FC Petrocub Hîncești
Also written as Petrocub.
The club
Fotbal Club Petrocub Hîncești were founded on 27 November 1999 in Hîncești, a town in southern Moldova. The nicknames are Alb-negrii, the White-Blacks, and Leii din Hîncești, the Hîncești Lions, and the home kit is black and white with the away kit predominantly white. The ground is the Stadionul Municipal in Hîncești, with a capacity of 1,633.
Petrocub is not Sheriff Tiraspol, the Transnistrian club that has won 21 Moldovan league titles and is by far the country's dominant side; it is not Zimbru Chișinău, the eight-time champions based in the capital, whom Petrocub beat in the match that won their first title; it is not Milsami Orhei, another provincial Moldovan club; and it is not Dacia Chișinău, now known as Dacia Buiucani, whom Petrocub beat 7-0 in their unbeaten 2023/24 title-winning phase. Petrocub is the club from Hîncești, and its rise to two league championships in the 2020s is a distinct and recent story, separate from Sheriff's long history of domestic dominance.
In January 2024 the club entered a partnership with an investment group, and Nana Yaw Amponsah, formerly chief executive of the Ghanaian club Asante Kotoko, became president. Amponsah's Samaritan Investment Group ended its collaboration with Petrocub shortly after the club won its first Super Liga title in May 2024, moving to support a different Moldovan club. The current president is Mihail Usatîi. The current head coach is Shota Makharadze; the date of his appointment and the names of his immediate predecessors were not established from the sources read here.
Recent seasons
Petrocub spent the middle years of the 2010s working up through the Moldovan pyramid, winning the third tier in 2013/14 and finishing second in the second tier the following season to reach the top flight. Early years in the Super Liga were modest: eighth in 2015/16, sixth in 2016/17, then three straight third-place finishes from 2017 to 2019. The club then became a settled contender near the top, finishing runners-up in 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, before breaking through as champions in 2023/24 with an unbeaten second phase, 24 points from ten matches with seven wins and three draws, 30 goals scored and only 5 conceded. They dropped to fourth in 2024/25 while playing an unusually heavy fixture schedule across three different European competitions, then won a second title in 2025/26, finishing the second phase on 40 points from ten matches with eight wins, one draw and one defeat, 20 goals for and only 3 against.
Honours and landmarks
Moldovan Super Liga champions twice, in 2023/24 and 2025/26. Moldovan Cup winners twice, in 2019/20 and 2023/24. Moldovan Divizia B (second tier) winners in 2004/05 and again in 2013/14, the latter title preceding their most recent rise through the divisions. The first Super Liga title was clinched on 18 May 2024 with a 4-1 win over Zimbru Chișinău. In 2024/25 Petrocub reached the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, becoming only the second Moldovan club, after Sheriff Tiraspol, to reach the group or league stage of a UEFA club competition.
Notable scorelines
The club's largest confirmed win is an 8-0 away victory over Spartanii Sportul on 30 November 2025, described in Moldovan league records as the season's biggest away win. In their 2023/24 title-winning second phase they beat Dacia Buiucani 7-0. In Europe, Petrocub beat Floriana of Malta 4-1 away in the second qualifying round of the 2022/23 Conference League after a goalless draw at home. Their heaviest European defeats include a 0-5 loss away to Fehérvár of Hungary in the third qualifying round of the 2022/23 Conference League, completing a 1-7 aggregate loss, and a 1-6 aggregate defeat to Ludogorets Razgrad in the 2024/25 Europa League play-off round. In the opening round of 2026/27 Champions League qualifying they lost 6-1 away to KF Egnatia of Albania, completing a 2-7 aggregate defeat. The club's all-time record league win and record league defeat were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Petrocub's European history began in the first qualifying round of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League, losing 2-3 on aggregate to NK Osijek of Croatia. They lost 0-2 on aggregate to AEK Larnaca of Cyprus in the first qualifying round of the 2019/20 Europa League, and were eliminated 0-2 by FK TSC of Serbia in the first qualifying round in 2020/21.
Their run lengthened as the club's domestic form improved. In the 2021/22 Conference League they beat FK Sileks of North Macedonia 2-1 on aggregate before losing 0-2 on aggregate to Sivasspor of Turkey. In 2022/23 they went further still, beating Floriana of Malta 1-0 on aggregate and KF Laçi of Albania 4-1 on aggregate, before losing 1-7 on aggregate to Fehérvár of Hungary in the third qualifying round. The 2023/24 Conference League campaign, entered as Moldovan cup winners, ended in the second qualifying round with a 0-5 aggregate defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.
The 2024/25 season, played as Moldovan champions, was the club's busiest and best European campaign. In the Champions League they beat FC Ordabasy of Kazakhstan 1-0 on aggregate in the first qualifying round before losing 1-2 on aggregate to APOEL of Cyprus in the second, dropping into the Europa League. There they beat The New Saints of Wales 1-0 on aggregate in the third qualifying round before losing the play-off round 1-6 on aggregate to Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria, dropping again into the Conference League. In the Conference League league phase Petrocub became only the second Moldovan club to reach that stage of a UEFA competition, finishing 36th with results including a 1-1 draw away to İstanbul Başakşehir of Turkey and a 2-2 draw away to Heart of Midlothian of Scotland, alongside defeats to Pafos of Cyprus, Jagiellonia Białystok of Poland, Rapid Wien of Austria and Real Betis of Spain.
In 2025/26, entered in the Conference League as Moldovan champions, Petrocub beat Birkirkara of Malta 3-1 on aggregate in the first qualifying round before losing 1-6 on aggregate to Sabah of Azerbaijan in the second.
Quotes
No directly quoted material was confirmed from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Petrocub enter the season as reigning Moldovan champions and, as of the sources read here, sit first of eight teams in the 2026/27 Super Liga table, with the full current table and points not established here. The club has also reached the semi-finals of the Moldovan Cup.
In Europe, Petrocub entered the 2026/27 Champions League in the Champions Path first qualifying round against KF Egnatia of Albania. The first leg at home finished 1-1 on 7 July 2026, a goal credited to a player recorded as "Dacu" in the source read. The second leg in Albania on 14 July 2026 was lost 6-1, Egnatia winning 7-2 on aggregate and eliminating Petrocub from the Champions League.
Petrocub dropped into the Conference League, entering the second qualifying round of the Champions Path against FK Borac Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The home leg finished 3-3 and the away leg was lost 0-3, Borac Banja Luka winning 6-3 on aggregate; exact dates, scorers, venues and attendances for these two matches were not established from the sources read here. Petrocub's summer 2026 transfer business and the identity of any interim or newly appointed head coach beyond Shota Makharadze were not confirmed from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Petrocub_Hîncești https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_Super_Liga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Champions_League_qualifying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying_phase_and_play-off_round https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Moldovan_Super_Liga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%9324_Moldovan_Super_Liga
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.