(19 January 2026) [1] 
Moldova 2–4 Georgia 
United States 1–1 Moldova 
Pakistan 0–5 Moldova 
Norway 11–1 Moldova 
