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North Macedonia national football team

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Macedonia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Red Lions (Црвени Лавови) - Alexander's Phalanx (Фалангата на Александар)
AssociationFootball Federation of Macedonia
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachSlovenia Srečko Katanec (2006-)
CaptainGoce Sedloski
Most capsGoce Sedloski (82)
Top scorerGjorgji Hristov (16)
Home stadiumSkopje City Stadium
FIFA codeMKD
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current61
Highest49 (March 2007)
Lowest147 (May 1994)
First international
 Slovenia 1 - 4 Macedonia North Macedonia
(Kranj, Slovenia; October 13, 1993)
Biggest win
 Liechtenstein 1- 11 Macedonia North Macedonia
(Eschen-Mauren, Liechtenstein; November 9, 1996)
Biggest defeat
North Macedonia Macedonia 0 - 5 Belgium 
(Skopje, Macedonia; June 7, 1995)
Appearances(first in -)
Best result-
Appearances(first in -)
Best result-

The Republic of Macedonia national football team is the national football team of the Republic of Macedonia and is controlled by the Football Federation of Macedonia.They compete in FIFA and UEFA tournaments as FYR of Macedonia [1][2] (i.e. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). They usually play their home games at Skopje City Stadium.

World Cup record

The FYR Macedonia national team are yet to qualify for a World Cup Finals tournament. In their most recent attempt, they finished 5th in Group 1 with 9 points and only 2 wins from 12 games. Their campaign ended on a positive note with a surprise 0-0 draw in Amsterdam against the Netherlands on 12 October 2005.

European Championship record

As with their World Cup campaigns, Macedonia are yet to qualify for a European Championship after 3 qualifying campaigns. They beat Estonia 1:0 on August 16, 2006 in the first game of the qualification campaign for the 2008 European Football Championship. They drew 0-0 with England on October 7, 2006, marking one of their best results to date. Another surprising game was a 2-0 win over a strong Croatian side on November 17, 2007.

Memorable players

Coaching history

History

The beginning

In 1994, Macedonia became a member of FIFA and UEFA after the break-up of Yugoslavia.

The team began its football life with a 4-1 win against Slovenia in a friendly on 13 October 1993 under trainer Andon Doncevski. They went on to win its next 2 friendlies against Slovenia and Estonia before suffering its first ever loss, a 2-0 loss at home to Turkey on 31 August 1994 (before this the Macedonia lost to Peñarol 0-4 in Montevideo on February 1994). The inaugural Macedonian side featured Darko Pancev, who won the European Champions League for Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and also played for Internazionale in Italy.

Euro 96 Qualifiers

The Euro 96 Qualifiers was the first qualifying tournament that Macedonia took part in, in which 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 finished 1-1 with Macedonia leading for most of the game after scoring in the 4th minute. In this qualifying stage, Macedonia suffered one of its worst defeats, a 5-0 loss to Belgium at home on 7 June 1995. They failed to qualify for Euro 96, finishing 4th and equal last in the group on 7 points.

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 to Liechtenstein. On 9 November 1996, Macedonia recorded their biggest ever win, an 11-1 thrashing of Liechtenstein. Half of all the goals the Macedonia scored in the whole campaign were scored in this match alone. Macedonia failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, finishing 4th in the group on 13 points.

Euro 2000 Qualifiers

Macedonia's campaign to qualify for the Euro 2000 tournament in Netherlands and Belgium saw them grouped with 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, Macedonia failed to qualify again, finishing 4th in the group on 8 points.

2002 World Cup Qualifiers

The Republic of 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 Republic of Macedonia once again failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup which was held in Japan and South Korea, once again finishing 4th in the group on 7 points.

Euro 2004 Qualifiers

The Euro 2004 Qualifiers saw the Macedonia grouped alongside England, Turkey, Slovakia and Liechtenstein. Despite Macedonia failing to win its first 4 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 Sakiri scored directly from a corner kick, leaving English goalkeeper David Seaman stunned. England soon leveled the game, but not before Macedonia managed to get in the lead once again. However, the game ended 2-2 after England managed to score a second equaliser in the second half. Macedonia lost to England again 2-1 at home in the return leg which took place in September 2003. 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 4th on 6 points, their worst final points tally to date.

