Preview: Slovakia vs Moldova - prediction, team news, lineups

Slovakia and Moldova kick-start their UEFA Nations League campaign with a fixture at Futbol Tatran Arena in Presov on Saturday night.

Both teams are joined in League C Group 3 by Kazakhstan and Faroe Islands, with top spot required to secure automatic promotion and a runners-up finish enough to reach the promotion playoffs.

Match preview

Slovakia narrowly missed out on 2026 World Cup qualification after suffering a painful 4-3 home defeat to Kosovo in the playoff finals in March, having previously won four of their six group games to claim second spot behind Germany.

Francesco Calzona was then relieved of his duties the following month and Vladimir Weiss has since been re-appointed as Slovakia’s new head coach, 14 years after his first spell in charge came to an end.

With Slovakia competing in League C of the Nations League for the third campaign in a row, Weiss has insisted that his team “have to win the group” this time around, and he believes that his squad will become “hungry” for success during the international break.

Ranked 45th in the world by FIFA, Slovakia have been beaten in just one of their last 11 home matches since Euro 2024 (W7 D3), but just two victories have been posted across seven Nations League games on their own turf (D3 L2).

Their most recent encounter with Moldova came on home soil back in September 2001 when they came from a goal down at half time to win 4-2 in a World Cup qualifier.

Slovakia also won 1-0 in the reverse fixture 11 months earlier, but Moldova won their first-ever clash with the Falcons in February 2000 when they celebrated a 2-0 friendly triumph at home.

Regarded as one of the European minnows who are ranked 159th in the world by FIFA, Moldova have never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship, but they did secure promotion from League D in the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.

Three wins without reply from four matches (L1) against Malta and Andorra helped them secure top spot and climb back into League C for the first time since 2020-21.

Lilian Popescu’s side were not as successful in 2026 World Cup qualifying, though, as they picked up just one point from eight matches (D1 L7) and conceded 32 goals in the process.

Moldova have since drawn their last two friendly matches against Bulgaria (2-2) and Armenia (1-1) in June, but they travel to Slovakia this weekend seeking to end a 15-game winless run across all competitions dating back to November 2024.

Slovakia form (all competitions):

Moldova form (all competitions):

Team News

Slovakia midfielder Matus Bero has withdrawn from the squad after examinations confirmed that he has sustained a stress fracture in his foot.

Thirty-nine-year-old Peter Pekarik has retired from international football after making his joint-record 138th appearance in June. Hugo Pavek is the most likely candidate to take his place at right-back.

Fenerbahce’s Milan Skriniar and Atletico Madrid’s David Hancko are both expected to start in defence, with Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka in midfield and Middlesbrough’s David Strelec in attack.

Erik Prekop, who earned his first cap in June and has impressed at club level for Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze, “will get a chance” to play under Weiss, but it remains to be seen whether the striker will start on Saturday.

As for Moldova, Brisbane Roar forward Virgiliu Postolachi has pulled out of the squad due to injury and has been replaced by 20-year-old Nicolae Rotaru from Hungarian champions Gyori ETO.

Captain Vladislav Baboglo could line up alongside Mihail Gherasimencov and Catalin Cucos at centre-back, while Ioan-Calin Revenco and Oleg Reabciuk operating as either full-backs or wing-backs.

Vadim Rata has earned more caps (63) than any other player in Popescu’s current squad and is likely to start in midfield, while Rotaru, Dmitri Mandricenco and Petru Popescu are set to battle for places up front.

Slovakia possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Pavek, Skriniar, Hancko, Obert; Duda, Lobotka, Rigo; Suslov, Strelec, Haraslin

Moldova possible starting lineup:

Celeadnic; Gherasimencov, Baboglo, Cucos; Revenco, Rata, David, Bodisteanu, Reabciuk; Mandricenco, Popescu

We say: Slovakia 2-0 Moldova

Both nations will be keen to make a positive start to their Nations League campaign, but Slovakia will be regarded as firm favourites on home soil against a nation ranked 114 places below them.

Although the Falcons possess a somewhat inexperienced frontline, they should still have enough quality at their disposal to unlock the visitors' defence and claim a routine win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.