Jacob Ondrejka made his way to the edge and sent the ball in front of Moldova's goal.
On the opposite side, Jusef Erabi was standing, but the attacker failed to get his feet sorted and steered the ball outside the open goal.
The chance in the 48th minute was Sweden's clearest in the 0-0 away match against Moldova – despite the U21 national team playing with one man more after Ilie Botnari's sending-off in the 52nd minute.
Sweden needed points to be on par with Georgia ahead of the two final qualifying matches.
Now, however, there is a two-point difference – and the road to the European Championship in Slovakia 2025 looks tough and difficult.
Sweden will face Georgia in a must-win match on October 10, and four days later, the national team will conclude the qualifying round away against the Netherlands, who top the group by a wide margin.
The group winners and the three best runners-up will qualify for the championship. The remaining six runners-up will play a playoff.
