Macedonia national football team

Macedonia

Nickname(s)	Црвени Рисови Crveni Risovi (Red Lynxes) Црвени Лавови Crveni Lavovi (Red Lions)
Association	Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија – Fudbalska Federacija na Makedonija (ФФМ/FFM)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Igor Angelovski
Captain	Goran Pandev
Most caps	Goce Sedloski (100)
Top scorer	Goran Pandev (27)
Home stadium	Telekom Arena
FIFA code	MKD
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	162 7 (24 November 2016)[1]
Highest	46 (October 2008)
Lowest	162 (November 2016)
Elo ranking
Current	103 (6 September 2016)[2]
Highest	55 (June 2010)
Lowest	105 (September 2015)
First international
Slovenia 1–4 Macedonia  (Kranj, Slovenia; 13 October 1993)
Biggest win
Liechtenstein 1–11 Macedonia  (Eschen–Mauren, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996)
Biggest defeat
Macedonia 0–5 Belgium  (Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; 7 June 1995)  Macedonia 0–5 Slovakia  (Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; 7 October 2001)  Hungary 5–0 Macedonia  (Budapest, Hungary; 14 November 2001)  Czech Republic 6–1 Macedonia  (Teplice, Czech Republic; 8 June 2005)

The Macedonia national football team (Macedonian: Фудбалска репрезентација на Македонија, Fudbalska reprezentacija na Makedonija) is the national football team of the Republic of Macedonia and is controlled by the Football Federation of Macedonia. The venue for home games is the Philip II Arena in Skopje.

On 12 August 2009, as part of the 100-year anniversary of football in Macedonia, the national team played a friendly match against Spain. Star player Goran Pandev scored two goals in the first half to give Macedonia a 2–0 lead before Spain scored three goals in the second half to record the 3–2 victory in front of a record crowd of 30,000 at the renovated Philip II Arena.^[3]

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record											FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1930 to 1990	Part of  Yugoslavia										–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1994	Did not enter										–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1998	Did Not Qualify										10	4	1	5	22	18	4/6
2002											10	1	4	5	11	18	4/6
2006											12	2	3	7	11	24	5/7
2010											8	2	1	5	5	11	4/5
2014											10	2	1	7	7	16	6/6
2018	TBD										4	0	0	4	4	11	5/6
Total		0/20	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		54	11	10	33	61	100	—

The Macedonia national football team has yet to qualify for a World Cup Finals tournament. In their attempt at qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, they finished fourth in Group 9 with seven points. Surprisingly, due to the closeness of the group throughout the campaign (only five teams in the group), Macedonia remained in contention to qualify until the final group game, which Macedonia lost 2–1 away to Norway.

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record										UEFA Euro Championship Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1960 to 1992	Part of  Yugoslavia									–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1996	Did not qualify									10	1	4	5	9	18	4/6
2000										8	2	2	4	13	14	4/5
2004										8	1	3	4	11	14	4/5
2008										12	4	2	6	12	12	5/7
2012										10	2	2	6	8	14	5/6
2016										10	1	1	8	6	18	6/6
Total		0/15	0	0	0	0	0	0		58	11	14	33	59	90	—

Summer Olympics record

Macedonia was part of the Yugoslavia until Seoul 1988. After that, they never managed to qualify from Barcelona 1992 to Rio 2016.

History

The beginning (1993–96)

In 1994, Macedonia became a member of FIFA and UEFA after the break-up of Yugoslavia. The team began its football journey with a 4–1 win against Slovenia in a friendly on 13 October 1993 under coach Andon Dončevski.^[4]

They went on to win their next two friendlies against Slovenia and Estonia before suffering their first loss against Turkey on 31 August 1994 (before this they lost to Club Atlético Peñarol 0–4 in Montevideo in February 1994). The inaugural Macedonian side featured Darko Pančev, who won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and also played for Internazionale in Italy.

Euro 1996 qualifiers

The Euro 96 Qualifiers was the first major qualifying tournament that Macedonia participated in as an independent nation and they were grouped with Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus and Armenia. In their opening game, which was also their first ever official match, Macedonia was drawn against the reigning European Champions Denmark.

