2016–17 Moldovan Cup

The Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău hosted the final
Tournament details
Country	Moldova
Dates	20 August 2016 – 25 May 2017
Teams	51
Final positions
Champions	Sheriff Tiraspol
Runner-up	Zaria Bălți
Tournament statistics
Matches played	50
Goals scored	198 (3.96 per match)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Moldovan Cup (Romanian: Cupa Moldovei) was the 26th season of the Moldovan annual football tournament. Zaria Bălți entered as the defending champions after winning the 2015–16 edition. The competition started on 20 August 2016 with the first preliminary round and concluded with the final at the Zimbru Stadium on 25 May 2017. Sheriff won a record 9th title following a 5–0 win over Zaria in the final. As winners, Sheriff would have been assured a place for the 2017–2018 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round; however, since they already qualified for the 2017–2018 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round by winning the title in the Divizia Națională, the Europa League entry went to Zaria Bălți, the highest team in the Divizia Națională table which had not already qualified for European competitions.

51 clubs entered this season's competition, an increase of four clubs compared with the 2015–16 total of 47 clubs. Both preliminary rounds and the first two rounds proper were regionalised to reduce teams travel costs. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.^[1][2]

Round	Match dates	Fixtures	Clubs
First Preliminary Round	20 August 2016	14	51 → 37
Second Preliminary Round	23 August 2016	2	37 → 35
First Round	3 September 2016	12	35 → 23
Second Round	20–21 September 2016	7	23 → 16
Round of 16	25–26 October 2016	8	16 → 8
Quarter-Finals	26 April 2017	4	8 → 4
Semi-Finals	16 May 2017	2	4 → 2
Final	25 May 2017	1	2 → 1

The following teams are qualified for the competition. Reserve teams are excluded.^[3]

Divizia Națională the 11 teams of the 2016–17 season	Divizia A the 12 non-reserve teams of the 2016–17 season	Divizia B the 28 non-reserve teams of the 2016–17 season
Zaria Bălți title holder Sheriff Tiraspol Dacia Chișinău Zimbru Chișinău Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol Milsami Orhei Speranța Nisporeni Petrocub-Hîncești Academia Chișinău Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga Ungheni	Spicul Chișcăreni Gagauziya-Oguzsport Victoria Bardar Codru Lozova Iskra Rîbnița Edineț Intersport-Aroma Sfîntul Gheorghe Real Succes Chișinău Prut Leova Sîngerei Sparta Selemet	Bogzești Florești Cahul-2005 Anina Anenii Noi Intersport Sănătăuca CFR Ialoveni Sireți Grănicerul Glodeni Sinteza Căușeni Congaz Slobozia Mare Cruiz Camenca Fălești Boldurești Codru-Juniori Dava Soroca Trachia Taraclia Politeh Chișinău Cotiujenii Mari Maiak Chirsova Cricova Rîșcani Nistru Otaci Orhei Star Maiac Cioropcani Ceadîr-Lunga Speranța Drochia Sparta Chișinău

Number in brackets denote the level of respective league in Football in Moldova

28 clubs from the Divizia B entered this round. Teams that finished higher on the league in the previous season played their ties away. All matches were played on 20 August 2016. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Rîșcani (3)	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Speranța Drochia (3)
Intersport Sănătăuca (3)	1–0	Florești (3)
Maiac Cioropcani (3)	2–0	Codru-Juniori (3)
Fălești (3)	0–5	Grănicerul Glodeni (3)
Nistru Otaci (3)	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Dava Soroca (3)
Orhei Star (3)	1–0	Bogzești (3)
Cotiujenii Mari (3)	1–2	Cruiz Camenca (3)
Politeh Chișinău (3)	1–8	Sinteza Căușeni (3)
Cricova (3)	1–2	Anina Anenii Noi (3)
Sparta Chișinău (3)	1–0	Boldurești (3)
Slobozia Mare (3)	2–1	Cahul-2005 (3)
Ceadîr-Lunga (3)	4–0	Trachia Taraclia (3)
Sireți (3)	3–0	CFR Ialoveni (3)
Maiak Chirsova (3)	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Congaz (3)

4 clubs from the Divizia B entered this round. Teams that finished higher on the league in the previous season played their ties away. Matches were played on 23 August 2016. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.
Rîșcani, Intersport Sănătăuca, Maiac Cioropcani, Grănicerul Glodeni, Cruiz Camenca, Sinteza Căușeni, Anina Anenii Noi, Sparta Chișinău, Sireți and Congaz received a bye for the second preliminary round.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Nistru Otaci (3)	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Orhei Star (3)
Ceadîr-Lunga (3)	7–2	Slobozia Mare (3)

