The children’s team competing under the name „Viitorul” Ungheni has announced that it has entered what the club calls the 2026 edition of the national beach soccer championship, a tournament hosted by the purpose-built arena in Chișinău. In a message posted on Monday, 6 July, with a group photo on the sand, the team says the youngsters „started the competition on the right foot” — without, however, giving the scores or the opponents of the opening round.
The team’s message thanks „the players, the coach and the parents who support them” — a sign that behind the trip to Chișinău lies the effort of the families too, not just of the children on the pitch.
A podium in 2023, then the way back to the sand
For Ungheni on the sand, this is no debut. At the 2023 national children’s and youth beach soccer championship, the „Viitorul” district sports school of Ungheni climbed onto the podium with its U11 squad (players born in 2013–2014), finishing third in the country — according to the official final standings published at the time by the Moldovan Football Federation. At the same edition, another team from the district, CS Petrești, took fourth place in the U17 category. In other words, Ungheni’s presence in this discipline already has a track record — not a one-summer accident.
„Viitorul” is the name under which the Ungheni district sports school sends its children to competitions: a structure that keeps performance training close to home, in the district, and from which age-group teams set out for the national tournaments.
Where it is played, and why it matters
Beach soccer in the Republic of Moldova is played on a dedicated arena, built in „La Izvor” Park in Chișinău — also known by its sponsor’s name, „Orange Arena” — and financed largely by FIFA. It hosts both the national team’s tournaments and the domestic championship, where the capital’s clubs have set the tone for years. Against that backdrop, a team coming from a district is a rather rare presence — and all the more visible when it climbs onto the podium.
For now, how the standings look after the first round and who comes next in the draw remains unclear: neither the organisers nor the club have made the match results public. What remains certain is the record: a summer on from the 2023 bronze, the „Viitorul” Ungheni children’s team says it is back on the sand of the national championship.