The game was played in Skopje on 7 September 1994 and it finished 1–1 with Macedonia leading for most of the game after scoring in the fourth minute.^[5] In this qualifying stage, Macedonia suffered one of its worst defeats when they lost 0–5 to Belgium at home on 7 June 1995.^[6] They failed to qualify for Euro 96, finishing fourth in the group with seven points.^[7]

Hadžievski, Kanatlarovski and Jovanovski's era (1996–2001)

1998 World Cup qualifiers

Macedonia's first qualifying attempt for the World Cup saw them grouped with Romania, Ireland, Lithuania, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

The tournament began on 24 April 1996 with a 3–0 win at home against Liechtenstein. On 9 November 1996, Macedonia recorded their biggest win ever, an 11–1 thrashing of Liechtenstein.^[8] Half of the goals Macedonia scored in the entire campaign were scored in this match alone. Macedonia failed again to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France, finishing fourth in the group on 13 points.^[9]

Euro 2000 qualifiers

Macedonia's journey to qualify for the Euro 2000 tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium saw them grouped with FR Yugoslavia, Ireland, Croatia, and Malta. They once again opened their qualifying campaign with a win after beating Malta 4–0 at home on 6 September 1998. However, they failed to qualify again, finishing fourth in the group with eight points.^[10]

2002 World Cup qualifiers

Macedonia's 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign saw them grouped with Sweden, Turkey, Slovakia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan. They were unsuccessful in their opening match, going down to Slovakia 2–0 in Slovakia on 3 September 2000. The Macedonians once again failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, which was held in Japan and South Korea, as they finished fourth in the group with seven points.^[11]

Ups and downs (2001–06)

Euro 2004 qualifiers

The Euro 2004 Qualifiers saw Macedonia grouped alongside England, Turkey, Slovakia, and Liechtenstein. Despite Macedonia failing to win its first four games of the campaign, they managed to record one of its most memorable results of its short history.

On 16 October 2002, Macedonia played former world champions England in Southampton, which was England's first home game in Southampton in almost 100 years. Macedonia grabbed the lead early in the first half after Artim Šakiri scored directly from a corner kick, leaving English goalkeeper David Seaman stunned. England soon leveled the game, but not before Macedonia managed to take the lead once again.

However, the game ended 2–2 after England managed to score a second equalizer in the second half.^[12] Macedonia lost to England 2–1 at home in the return leg, which took place in September 2003.^[13] Macedonia's only win of the campaign came on 7 June 2003, when they beat Liechtenstein 3–1 at home. Macedonia did not qualify for the Euro 2004 tournament, which was held in Portugal, finishing fourth in the group with six points.^[14]

2006 World Cup qualifiers

Macedonia was drawn in Group 1 and was grouped with the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Finland, Armenia, and Andorra. They managed to open their campaign with a comfortable 3–0 win at home against Armenia on 18 August 2004. Macedonia did not win another home game for more than three years.

On 9 October 2004, Macedonia managed to hold the Netherlands to a surprise 2–2 draw in Skopje in front of a crowd of 17,000 at the Skopje City Stadium,^[15] but in their next game, just four days later, they suffered one of its most embarrassing defeats, a 1–0 loss away to Andorra, one of the world's weakest teams.^[16] Also in this tournament, Macedonia set a new team record for most goals conceded in a game when they lost 6–1 away to Czech Republic on 8 June 2005.

Macedonia went on to concede a further eight goals in the next two qualifying games, both against Finland. On 23 August 2005, coach Slobodan Santrač resigned as coach of Macedonia after just five months on the job due to personal problems, with former player Boban Babunski temporarily taking over as coach. The resignation came just days after they were beaten 3–0 by Finland in Skopje. Despite their poor performance during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, Macedonia managed to end the campaign on a high with a 0–0 draw against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.^[17]

This result meant that Macedonia, with the two draws against the Netherlands, was the only team in the group not to have been defeated by the Netherlands. The Netherlands won 10 of their 12 games in the 2006 World Cup campaign. Macedonia failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, finishing fifth in the group with nine points.^[18]

Iran tournament

Following the completion of the 2006 World Cup qualifying tournament, in November 2005, Macedonia took part in a friendly tournament in Iran consisting of four teams, each team from a different continent. The teams were Macedonia, Iran, Paraguay, and Togo. In their opening match, they won 2–1 against host nation Iran, booking a spot in the final against Paraguay. They won the final against Paraguay 1–0. Macedonia was the only nation in this friendly tournament not to have qualified for the 2006 World Cup.

