The opening round of the Ungheni district football Cup is over. The Ungheni Territorial Football Association (ATF), the organiser, has published the final results of the return legs of round one of the «MAGIRUS» Cup 2026 — the four matches that decide which teams reach the next stage.
Here is how the return legs played out on Sunday, together with the aggregate scores over the two matches:
- FC Haiduc Bumbăta 7-2 FC Start Pîrlița — first leg 4-3, aggregate 11-5
- FC Gherman 1-1 FC Mănoilești — first leg 0-2, aggregate 1-3 for Mănoilești
- FC Regina Maria Ungheni 1-3 FC Măcărești — first leg 4-1, aggregate 5-4 for Regina Maria
- FC Zagarancea 2-2 FC Chirileni — first leg 9-0, aggregate 11-2
Advancing to the second round, therefore, are FC Haiduc Bumbăta, FC Mănoilești, FC Regina Maria Ungheni and FC Zagarancea.
Bumbăta draws FC Barsa — the question the first round had left open
The most awaited verdict came from the match in Pîrlița. After the first leg, won by FC Haiduc Bumbăta 4-3 away, qualification was still open — and what was at stake went beyond a single round: the winner of FC Start Pîrlița versus FC Haiduc Bumbăta was set to face FC Barsa Ungheni, the team that enters the Cup straight in the second round after announcing it finished the first half of the season top of Division B.
The return leg settled it without ambiguity: Bumbăta won 7-2 and made it 11-5 on aggregate. It will therefore play FC Barsa Ungheni in the next round.
The win carries more weight read alongside the round’s disciplinary record. After the first leg, the ATF Competitions Commission had suspended three players from that very match — two from Pîrlița (Vadim Turețchi and Iliric Poparcea) and one from Bumbăta (Tudor Nastas) — all for the next Cup game, which was precisely the return leg. Bumbăta won by seven goals and without a suspended player on the pitch; Pîrlița, down two players, conceded a run of goals that closed out qualification for good.
The tightest tie: Măcărești win the return leg but fall short by a goal
If the maths were simple in Pîrlița, the other tie of the evening was the most dramatic. FC Regina Maria Ungheni arrived with a 4-1 from the first leg and started comfortably. In the return, though, FC Măcărești turned things around and won 3-1 — a single goal away from levelling the tie. It was not enough: on aggregate, Regina Maria Ungheni went through 5-4, the narrowest margin of the round.
In the other two duels, the first-leg advantages proved decisive. FC Zagarancea, which had thrashed Chirileni 9-0 in the opener, eased to a 2-2 in the return and advanced 11-2 on aggregate. FC Mănoilești protected the lead taken against FC Gherman (2-0 in the first leg), drew 1-1 in the return and finished the tie 3-1.
Weekend amateur football, but the village stakes are real
For readers who follow Ungheni football, the clarification still holds this time too: the «MAGIRUS» Cup and the district championship are amateur football — village and town sides, played at weekends on pitches like those in Pîrlița, Mănoilești or Măcărești. It is a different level from FCM Ungheni, the club that represents the district in Liga 1, the second tier of professional football in Moldova.
That is exactly why reaching the district Cup is lived, in the village, like a promotion. And the competition now has its own question for the next round: how Haiduc Bumbăta, after 7-2 and 11-5, fares against the Division B leader.
The final return-leg results and aggregate scores come from the official post of the Ungheni Territorial Football Association, organiser of the «MAGIRUS» district Cup 2026. FC Barsa Ungheni’s position in the second round, the tournament bracket and the round-of-16 sanctions (Minutes no. 7 of the Competitions Commission) were previously reported by Triunghi.md. The cover photo was published by ATF Ungheni.