Moldova

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 to Georgia. Alexandru Spiridon was the player who scored the first 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 Paksitan, 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.

Moldova became an UEFA member in 1993 and a FIFA member in 1994. 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 during UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying. Although the Moldovans failed to qualify, they beat Georgia twice and Wales once. Moldova's first attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup was in 1998, but they lost all the matches, failing to qualify for the tournament.

2000s

Moldova has finished either last or second last in all tournament qualifying campaigns entered to date, except UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, in which they finished fifth in the seven-team Group C with 12 points.

In 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification Moldova lost 0–6 against Sweden, its biggest defeat so far. This record stood for almost 20 years. During the same competition, Serghei Cleșcenco scored his 10th international goal, becoming the first Moldovan to do so. He scored his 11th and last goal in a 2006 friendly against Lithuania, remaining Moldova's top goalscorer until 2023.

Some of Moldova's noteworthy matches during the 2000s include a 1–0 victory against Austria during UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying, a 1–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and a 3–0 victory against Hungary, both during UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.

2010s

Moldova beat Finland 2-0 during Euro 2012 qualification and obtained a 5–2 win over Montenegro in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Between 2014 and September 2018, Moldova did not obtain a competitive win until a 2–0 victory against San Marino during the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

During UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying the Moldovans achieved a remarkable 1–1 draw against Russia at Moscow during UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. The equalising goal was Alexandru Epureanu's last international goal, who went on to be the first Moldovan with 100 appearances for the national team. During the same competition, Moldova suffered a humiliating 0–1 defeat against the Liechtenstein on home ground.

In the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, the Moldovans played in League D, the fourth and lowest division. They placed third in their group, above San Marino. Moldova went on another long, competitive winless streak between June 2019 and March 2022.

2020s

Moldova was the best third-placed team of 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D and obtained promotion to League C of 2020–21 UEFA Nations League due to a revamp of the competition's format. Moldova obtained only one point, a 1–1 draw against 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 0–6 defeat against Italy in a friendly match, which equalled Moldova's worst defeat at the time.

In 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Moldova obtained only one point, a 1–1 draw against the Faroe Islands. Moldova also suffered its worst defeat ever during these qualifiers, a 0–8 loss against Denmark. After losing to Kazakhstan at penalties in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League relegation play-outs, the Moldovans were relegated to 2022–23 UEFA Nations League D. Moldova placed second in its group, being tied to points with Latvia, but had a lower goal difference, failing to achieve promotion.

The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying was a watershed moment for Moldova. The Moldovans came agonisingly close to a historic competitive debut for the first time, 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 the Poland and were one win away from qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024. However, a denting away loss to the Czech Republic in the final matchday killed off Moldova's debuting hope once again, as they finished fourth and were eliminated due to an inferior record.

Ion Nicolaescu became Moldova's top goalscorer, scoring his 11th and 12th international goals in the 3–2 win against Poland.