Moldova national under-21 football team

Moldova Under-21
Nickname(s)	Tricolorii mici (The Young Tricolours)
Association	Moldovan Football Federation (FMF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Serghei Cebotari
Captain	Artiom Dijinari
Home stadium	Zimbru Stadium; Nisporeni Central Stadium
FIFA code	MDA
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Moldova 0–1 Belarus ; (Chișinău, Moldova; 30 August 1992)
Biggest win
	Moldova 5–1 Georgia ; (Valletta, Malta; 27 February 2006); Gibraltar 0–4 Moldova ; (Gibraltar; 29 March 2022)
Biggest defeat
	Greece 8–0 Moldova ; (Sparta, Greece; 23 October 1996)
Website	fmf.md (in Romanian)

The Moldova national under-21 football team represents Moldova in international football at this age level and is controlled by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Moldova. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the senior Moldovan national football team. The team competes to qualify for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Since the establishment of the Moldovan under-21 team, the under-21 side has never reached a final tournament of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but has produced many players, who have become regular internationals for the senior side. The team is coached by Serghei Cebotari.^[1]^[2]

This team is for Moldovan players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Moldova U21s began their first competitive campaign in 1994, in which they tried to qualify for the 1996 finals. They eventually finished fourth in a five-team group, with two wins out of eight games. The U-21 team plays its home matches in many different venues all around the country, including Chișinău, Orhei and Tiraspol.

Results and fixtures

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

2024

11 June 2024 (2024-06-11) Friendly	Slovakia	0–1	Moldova	Senec, Slovakia
		Report	Răileanu 19' (pen.)	Stadium: NTC Senec Attendance: 338 Referee: Jakob Semler (Austria)

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05) 2025 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Georgia	3–0	Moldova	Batumi, Georgia
	Mamageishvili 14' Kvernadze 49' Abuashvili 72'	Report		Stadium: Adjarabet Arena Attendance: 5,250 Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov (Bulgaria)

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) 2025 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	0–0	Sweden	Nisporeni, Moldova
		Report		Stadium: Stadionul Central Nisporeni Attendance: 2,070 Referee: Sayat Karabayev (Kazakhstan)

11 October 2024 (2024-10-11) 2025 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	North Macedonia	2–1	Moldova	Skopje, North Macedonia
	Feta 11' Kamberi 90+4'	Report	Răileanu 90+5'	Stadium: Petar Miloševski Training Centre Attendance: 280 Referee: Martin Dohal (Slovakia)

15 November 2024 (2024-11-15) Friendly	Albania	1–1	Moldova	Tirana, Albania
	Rashica 10' (pen.)	Report	Costin 79'	Stadium: Vora Stadium Referee: Ermis Çelaj (Albania)

18 November 2024 (2024-11-18) Friendly	Albania	4–0	Moldova	Tirana, Albania
	Rashica 17' Ismaili 55' Rama 88' Daka 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Vora Stadium Referee: Olsion Yzeiraj (Albania)

2025

20 March 2025 (2025-03-20) Friendly	Moldova	1–1	Northern Ireland	Belek, Turkey
	Rotaru 8'	Report	Oudni-Morgan 69' (pen.)	Stadium: Cornelia Sports Centre Referee: Hakan Yurtseven (Turkey)

22 March 2025 (2025-03-22) Friendly	Moldova	0–2	Azerbaijan	Belek, Turkey
		Report	Mammadov 25' Shafiyev 40'	Stadium: Cornelia Sports Centre

25 March 2025 (2025-03-25) Friendly	Moldova	1–2	Kosovo	Belek, Turkey
	Rotaru 46'	Report	Gashi 7' Krasniqi 65'	Stadium: Cornelia Sports Centre

10 June 2025 (2025-06-10) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	v	Andorra	Nisporeni, Moldova
		Report		Stadium: Stadionul Central Nisporeni

4 September 2025 (2025-09-04) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	v	Republic of Ireland	Moldova
		Report

9 September 2025 (2025-09-09) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	v	Slovakia	Moldova
		Report

10 October 2025 (2025-10-10) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	v	England	Moldova
		Report

14 October 2025 (2025-10-14) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Slovakia	v	Moldova	Slovakia
		Report

17 November 2025 (2025-11-17) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Kazakhstan	v	Moldova	Kazakhstan
		Report

2026

26 March 2026 (2026-03-26) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Republic of Ireland	v	Moldova	Republic of Ireland
		Report