2006 World Cup Qualifiers

Macedonia was drawn in Group 1 and was grouped with Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Finland, Armenia and Andorra. They managed to open their campaign with a 3-0 win at home to Armenia on 18 August 2004. Macedonia would not win another home game for more than 3 years. On 9 October 2004, Macedonia managed to hold European giants Netherland to a surprise 2-2 draw in Skopje in front of a crowd of 17,000 at the Gradski Stadium, but in their next game, just 4 days later, Macedonia suffered one of its most embarrassing defeats, a 1-0 loss away to Andorra, one of the world's weakest teams. Also in this tournaments, 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 8 goals in the next 2 qualifiers, both were against Finland. On 23 August 2005, Macedonian Coach Slobodan Santrac resigned as coach of Macedonia after just 5 months into the job due to personal problems, with former Macedonian player Boban Babunski temporarily taking over as coach. The resignation came just days after the Macedonians 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. This result meant that Macedonia, with the 2 draws against Netherlands, was the only team in the group not to have been twice defeated by group winners Netherlands. 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 5th in the group on 9 points.

Following the completion of the 2006 World Cup Qualifying tournament, in November 2005, Macedonia took part in a friendly tournament in Iran consisting of 4 teams, each team from a different continent. The teams were Macedonia, Iran, Paraguay and Togo. In their opening match, the Macedonians won 2-1 against host nation Iran, booking a spot in the final against Paraguay. Macedonia lost the final match against Paraguay 1-0. Macedonia was the only nation in this friendly tournament not to have qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

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 coach Srečko Katanec was appointed as Macedonian head coach under a 2 year contract.

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

On 16 August 2006, Macedonia opened their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win against Estonia. Goce Sedloski scored for Macedonia in the 73rd minute. Sedloski's milestone goal meant that the Macedonia was the first team to score a goal in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

On 6 September 2006, Macedonia hosted England in their second game of the qualifiers. England went on to win 1-0 after Peter Crouch scored for the away side in the 46th minute. This was the first time that Macedonia failed to score against England. A month later, on 7 October, the 2 teams met once again in Manchester. The Macedonians surprisingly held England to a 0-0 draw in front of 72,062 people.

In March 2007, Macedonia was ranked 49th on the FIFA Rankings list, their highest ever position on the FIFA Rankings.

On 17 October 2007, Macedonia beat Andorra 3-0 in Skopje, giving the Macedonians their first win on home soil since August 2004

On 17 November 2007, Macedonia caused the biggest upset of the group, A 2-0 win in Skopje over eventual group winners Croatia, who suffered their first loss since the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The win was also Croatia's only loss of their campaign, as well as Macedonia's first ever win over a side ranked in the Top 10 in the FIFA Rankings.

Macedonia failed to qualify to the Euro 2008 Finals after finishing 5th on 14 points, despite their highest points accumulation for a qualifiers tournament.

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 FIFA World Cup were allocated in Durban, South Africa. Macedonia was seeded in Pot 4 and was grouped along with the Netherlands, Scotland, Norway and Iceland.

On 21 December 2007, Coach Srečko Katanec agreed to a 2 year contract extention which would see him coach Macedonia through the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers.

In their most recent match, Macedonia drew 1-1 with Serbia in Skopje on 6 February 2008. Noveski found the equaliser in the second half after Serbia found the lead just before half time.

Upcoming matches

Current Squad

Squad named for friendly against Serbia (February 6,2008)

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Petar Milosevski 6 December 1973 (age 34) 51 0 Cyprus Enosis Neon Paralimni FC
2 2DF Igor Mitreski 19 February 1979 (age 28) 45 1 Germany FC Energie Cottbus
3 2DF Goran Popov 2 October 1984 (age 23) 14 1 Greece Levadiakos F.C.
4 2DF Goce Sedloski 10 April 1974 (age 33) 83 7 Austria SV Mattersburg
5 2DF Nikolce Noveski 28 April 1979 (age 28) 21 3 Germany 1. FSV Mainz 05
6 3MF Slavco Georgievski 30 March 1980 (age 27) 7 0 China Zhejiang Lücheng
7 3MF Vlatko Grozdanovski 30 January 1983 (age 25) 34 3 Serbia FK Vojvodina
8 3MF Velice Sumulikoski 24 April 1981 (age 26) 48 1 England Ipswich Town F.C.
9 4FW Goran Maznov 22 April 1981 (age 26) 35 7 Russia FC Tom Tomsk
10 3MF Darko Tasevski 20 May 1984 (age 23) 21 0 Bulgaria PFC Levski Sofia
11 4FW Ilco Naumoski ^ 29 July 1983 (age 24) 21 5 Austria SV Mattersburg
12 1GK Tome Pacovski 28 June 1982 (age 25) 4 0 North Macedonia FK Rabotnicki
13 3MF Artim Polozani 25 June 1982 (age 25) 8 0 Albania KS Dinamo Tirana
14 2DF Vlade Lazarevski 15 October 1983 (age 24) 23 0 Ukraine FC Metalist Kharkiv
15 2DF Boban Grncarov 12 August 1982 (age 25) 10 0 Belgium K.A.A. Gent
16 4FW Ivan Trickovski ^ 18 April 1987 (age 20) 0 0 Serbia Red Star Belgrade
17 3MF Igor Jancevski 16 September 1974 (age 33) 28 0 Cyprus Enosis Neon Paralimni FC
19 3MF Goran Pandev 27 July 1983 (age 24) 36 12 Italy S.S. Lazio
20 4FW Aco Stojkov 29 April 1983 (age 24) 25 4 Hungary Debreceni VSC

