In the first match Moldova lost to the Italians (0:2) // Photo: football-italia.net
Moldovan players will join the national team after the matches for clubs, which will take place on the coming weekend. The matches against Italy (November 13) and Israel (November 16) will be held on the field of the “tricolor”. The second match will formally be “home” for Israel – a month ago, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) granted the request of the upcoming rivals to move the match to Chisinau. Due to the escalating situation in the Middle East, Israel has been hosting opponents in Hungary since October 2023, but an exception was made for the match with Moldova.
Of the 26 players included in the list, 2/3 play in foreign championships, a little less than a third – in the Moldovan Super League (see table ). Thus, goalkeeper Ion Bors, Cătălin Cucos, Sergiu Plătică, Victor Bogaciuc (all – “Petrocub”), Vladimir Fratăa, Mihail Stefan (both – “Zimbru”), Danila Forov and Victor Straistari (both – “Sheriff”) were called up from the domestic championship. Cătălin Cucos and Vlad Reileanu (Rukh, Ukraine) were invited to the national team for the first time. Straistar has been called up before, but has not received playing time yet.
Compared to the matches in October, the application did not include goalkeeper “Ordabasy” (Kazakhstan) Dmitry Chelyadnik, defender “Dundee United” (Scotland) Yuri Iovu, midfielders Nikita Motspan from “Fakel” (Russia), Ilya Botnari from CSF Bălți and striker “Petrocub” Michael Lupan. Ioan-Calin Revenko (Tatran Prešov, Slovakia) and the most experienced player of the national team Artur Ionice (Triestina, Italy), who has played in 79 matches and scored five goals, have been called up to the national team again.
Before the final two rounds “tricolor” with one point close the standings of Group I of the qualifying tournament for the Mundial-2026, in which five national teams are represented. Norway leads the standings with 18 points, the four-time world champions – the Italians – have three points less (both teams have played six matches out of eight), the Israeli national team – in third position (nine points in seven matches), Estonia – fourth (four points in seven matches).
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Expanded squad of the national soccer team of Moldova for the matches with Italy and Israel in November 2025 |
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№ |
Footballer | Club where he plays | Number of matches in the national team |
Number of goals for the national team |
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Goalkeepers |
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|
1 |
Christian Avram | “Araz-Nakhchivan” (Azerbaijan) | 16 |
___ |
|
2 |
Andriy Kozhukhar | “Veres” (Ukraine) | 4 |
___
|
|
3 |
Viktor Straistar | “Sheriff” | 0 |
___ |
|
Defenders |
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|
4 |
Vladyslav Baboglo | “Karpaty (Ukraine) | 23 |
2 |
|
5 |
Ion Borsh | “Petrocub” | 2 |
0 |
|
6 |
Mikhail Gerasimenkov | “Cavalry” (Canada) | 2 |
0 |
|
7 |
Daniel Dumbrevanu | “Voluntari” (Romania) | 9 |
0 |
|
8 |
Artur Craciun | LKS “Lodz” (Poland) | 37 |
0 |
|
9 |
Kathleen Kukosz | “Petrocub” | 0 |
0 |
|
10 |
Sergiu Platica | “Petrocub” | 55 |
0 |
|
11 |
Ioan-Calin Revenko | “Tatran Prešov” (Slovakia) | 25 |
1 |
|
12 |
Oleg Ryabchuk | “Spartak” (Russia) | 61 |
0 |
|
13 |
Mikhail Stefan | “Zimbru” | 1 |
0 |
|
Midfielders |
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|
14 |
Viktor Bogachuk | “Petrocub” | 15 | 2 |
|
15 |
Stefan Bodisteanu | “Botoșani” (Romania) | 8 |
1 |
|
16 |
Stefan Bytka | “Zalaegerszeg” (Hungary) | 0 |
0 |
|
17 |
Mikhail Kaymakov | “Slaven Belupo” (Croatia) | 38 |
3 |
|
18 |
Artur Ionitsa | “Triestina (Italy) | 79 |
5 |
|
19 |
Sergiu Perciun | “Torino” (Italy) | 5 |
0 |
|
20 |
Vadim Racă | “Argeș” (Romania) | 60 |
3 |
| 21 | Danila Forov | “Sheriff” | 2 |
0 |
|
22 |
Vladimir Fratya | “Zimbru” | 0 |
0 |
|
Forwards |
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|
23 |
Ion Nicolaescu | “Maccabi” (Tel Aviv, Israel) | 54 |
17 |
|
24 |
Vitali Damascan | “Zrinjski” (Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina) | 45 |
5 |
|
25 |
Virgiliu Postolaki | “Universitatea (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) | 33 |
1 |
|
26 |
Vlad Reileanu | “Rukh” (Ukraine) | 0 |
0 |