30 March 2026 (2026-03-30) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	England	v	Moldova	England
		Report

2 October 2026 (2026-10-02) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Andorra	v	Moldova	Andorra
		Report

6 October 2026 (2026-10-06) 2027 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying	Moldova	v	Kazakhstan	Moldova
		Report

2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Group D

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	England	Final tournament
2	Republic of Ireland	Play-offs
3	Slovakia
4	Moldova
5	Kazakhstan
6	Andorra

First match(es) will be played: 5 June 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Serghei Cebotari
Assistant coach	Simeon Bulgaru
Goalkeeping coach	Serghei Botnaraș

Last updated: 31 January 2025
Source: FMF

Manager history

Coach	Nat.	Period
Anatol Teslev		1995–1996
Alexandru Spiridon		2000–2001
Alexandru Guzun		2002–2003
Vladimir Vusatîi		2003–2004
Boris Tropaneț		2004–2007
Ilie Carp		2007–2008
Sergiu Chirilov		2008–2011
Alexandru Curtianu		2011–2014
Igor Ursachi		2014–2015
Dănuț Oprea		2015–2017
Serghei Cleșcenco		2019–2020
Alexandru Guzun		2020
Ștefan Stoica		2021–2025
Serghei Cebotari		2025–

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the friendly matches against Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and Kosovo between 20 and 25 March 2025.

Caps and goals are correct as of 25 March 2025, after the match against Kosovo.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Artur Nazarciuc	(2004-01-06) 6 January 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Bălți
12	1GK	Roman Lazăr	(2004-01-14) 14 January 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Reggina
23	1GK	Daniel Vîrlan	(2005-09-18) 18 September 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Spartanii Sportul

2	2DF	Danila Forov	(2004-01-07) 7 January 2004 (age 21)	6	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
3	2DF	Mihail Gherasimencov	(2005-03-25) 25 March 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Cavalry
4	2DF	Vlad Coliș	(2004-01-24) 24 January 2004 (age 21)	5	0	Dacia Buiucani
5	2DF	Artiom Dijinari (captain)	(2005-10-26) 26 October 2005 (age 19)	8	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
13	2DF	Vasile Luchița	(2004-07-16) 16 July 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Milsami Orhei
14	2DF	Petar Gospodinov	(2005-03-09) 9 March 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Septemvri Sofia II
16	2DF	Iulian Bejan	(2004-03-04) 4 March 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Victoria Chișinău
17	2DF	Daniele Grosu	(2005-11-20) 20 November 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Treviso

6	3MF	Vladislav Costin	(2004-02-24) 24 February 2004 (age 21)	3	1	Sheriff-2 Tiraspol
8	3MF	Cristian Păscăluță	(2005-09-08) 8 September 2005 (age 19)	10	0	Petrocub Hîncești
10	3MF	Sergiu Perciun	(2006-04-23) 23 April 2006 (age 19)	2	0	Torino
18	3MF	Ovidiu David	(2006-10-24) 24 October 2006 (age 18)	3	0	Academia Rebeja
19	3MF	Pavel Nazari	(2005-06-12) 12 June 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Spartanii Sportul
20	3MF	Lucian Radu	(2005-11-01) 1 November 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Zimbru Chișinău

7	4FW	Mihai Lupan	(2004-09-08) 8 September 2004 (age 20)	13	1	Petrocub Hîncești
9	4FW	Nicu Rotaru	(2005-12-19) 19 December 2005 (age 19)	6	2	Spartanii Sportul
11	4FW	Veaceslav Cozma	(2005-03-01) 1 March 2005 (age 20)	3	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
21	4FW	Ion Ciobanu	(2006-02-13) 13 February 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Union Berlin U19
22	4FW	Vlad Lupașco	(2005-02-11) 11 February 2005 (age 20)	10	0	Dacia Buiucani
24	4FW	Serghei Țurcan	(2004-07-27) 27 July 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Spartanii Sportul
25	4FW	Vitalie Dumbrava	(2004-04-23) 23 April 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Dacia Buiucani

Recent call-ups

Players born in or after 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players have also been called up in the past to the Moldova under-21 squad and remain eligible to play in the qualification matches for 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Victor Dodon	(2004-03-01) 1 March 2004 (age 21)	5	0	Petrocub Hîncești	v. Albania, 18 November 2024
GK	Nicolae Danko Ciobanu	(2005-12-06) 6 December 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Livorno	v. Slovakia, 11 June 2024