^Withdrew Through Injury

Recent call-ups

These players had either featured or were in the squad for the EURO 2008 Qualifiers

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
- 1GK Jane Nikolovski 12 December 1973 (age 34) 24 0 Cyprus APOEL FC
- 1GK Jordan Georgievski 29 January 1981 (age 27) 0 0 North Macedonia FK Vardar
- 2DF Robert Popov 16 April 1982 (age 25) 15 0 France AJ Auxerre
- 2DF Robert Petrov 2 June 1978 (age 29) 27 0 Bulgaria PFC CSKA Sofia
- 2DF Aleksandar Vasoski 21 November 1979 (age 28) 31 2 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
- 2DF Miroslav Vajs 27 July 1979 (age 28) 7 0 North Macedonia FK Rabotnicki
- 3MF Aleksandar Mitreski 5 August 1980 (age 27) 31 0 Germany 1. FC Köln
- 3MF Artim Sakiri 23 September 1973 (age 34) 73 15 North Macedonia FK Shkendija 79
- 3MF Vanco Trajanov 9 August 1978 (age 29) 29 2 Bulgaria FC Chernomorets 919 Burgas
- 3MF Vulnet Emini 10 September 1978 (age 29) 2 0 North Macedonia FK Renova
- 4FW Stevica Ristić 23 May 1982 (age 25) 4 1 South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
- 4FW Goce Toleski 5 May 1977 (age 30) 18 1 Czech Republic Slavia Prague
- 4FW Zoran Baldovaliev 4 May 1983 (age 24) 4 1 Bulgaria PFC Lokomotiv Sofia

Other Players Available

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
- 1GK Oka Nikolov 25 March 1974 (age 33) 5 0 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt|- class="nat-fs-player" - 1GK Nuredin Bakiu 19 January 1982 (age 26) 0 0 Sweden IFK Norrköping
- 2DF Vance Sikov 19 July 1985 (22) 0 0 Greece Apollon Kalamarias F.C.
- 2DF Daniel Georgievski N/A 1989 (age 19) 0 0 Croatia NK Međimurje
- 2DF Igor Kralevski 11 October 1978 (age 29) 2 0 Russia FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
- 2DF Vladimir Dimitrovski 30 November 1988 (age 19) 0 0 Belgium K.V.C. Westerlo
- 2DF Aleksandar Lazevski 21 January 1988 (age 19) 0 0 Serbia FK Partizan
- 3MF Blaze Todorovski 11 June 1985 (age 22) 0 0 Romania F.C. Dinamo Bucureşti
- 3MF Nderim Nedzipi 22 May 1984 (age 23) 0 0 North Macedonia FK Rabotnicki
- 3MF Mario Gjurovski 11 December 1985 (age 22) 0 0 Serbia FK Vojvodina
- 3MF Sasko Pandev 1 May 1987 (age 20) 0 0 Croatia NK Međimurje
- 4FW Dragan Cadikovski 13 January 1982 (age 26) 8 0 Serbia FK Partizan
- 4FW Filip Ivanovski 1 May 1985 (age 22) 0 0 Poland Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski
- 4FW Zoran Zlatkovski 5 April 1987 (age 20) 0 0 Bulgaria PFC Slavia Sofia
- 4FW Goran Slavkovski 8 April 1989 (age 18) 0 0 England Sheffield United F.C.
- 4FW Gjorgji Hristov 30 January 1976 (age 32) 48 16 Netherlands FC Den Bosch
- 4FW Pance Kumbev 25 December 1979 (age 28) 0 0 Poland Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski
- 4FW Hristijan Kirovski 12 October 1985 (age 22) 0 0 Ukraine FC Vorskla Poltava
- 4FW Filip Despotovski 18 November 1982 (age 25) 0 0 Ukraine FC Vorskla Poltava
- 4FW Milan Dimovski 18 November 1982 (age 25) 0 0 Russia FC Terek Grozny
- 2DF Nikola Karčev 31 March 1981 (age 26) 0 0 Albania KS Elbasani
- 2DF Ardijan Nuhiji 7 December 1978 (age 26) 1 0 Albania KS Elbasani

Notes

  1. ^ FYR Macedonia football Federation in Fifa.com [1]
  2. ^ Football Federation of F.Y.R. of Macedonia in Uefa.com [2]

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