Moldova 1994-96 Home, matchworn v Turkey
Moldova 2010-14 Home, matchworn/prepared
Moldova 2014-16 Home, matchworn/prepared youth?
Mdolova 2022-24 Home, matchprepared Radu Gînsari v Latvia
Mdolova 2022-24 Third, benchworn Iurie Iovu v ???
Oh Reusch, you really knew how to make things work. Incredibly, this design is technically a template, the only thing that makes it Moldovan is that it is done in the Moldovan flag colour scheme! We’ve got a lot to take in here, with stripes, their classic printed fabric, whatever is going on atop the shoulders and arrows focusing attention on the FA logo’s stripe. It wants to do a lot and really does, without shame or remorse. The sort of thing that’s insane enough to work once, it absolutely does work, whether or not it should!
New to UEFA for the 1996 Euros qualifiers, the Moldovans embarked on their campaign well. They lost (by at least 3 goals) as expected home and away to strong German and Bulgarian opposition, but managed 9 points from the rest of the group, just enough for 4th place! A 3-2 home and 1-0 away win over Georgia made up the majority, though they’d lose both matches against Albania in a bit of a shock. However, they’d stun Wales 3-2 in Moldova, and only lose 1-0 in Wales itself, to finish above them! While never in danger of qualifying, they matched up well against more established sides, albeit without significant consistency.
Next up, an underwhelming Jako piece. This template never quite did what I felt it should, with the yellow accenting working nicely against the blue at the collar, sleeve cuffs, and on the front. But it is barely applied, with that being it and minimal in most of those. Some of the panelling to the shirt is nicely curved, but not used to actually liven up the design. The logo doesn’t particularly stand out either.
Used across both Euro 2012 and 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Moldova came 5th in both groups, taking home and away wins over poor San Marino in both too. 2012 qualifiers saw them face the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary and Finland and generally be a solid, defensive side. They did, however, only add points with a shock 2-0 home win over Finland, but scored enough to make opponents uncomfortable. 2014 saw home draws to Ukraine and Poland as well as a 5-2 away win in Montenegro that nobody saw coming. They finished 2 points behind Poland though, and lost both games against England comfortably.
Next up we start using all 3 colours once again! The yellow only appears in the logos and the Jako shoulder detailing, but red under the arms, on the collar and the sleeves helps to add a little life across the shirt. The front of the shirt also has this fin like pattern pressed into the shirt, with a close pattern up near the shirt’s centre spreading out and down the shirt itself. It is quite nice, but nothing too ground-breaking.
Euro 2016 qualifiers drew them in a group with Austria, Russia, Sweden, Monetnegro and Liechtenstein. Despite several strong teams in their group, they didn’t conceded more than 2 in any matches, resulting in a narrow goal difference. However, they struggled severely to put points on the board, losing every home match, even to Liechtenstein. 1-1 away draws in Liechtenstein and, amazingly, Russia, brought them their only points of the campaign and they’d comfortably finish bottom.
Now these are some incredibly shirts from Jako, showing what they can truly do if they try! Firstly we have the more basic patterns down the sides and on the sleeve cuffs of the shirt for a little country flair without looking too messy. That wouldn’t be enough though, so across the entire body of the shirt, front and rear, are more detailed, heat-pressed Moldovan patterns! Use of the Moldovan national emblem as well as the FA logo helps add even more variety to the shirt and the yellow design’s white sleeves really helps make the shirt pop! Truly spectacular designs.
For much of Euro 2024 qualifiers, Moldova were in with an outside chance at qualifying! They dropped points with a draw in the Faroe Islands, but took 4 points off of top seeds Poland. Singular points from Albania and Czechia would eventually doom them, but a tight group left them in contention for far long than anyone would have predicted. They finished 4th, 1 point behind Poland and only 5 behind both qualifiers.
For the vast majority of their qualifying appearances Moldova have been last or in the penultimate position, splitting themselves roughly 50-50 between the two. They’ve come away with 0 wins on several occasions and are regarded as one of Europe’s weakest sides, not without good reason. 2024 aside, they’ve never genuinely been in contention for a tournament qualification and their Nations League appearances have backed that up. Starting in League D they were promoted solely due to the restructure only to promptly get relegated after a penalty shootout loss to Kazakhstan. Not quite having enough to get promoted back straight away, they remain a League D side.
Ranked similarly lowly, their women’s side has a handful of results to their name, almost exclusively against other minnows. Inconsistent in their tournament entries, despite a long history of women’s football, they’ve been placed in preliminary rounds where possible and not often escaped. 3 draws means they also finished bottom of their Nations League group, though some of those results were close enough to show promise. The men’s youth sides have seen some promise, with the U21s grabbing regular wins and typically finishing off the bottom of the table. They’ve been mid-table at best, rather than fully threaten a qualification, but aren’t bad. The U19s and U17s have only a bare handful of elite round appearances to their name, but the U17s were at the 2002 Euros after a weak qualifying group with Armenia and Malta. They’d lose all 3 games, 6-3 to Yugoslavia, 4-2 to Spain and 3-2 to Czechia, but it is their only major tournament appearance to date. The women’s youth sides have struggled more severely, with the U19s being more successful, although rarely combining positive results in the same campaign. The U17s have been very poor, with a win over Wales as their only recorded win.
Typically one of the stronger preliminary round qualifying sides, Moldova have been active in senior and youth futsal where possible. The side have never qualified for a euros or a World Cup, but have been relatively regular in the main stage of qualifying, although they struggle significantly against the major players of the sport. Their youth side have not performed as well, ranking a little lower, but are active. Women’s futsal has been even less successful, with 3-3 draws against Belarus and Gibraltar being their only highlights to date. Beach soccer has also been an outlet, with some mixed results. They missed out on the 2023 World Cup in the play-offs, but otherwise have been quite far off the pace in qualifiers. The Euro Beach Soccer League mainly brought similar results, with little success, but 2 stage wins and promotion from League B in 2022 show their improvement. They held on in 2023 to remain in League A, a new era for Moldovan beach soccer seems to be here!
Not expected to provide any meaningful impact on their 2022 qualifying group, Moldova sadly lived up to expectations. They drew 1-1 at home to the Faroe Islands but otherwise scored 5 goals and conceded 30 in reply, losing all 9 other matches and only keeping things within a single goal 3 times. A campaign to forget, even by their standards.
Adam's National Shirt Collection 