The result means the team will not qualify for the finals in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico next summer.

Manager Jürgen Henn was looking for a repeat victory after the 3:2 away win in March, the Estonians' sole three-pointer in the campaign so far, especially since the team has only netted two goals in qualifying since then, losing to Italy 3:1 last Saturday.

The return of captain Karol Mets from injury also gave some hope for that.

Kickoff was at 7 p.m. at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, and it took just 12 minutes for the hosts to unlock their opponent's goal, when left-back Michael Schjønning-Larsen (Levadia) found midfielder Mattias Käit (Thun) completely unmarked in front of the penalty area. Käit duly directed the ball under the crossbar. While Estonia had eight more shots on goal to Moldova's five, that was it so far as goals in the first half went.

Early in the second half, midfielder Patrik Kristal (FC Köln II) had a great chance to extend the lead, but his touch inside the Moldovan box was not the best, and Moldovan 'keeper Andrei Cojuhar snatched the ball away. A few minutes later, it was the turn of Estonia's own goalkeeper, Karl Jakob Hein (Werder Bremen), to make a decisive intervention, saving Moldova's long-range strike from under the crossbar.

Then, shortly after the hour mark, Moldova equalized at 1:1 when Stefan Bodișteanu's long-range shot deflected past Hein.

Estonia kept pressing despite the equalizer, and in the 73rd minute, striker Rauno Sappinen (Flora) got off a close-range shot, only for Cojuhar to rescue his team with a fine reflex save.

Moldova held out under pressure in the closing stages, and the match ended in a draw.

Estonia now has four points from six games and sits fourth in the five-team Group I. One fixture remains, away to Norway mid-month next month. Norway still heads the group with 18 points over Italy (12 points), but the latter has a game in hand.

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