Srečko Katanec's era and best FIFA ranking (2006–10)

Euro 2008 qualifiers

On 27 January 2006 in Switzerland, Macedonia was placed in Group E for the Euro 2008 qualifiers alongside England, Croatia, Russia, Israel, Estonia, and Andorra. On 17 February 2006, former Slovenian national team coach Srečko Katanec was appointed as the head coach and was given a two-year contract.

In the lead-up to the beginning of the qualifiers for Euro 2008, Macedonia managed two results against sides in friendly matches. They beat Ecuador 2–1 in Madrid, their first ever win against a South American nation, and a week later, followed that up with a 1–0 win against Turkey.

Macedonia opened their UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 0–1 win away to Estonia on 16 August 2006. Goce Sedloski scored for Macedonia in the 73rd minute, which meant that Macedonia was the first team to score a goal in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Macedonia hosted England on 6 September 2006 in their second game of the qualifiers. England went on to win 0–1 after Peter Crouch scored for the away side in the 46th minute. This was the first time that Macedonia failed to score against England.^[19]

A month later, on 7 October 2006, the two teams met once again in Manchester, where England was held to a 0–0 draw in front of 72,062 people.^[20] On 17 October 2007, Macedonia recorded their first win on home soil since August 2004 when they easily defeated Andorra 3–0 in Skopje in an emotional game as it was the day after the death of pop icon Toše Proeski.^[21]

Macedonia then recorded one of their most impressive wins to date when they picked up a 2–0 victory over eventual group winners Croatia on 17 November 2007, causing the biggest upset of Group A; it was also a first win for Macedonia over a side that was ranked in the top ten of the FIFA World Rankings.^[22] Despite some surprising results, Macedonia once again failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals after finishing fifth in the group with 14 points.^[23]

2010 World Cup qualifiers

On 25 November 2007, just days after Macedonia completed its qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, the groups for European qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup were held in Durban, South Africa, where Macedonia was seeded in Pot 4 and grouped along with the Netherlands, Scotland, Norway and Iceland.^[24] Manager Srečko Katanec received a two-year extension on 21 December 2007, which meant he would be under contract through the end of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.^[25] In the lead up to the campaign, Macedonia played three friendlies against Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Poland, which all ended in draws.

Macedonia opened their campaign with a 1–0 home win against Scotland on 6 September 2008 when Ilčo Naumoski scored on a rebound after a well taken free kick by Goce Sedloski. Following these impressive results, Macedonia moved up 10 places to 46 in the FIFA World Rankings list for October 2008 which was their highest ever position on the rankings list. Srečko Katanec left the team following a 4–0 loss to the Netherlands in Amsterdam in April 2009 for allegedly getting into an argument with star player Goran Pandev.^[26]

Soon afterwards, the manager of the under-21 squad, Mirsad Jonuz, became the new coach of the Macedonian senior team and was signed until the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign.^[27] On 5 September, Macedonia lost 2–0 to Scotland and then suffered another loss to Norway, which meant that Macedonia once again did not qualify for the World Cup.

Decline into the abyss (2010–present)

Euro 2012 qualifiers

On 7 February 2010, Macedonia was placed in Group B for the Euro 2012 qualifiers alongside Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Armenia and Andorra.^[28] In the lead up to the qualifiers, an under-strength Macedonia side played friendlies against Azerbaijan, Romania and Malta, winning the first two 3–1 and 1–0 respectively, and tied 1–1 against Malta later the summer.

