Ungheni’s district football Cup has reached the knockout stage. The Ungheni Territorial Football Association (ATF), the competition’s organizer, has published the first-leg results of the opening round of the «MAGIRUS» Cup, 2026 edition — four matches played on Sunday on the district’s village pitches.
Here is what happened in the first legs:
- FC Măcărești 1-4 FC Regina Maria Ungheni
- FC Chirileni 0-9 FC Zagarancea
- FC Mănoilești 2-0 FC Gherman
- FC Start Pîrlița 3-4 FC Haiduc Bumbăta
A 9-0 — and a close tie that matters beyond itself
The most one-sided match was at Chirileni, where FC Zagarancea won 9-0. At the other end, the round’s only tight game was at Pîrlița: FC Haiduc Bumbăta won 4-3 away, a score that leaves qualification open ahead of the return leg.
That match, FC Start Pîrlița vs FC Haiduc Bumbăta, is the one that matters most to Ungheni fans following district football: the winner will face FC Barsa Ungheni in the second round. FC Barsa, which has announced that it ended the first half of the season top of Division B, enters the Cup straight from the second round, away from home. After the first leg, Haiduc Bumbăta hold a one-goal lead.
How the Cup is built
Unlike the league, the district Cup is played on a knockout basis. The bracket, made public by the clubs, features twelve teams from the district’s villages and town — from FC Sculeni, FC Mănoilești and FC Măcărești to FC Start Pîrlița, FC Haiduc Bumbăta and FC Unirea Cetireni. Each first-round tie is played over two legs, home and away.
The return legs of all four ties take place next Sunday. Only then will it be clear who advances — and, in the case of the Pîrlița tie, who awaits FC Barsa.
Village football, not FCM Ungheni
For readers following Ungheni football, one clarification still helps: the district championship and the district Cup are amateur football — village and town teams, played on weekends, on pitches like those at Pîrlița, Chirileni or Mănoilești. It is a different tier than FCM Ungheni, the club that represents the district in Liga 1, the second tier of professional football in Moldova.
That is exactly why it matters locally: here, reaching the next Cup round is celebrated like a promotion, and a 9-0 rout or a tight 4-3 stays the village’s story for a whole week — until the return leg.
The results and the competition framework come from the official post of the Ungheni Territorial Football Association, organizer of the «MAGIRUS» district Cup 2026. The twelve-team bracket and FC Barsa Ungheni’s second-round position were made public by the clubs and previously reported by Triunghi.md. The cover photo was published by ATF Ungheni.