The 12 winners from the preliminary rounds joined the 12 Divizia A teams. In a match, the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league. All matches were played on 3 September 2016. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Rîșcani (3)	1–4	Edineț (2)
Intersport Sănătăuca (3)	1–0	Sîngerei (2)
Maiac Cioropcani (3)	3–5	Codru Lozova (2)
Grănicerul Glodeni (3)	0–2	Spicul Chișcăreni (2)
Orhei Star (3)	1–2	Victoria Bardar (2)
Cruiz Camenca (3)	1–1 (1–3 p)	Iskra Rîbnița (2)
Sinteza Căușeni (3)	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Intersport-Aroma (2)
Anina Anenii Noi (3)	3–0	Real Succes Chișinău (2)
Sparta Chișinău (3)	2–4	Sfîntul Gheorghe (2)
Ceadîr-Lunga (3)	2–2 (2–4 p)	Prut Leova (2)
Sireți (3)	2–10	Sparta Selemet (2)
Congaz (3)	2–4	Gagauziya-Oguzsport (2)

The 11 winners from the previous round joined the 3 Divizia Națională sides seeded 9-11, Academia, Saxan and Ungheni.
Gagauziya-Oguzsport received a bye for the second round. The home teams and the pairs for 3 Divizia Națională sides were determined in a draw held on 7 September 2016.^[4] Matches were played on 20 and 21 September 2016. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Milsami Orhei		4
	Academia Chișinău		0
						Milsami Orhei		0
						Sheriff Tiraspol		1
	Sheriff Tiraspol		13
	Codru Lozova		0
											Petrocub-Hîncești		1 (4)
											Sheriff Tiraspol (p)		1 (5)
	Spicul Chișcăreni		0
	Petrocub-Hîncești		3
						Petrocub-Hîncești		3
						Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga		0
	Speranța Nisporeni		0
	Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga		1
																Sheriff Tiraspol		5
																Zaria Bălți		0
	Zimbru Chișinău		10
	Anina Anenii Noi		0
						Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol		0
						Zimbru Chișinău		4
	Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol		3
	Sfîntul Gheorghe		2
											Zaria Bălți		1
											Zimbru Chișinău		0
	Sparta Selemet		1
	Dacia Chișinău		4
						Dacia Chișinău		1 (2)
						Zaria Bălți (p)		1 (4)
	Gagauziya-Oguzsport		1
	Zaria Bălți		8

The 7 winners from the previous round and Gagauziya-Oguzsport joined the remaining 8 Divizia Națională sides seeded 1-8. The home teams and the pairs were determined in a draw held on 23 September 2016.^[5] Matches were played on 25 and 26 October 2016. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

The 8 winners from the previous round entered the quarter-finals. The home teams were determined in a draw held on 28 October 2016.^[6] Matches were played on 26 April 2017. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

The 4 winners from the previous round entered the semi-finals. The home teams were determined in a draw held on 28 April 2017.^[7] Matches were played on 16 May 2017. Teams in bold continue to the next round of the competition.

The final was played on Thursday 25 May 2017 at the Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 17 May 2017.^[8]

Sheriff

Zaria

GK 25 Sergiu Juric DF 14 Benjamin Balima  52' DF 21 Maxim Potîrniche DF 55 Mateo Sušić (c) DF 90 Vujadin Savić MF 8 Radu Gînsari MF 20 Cyrille Bayala  55'  78' MF 24 Seidu Yahaya FW 11 Ricardinho FW 39 Ziguy Badibanga  69' FW 99 Vitalie Damașcan  60' Substitutes: GK 28 Alexei Koșelev DF 3 Ion Jardan  52' DF 6 Victor Oliveira DF 17 Artiom Rozgoniuc DF 23 Dionatan Teixeira  69' DF 37 Vitalie Bordian MF 4 Khalifa Jabbie  60' MF 7 Jô Santos  78' MF 30 Josip Brezovec MF 32 Evgheni Oancea MF 88 Zoran Kvržić Head Coach: Roberto Bordin

GK 33 Serghei Pașcenco DF 2 Victor Golovatenco  77' DF 5 Andrei Novicov DF 14 Andriy Slinkin DF 20 Oleh Yermak  51' MF 4 Alexandru Onica (c) MF 8 Vadim Rață  64' MF 10 Igor Țîgîrlaș MF 16 Alexandru Suvorov  65' MF 19 Maxim Mihaliov  12'  79' FW 9 Gheorghe Ovseanicov Substitutes: GK 1 Vladimir Livșiț DF 6 Iulian Erhan DF 26 Tihomir Trifonov DF 27 Denis Rassulov MF 3 Ion Cărăruș MF 22 Rubén Gómez  65'  68' FW 7 Alberto Alvarado Morín FW 11 Gheorghe Boghiu  51' FW 18 Vadim Gulceac  79' FW 21 Igor Bugaiov Head Coach: Vlad Goian

Assistant referees: Serkan Olguncan (Turkey) Ceyhun Sesigüzel (Turkey) Fourth official: Alexandru Tean (Moldova)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if score is still level. Eleven named substitutes, of which up to four may be used.

• Cupa Moldovei on soccerway