However, the qualifications did not go as well. Instead, Macedonia finished in a disappointing fifth position in the group with only two wins against minnows Andorra and two draws, against Armenia and Slovakia, both at home. Due to the poor results in the qualifications, manager Mirsad Jonuz was dismissed on 18 June 2011^[29] and replaced by John Toshack,^[30] who led the Macedonia in the last four matches to one win, one draw and two losses.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Macedonia's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign saw them grouped with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Wales.^[31] Before that qualifications in August 2012, Toshack was leaved the manager place^[32] and then was replaced by Čedomir Janevski.^[33] The national team was lose in the beginning by Croatia in Zagreb and was drawn with Scotland in Glasgow. Then was again lost by Croatia at the home and was win against Serbia in Skopje after the taken penalty kick by Agim Ibraimi.^[34] In March 2013, the national team was lose twice to the eventually group winners Belgium.

They win against Wales and lost against Scotland at the home. After that matches, in the end of September 2013 Janevski was left to Belgian club R.A.E.C. Mons^[35] and was replaced by caretaker Zoran Stratev for the last two matches.^[36] The national team was haven the disastrous finish of the qualification that seemed to be foreshadowed how it will look in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. By the losses away against Wales and against Serbia in Jagodina, Macedonia was finished at the last place.

After the end of unsuccessful qualifications, Goran Pandev, Nikolče Noveski, Veliče Šumulikoski and the other players retired from the national team due to disrupted relations with the Football Federation of Macedonia.^[37] In November 2013, the manager Boško Gjurovski was appointed the new national team manager.^[38]

Euro 2016 qualifiers

On 23 February 2014, Macedonia was placed in Group C for the Euro 2016 qualifiers alongside Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus and Luxembourg.^[39] However, the national team had a disastrous start against Spain in Valencia with a 1–5 loss. The only win they collected was against Luxembourg in Skopje.

After that match, Macedonia was brought into disastrous run of a four losses. Due to the poor results in the qualifications, manager Boško Gjurovski was dismissed on 7 April 2015^[40] and replaced by Ljubinko Drulović.^[41] The miserable run, however, continued with the losses against Slovakia and surprisingly Luxembourg by late goal of Sébastien Thill, after a missed penalty kick of Besart Abdurahimi. Their disappointing performances was continued against Spain in Skopje, beside their good game, and against, Ukraine also home.

In the last match against Belarus in Barysaw, Macedonia played a draw which broke the black streak of seven losses. The team still ended the qualifications at the last place of the group with a worse head-to-head scoring with Luxembourg.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

On 25 July 2015, in the middle of the Euro 2016 qualifying, the group draws for European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup were held in Saint Petersburg. Macedonia was seeded in Pot 5 and grouped along with Spain again, for the first time with Italy, with the rival Albania and with Israel and Liechtenstein.^[42]

In October 2015, Drulović left the National Team to Serbian club Partizan^[43] and the manager place took the manager of Rabotnički and former assistant coach of the national team Igor Angelovski.^[44] In the same month, the Macedonian football superstar Goran Pandev came back to the national team after the two years of absence.^[45]

Macedonia started with another disappointing performance with a loss to Albania in Shkodër, with a goal scored by Bekim Balaj in the last moments of the game, in a match that was played over two days because of interruption in the 76th minute due to very bad weather conditions. ^[46][47] Later on they also lost to Israel at home by missing a penalty kick by Adis Jahović in the last moments of the game.^[48] Later on, the national team also lost to Italy beside their 2–1 lead with the goals scored by Ilija Nestorovski and Ferhan Hasani.^[49] At the end of the another year to forget Macedonia was outclassed by Spain in Granada (4–0)^[50] and after played four games did not win a single point which is by far the worst start in qualifying in the history of the national team.^[51]

{{2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G table |show_matches=yes|showteam=MKD}}

