It has not been the best of year for Moldovian Football especially after the heavy defeat suffered at the hands of Denmark in a Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier played in Copenhagen in March. Moldova were mauled 8-0 by their hosts in what's officially the darkest day in the history of Moldovian football.
Moldova had never suffered a defeat as heavy as the one given to them by the Danes. The big scoreline ensured that Moldovian football set a new record for all the wrong reasons.
The Moldovianswere drawn in Group F of the qualifiers months before the qualifiers started in the European section. Moldova started their qualifying campaign with a heartbreaking draw against Faroe Islands. Ion Nicolaescu gave Moldova the lead inside nine minutes and they were heading for a morale-boosting win before Meinhard Olsen broke the heart of Moldovian football fans when he snatched a point for the visitors with the equaliser for his team. Faroe Islands scored the late goal on 83 minutes.
The draw with the Faroe Islands at home preceded the thrashing received on the road against the Danes. Moldova lost heavily to Denmark in their second match of the qualifying series as pointed out earlier before the final qualifying game played in March. Moldova lost 4-1 at home to Israel in the third game of the qualifiers in Group F and that condemned Moldovian football to the bottom of the group.
Moldova can still salvage their situation as regards qualification for Qatar. They have seven games to fight for a place in the top two spots in Group F. The group winner qualifies automatically for the World Cup, while the team in second place will have to go through the playoffs. As things stand, Moldova are just four points off second place with seven games left to play. They resume their World Cup qualifiers with an home game against Austria in September.