DF	Cristian Martin	(2004-12-22) 22 December 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Gilortul Târgu Cărbunești	v. Albania, 18 November 2024
DF	Leo Saca	(2007-01-03) 3 January 2007 (age 18)	7	0	Barcelona Atlètic	v. Albania, 15 November 2024 ^INJ
DF	Danis Baciu	(2005-02-01) 1 February 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Dacia Buiucani	v. North Macedonia, 11 October 2024

MF	Marius Ursu	(2005-01-01) 1 January 2005 (age 20)	1	0	Bacău	v. Albania, 18 November 2024
MF	Alexandru Gău	(2004-01-27) 27 January 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Minaur Baia Mare	v. Albania, 18 November 2024
MF	Ștefan Bîtca	(2005-09-25) 25 September 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Zimbru Chișinău	v. Albania, 18 November 2024

FW	Victor Ciumașu	(2005-06-24) 24 June 2005 (age 19)	3	0	Bacău	v. Albania, 18 November 2024
^INJ Withdrew due to injury ^PRE Preliminary squad / standby ^SUS Serving suspension ^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Competition history

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

1978 to 1992 – see Soviet Union

UEFA U-21 European Championship										UEFA U-21 Qualification record^[3]
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Campaign
1996	Did not qualify									8	2	2	4	5	11	1996
1998										8	1	1	6	5	17	1998
2000										8	0	4	4	3	10	2000
2002										10	2	3	5	6	13	2002
2004										8	0	2	6	3	14	2004
2006										10	3	2	5	8	12	2006
2007										4	1	2	1	4	5	2007	2007
2009										8	4	0	4	6	8	2009
2011										10	4	2	4	9	13	2011
2013										8	2	1	5	10	24	2013
2015										10	5	1	4	12	6	2015
2017										10	2	1	7	8	18	2017
2019										10	2	1	7	8	23	2019
2021										8	2	1	5	6	22	2021
2023										10	3	3	4	7	12	2023
2025										10	2	1	7	7	20	2025
2027	In progress									0	0	0	0	0	0	2027
Total	0/16									140	35	27	78	107	228

Head-to-head record

Only competitive matches are included and correct as of 11 October 2024.^[4]

Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Albania	2	1	0	1	5	5	0
Andorra	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Austria	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2
Azerbaijan	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Belarus	6	2	1	3	8	12	−4
Belgium	4	1	0	3	3	8	−5
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4
Bulgaria	4	0	2	2	0	4	−4
Croatia	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7
Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	6	0	0	6	3	16	−13
Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
England	5	0	1	4	2	9	−7
Estonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Faroe Islands	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Finland	4	1	1	2	2	3	−1
France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	6	1	1	4	2	9	−7
Germany	8	1	1	6	4	20	−16
Gibraltar	4	3	0	1	9	3	+6
Greece	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6
Hungary	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Israel	2	1	0	1	1	1	0
Italy	4	0	0	4	0	11	−11
Kazakhstan	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Kosovo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Latvia	4	2	1	1	4	4	0
Liechtenstein	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lithuania	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6
Luxembourg	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Malta	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1
Montenegro	2	1	0	1	1	1	0
Netherlands	6	0	2	4	2	14	−12
North Macedonia	4	2	0	2	6	5	+1
Northern Ireland	4	0	2	2	1	5	−4
Norway	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1
Poland	4	2	0	2	8	8	0
Portugal	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7
Republic of Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Romania	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Russia	4	0	1	3	3	14	−11
San Marino	4	4	0	0	8	0	+8
Scotland	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
Serbia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	2	0	1	1	0	3	−3
Slovenia	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sweden	4	0	1	3	0	9	−9
Switzerland	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5
Turkey	4	0	2	2	3	6	−3
Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wales	8	3	2	3	4	6	−2
Total	140	35	27	78	107	228	−121

References

^ "Lot". fmf.md.
^ "Staff-ul tehnic". fmf.md.
^ "Statistics". RSSSF.
^ "H2H". fmf.md.

External links

Moldova U-21 at uefa.com
Moldova U-21 at soccerway

[1] "Lot". fmf.md.

[2] "Staff-ul tehnic". fmf.md.

[3] "Statistics". RSSSF.

[4] "H2H". fmf.md.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Football in Moldova
Moldovan Football Federation (FMF)
National teams	Men's U-21 U-19 U-17 Women's U-19 U-17
League system	Super Liga Liga 1 Liga 2 (North & South) Women's League
Domestic cups	Moldovan Cup Moldovan Super Cup Moldovan Women's Cup
List of clubs List of leagues List of stadiums