Moldovan national team captain Artur Ionitsa (right) // Photo: ansa.it
Moldovan footballers played two matches – a friendly with Poland and a qualifying match with the Italians. The score of both meetings was 2-0 in favor of the opponents.
The first match was held in Chorzów on a day when the national teams of Moldova and Poland were free from official matches. In the first half, the hosts had three shots on goal by Cristian Avram, one of which resulted in a goal. In the 30th minute, Poland’s defender Matty Cash scored. If before the break Sergey Cleshchenko’s wards did not make a single shot in the opponent’s goal, then in the second half they did it twice. However, the advantage of the Polish team remained on the scoreboard, which was strengthened after a goal by midfielder Bartosz Slisz in the 88th minute.
It is noteworthy that the Polish national team played without the best scorer in its history, longtime captain Robert Lewandowski, who had to miss the match because of an injury. After the match against Moldova, it was announced that the striker was stripped of the captain’s armband, which went to midfielder Piotr Zielinski. In response, the 36-year-old Lewandowski announced his retirement from the national team “as long as it is led by Michal Probej” (head coach).
From Poland, the Moldovan national team traveled to Italy for a match with the 4-time world champions. This meeting was the last one for Luciano Spalletti on the coaching bridge of “Squadra Azzurra”. This was announced after a major defeat (0:3) in the match with Norway. The Italian national team won thanks to goals by Giacomo Raspadori in the 40th minute and Andrea Cambiaso in the 50th minute of the game. Gianluigi Donnaruma did get the ball in Gianluigi Donnaruma’s goal after striker Ion Nicolaescu scored in the 9th minute. But after a review by VAR system, offside was detected and the referee canceled the goal. In terms of shots on goal both teams have parity – 7:7, but the realization of Moldovan players leaves much to be desired.
After the matches in Poland and Italy, the head coach of the national team of Moldova Serghei Cleshchenko said that his wards played without fear, especially noting the young players. “What I particularly liked about them, our guys played bravely. So, the national team has a future,” summarized the 53-year-old specialist.
In other matches of Group I, the Estonian national team suffered defeats against Israel (1:3) and Norway (0:1). The teams that topped their groups (see table) directly qualify for the final tournament of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The second-placed teams will compete for access to the Mundial in the knockout matches.
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Position in Group I of the qualifying tournament for the World Cup-2026 |
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|
№ |
National team | P | V | D | L | G |
Pts |
|
1 |
Norway |
4 |
4 | 0 | 0 | 13-2 |
12 |
|
2 |
Israel |
3 |
2 | 0 | 1 | 7-6 |
6 |
|
3 |
Italy |
2 |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2-3 |
3 |
|
4 |
Estonia |
4 |
1 | 0 | 3 | 5-8 |
3 |
|
5 |
Moldova |
3 |
0 | 0 | 3 | 2-10 |
0 |