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

2016

2017

Squad

Current squad

Squad named for the 2018 World Cup qualifier against  Spain on 12 November 2016
Caps and goals as of 12 November 2016 after the game against Spain.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Stole Dimitrievski	(1993-12-25) 25 December 1993	7	0	Gimnàstic
22	1GK	Igor Aleksovski	(1995-02-24) 24 February 1995	0	0	Vardar
12	1GK	Filip Gachevski	(1990-08-17) 17 August 1990	0	0	Vardar
6	2DF	Vanche Shikov (vice-captain)	(1985-07-19) 19 July 1985	52	4	Neftçi
5	2DF	Daniel Mojsov	(1987-12-25) 25 December 1987	36	0	AEK Larnaca
13	2DF	Stefan Ristovski	(1992-02-12) 12 February 1992	29	0	Rijeka
3	2DF	Leonard Zhuta	(1992-08-09) 9 August 1992	15	0	Rijeka
4	2DF	Kire Ristevski	(1990-10-22) 22 October 1990	15	0	Vasas
14	2DF	Darko Velkovski	(1995-06-21) 21 June 1995	4	0	Vardar
15	2DF	Gjoko Zajkov	(1995-02-10) 10 February 1995	1	0	Charleroi
11	3MF	Ferhan Hasani	(1990-06-18) 18 June 1990	27	2	Shkendija
20	3MF	Stefan Spirovski	(1990-08-23) 23 August 1990	12	0	Vardar
8	3MF	Ezgjan Alioski	(1992-02-12) 12 February 1992	10	1	Lugano
18	3MF	David Babunski	(1994-03-01) 1 March 1994	8	0	Red Star Belgrade
7	3MF	Enis Bardhi	(1995-07-02) 2 July 1995	6	0	Újpest
17	3MF	Nikola Gjorgjev	(1997-08-22) 22 August 1997	4	0	Grasshopper
21	3MF	Kire Markoski	(1995-05-20) 20 May 1995	2	0	Rabotnichki
16	3MF	Boban Nikolov	(1994-07-28) 28 July 1994	2	0	Vardar
10	4FW	Goran Pandev (Captain)	(1983-07-27) 27 July 1983	83	27	Genoa
23	4FW	Besart Ibraimi	(1986-12-17) 17 December 1986	12	0	Shkendija
9	4FW	Ilija Nestorovski	(1990-03-12) 12 March 1990	11	3	Palermo

Recent call-ups

The following players are also eligible for the Macedonian squad and have received a call up within the past 12 months:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Martin Bogatinov	(1986-04-26) 26 April 1986	18	0	Ethnikos Achna	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
GK	Kostadin Zahov	(1987-11-08) 8 November 1987	1	0	Shkendija	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
GK	Damjan Shishkovski	(1995-03-18) 18 March 1995	0	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
DF	Egzon Bejtulai	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994	0	0	Shkendija	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
DF	Goran Siljanovski	(1990-07-01) 1 July 1990	4	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Bulgaria, 29 March 2016
DF	Mite Cikarski	(1993-01-06) 6 January 1993	3	0	Ethnikos Achna	v.  Bulgaria, 29 March 2016
MF	Ivan Trichkovski	(1987-04-18) 18 April 1987	41	4	AEK Larnaca	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
MF	Ostoja Stjepanović	(1985-02-17) 17 February 1985	15	0	Śląsk Wrocław	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
MF	Milovan Petrovikj	(1990-01-23) 23 January 1990	9	0	Osijek	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
MF	Dushko Trajchevski	(1990-10-01) 1 October 1990	3	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
MF	Agim Ibraimi INJ	(1988-08-29) 29 August 1988	39	7	Astana	v.  Albania, 5 September 2016 (withdrew)
MF	Bojan Najdenov	(1991-08-27) 27 August 1991	4	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
MF	Besir Demiri	(1994-08-01) 1 August 1994	2	0	Shkendija	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
MF	Dejan Peshevski INJ	(1993-08-05) 5 August 1993	2	0	Podbrezová	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
MF	Nikola Gligorov	(1983-08-15) 15 August 1983	25	0	Vardar	v.  Bulgaria, 29 March 2016
MF	Armend Alimi	(1987-12-11) 11 December 1987	13	0	Shkendija	v.  Bulgaria, 29 March 2016
FW	Adis Jahović	(1987-03-18) 18 March 1987	15	3	Göztepe	v.  Italy, 9 October 2016
FW	Aleksandar Trajkovski INJ	(1992-09-05) 5 September 1992	31	8	Palermo	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
FW	Marjan Radeski INJ	(1995-02-10) 10 February 1995	7	1	Shkendija	v.  Iran, 2 June 2016
FW	Jovan Kostovski	(1987-04-19) 19 April 1987	13	2	OH Leuven	v.  Bulgaria, 29 March 2016

All-time team record

The following table shows Macedonia's all-time international record, correct as of 12 November 2016.^[52]