North Macedonia national football team

North Macedonia

Nickname(s)	Рисови Risovi (Lynxes) Лавови Lavovi (Lions)
Association	Football Federation of Macedonia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Blagoja Milevski
Captain	Enis Bardhi
Most caps	Goran Pandev (122)
Top scorer	Goran Pandev (38)
Home stadium	Toše Proeski Arena
FIFA code	MKD
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	65 (21 December 2023)
Highest	46 (October 2008)
Lowest	166 (March 2017)
First international
Slovenia 1–4 Macedonia (Kranj, Slovenia; 13 October 1993)
Biggest win
Liechtenstein 1–11 Macedonia (Eschen, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996)
Biggest defeat
England 7–0 North Macedonia (Manchester, England; 19 June 2023)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2020)
Best result	Group stage (2020)
Website	ffm.mk

The North Macedonia men's national football team (Macedonian: Фудбалска репрезентација на Северна Македонија, romanized: Fudbalska reprezentacija na Severna Makedonija, represents North Macedonia in men's international football, and is administered by the Football Federation of Macedonia. The team play their home matches at the Toše Proeski National Arena in Skopje.

North Macedonia have been rising in football in recent years, reaching Euro 2020 (their first major tournament) and the European qualifying play-off final of the 2022 World Cup (after defeating Germany in Duisburg and Italy in Palermo).

History

The National team was represented within the Federal team since 1919. Between 1945 and 1992, SR Macedonia was ineligible to play as a team for official matches. The team had mostly played exhibition matches against teams from other republics of SFR Yugoslavia and was represented by Macedonian players under the traditional red, yellow and white colors. As an independent team, it started to compete on international level after the split of the federation in 1991.

Early years (1993–96)

In 1994, the Republic of Macedonia became a single member of FIFA and UEFA after the independence and split of the Yugoslavia. They recorded their first match as a 4–1 victory against Slovenia in a friendly on 13 October 1993 under coach Andon Dončevski.

They went on to win their next two friendlies against Slovenia and Estonia.

Euro 1996 qualifiers

The Euro '96 qualifiers was the first major qualifying tournament that Macedonia participated in as an independent nation, grouped with Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus and Armenia. In their opening game, which was also their first ever official match, Macedonia played the reigning European champions Denmark, finishing 1–1 after Macedonia led for most of the game. In Euro '96 qualifying, Macedonia suffered one of its worst-ever defeats, 5–0 to Belgium on 7 June 1995. They failed to qualify for Euro '96, finishing fourth in the group with seven points.

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, Republic of 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 ever, an 11–1 thrashing of Liechtenstein. Macedonia defeated the Republic of Ireland 3–2 at home, their first win over a major European team, but failed again to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France, finishing fourth in the group on 13 points.

Euro 2000 qualifiers

Macedonia's journey to qualify for the Euro 2000 tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium saw them grouped with FR Yugoslavia, Republic of 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. Their most notable result in the campaign was a 1–1 draw against Croatia in June 1999, with an equalizer of Gjorgji Hristov 10 minutes before the end of the game. They helped Yugoslavia to qualify directly and eliminate Croatia because they drew 1–1 against the Republic of Ireland with a last-minute equalizer of Goran Stavrevski. However, they failed to qualify again, finishing fourth in the group with eight points.

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 Bratislava on 3 September 2000. The Macedonians once again failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup as they finished fourth in the group with seven points.

Ups and downs (2001–06)

Euro 2004 qualifiers

The Euro 2004 Qualifiers saw Macedonia grouped alongside England, Turkey, Slovakia, and Liechtenstein. Macedonia played England in Southampton, 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. England soon leveled the game, before Macedonia led again. The game eventually ended 2–2. Macedonia lost to England 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.

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, but just four days later, they suffered a 1–0 loss away to Andorra. Macedonia then set a new team record for most goals conceded in a game when they lost 6–1 away to the Czech Republic in 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 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 failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Macedonia was the only team in the group to not lose against the Netherlands.

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: 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, where they lost 1–0.

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

Euro 2008 qualifiers

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 wins in friendlies, against Ecuador 2–1 in Madrid, and 1–0 Turkey. Macedonia was placed in Group E for the Euro 2008 qualifiers alongside England, Croatia, Russia, Israel, Estonia, and Andorra.

Macedonia opened its UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 1–0 win away to Estonia on 16 August 2006. Macedonia hosted England on 6 September in their second game of the qualifiers. England went on to win 1–0; this was the first time that Macedonia failed to score against England.

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. On 17 October 2007, Macedonia recorded their first win on home soil since August 2004 when they defeated Andorra 3–0 in Skopje.

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; it was also a first win for Macedonia over a side that was ranked in the top ten of the FIFA World Rankings. Despite this, Macedonia failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after finishing fifth in the group with 14 points.

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. 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. 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 missed 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 ranking. 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 Goran Pandev.

Soon afterward, 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. On 12 August 2009, a friendly match against Spain was held at the newly built City Park Stadium in Skopje. The defending European champions won 3–2 after being 2–0 down at halftime. In September, Macedonia lost 2–0 to Scotland and then to Norway; Macedonia missed the World Cup again.

Fall and resurgence (2010–2018)

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. 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.

Macedonia finished in fifth in the group with only two wins against minnows Andorra and two draws, against Armenia and Slovakia, both at home. Manager Mirsad Jonuz was dismissed on 18 June 2011 and replaced by John Toshack.

2014 World Cup qualifiers

Macedonia's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign saw them grouped with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Wales. In August 2012, prior to the qualifications, John Toshack would leave as manager and would be replaced by Čedomir Janevski. The national team would begin the qualification round with a loss to Croatia in Zagreb and would go on to draw against Scotland in Glasgow. They lost again to Croatia and won against Serbia in Skopje after a penalty kick taken by Agim Ibraimi. Later in qualification, the national team would go on to lose twice to the eventual group winners Belgium.

Macedonia would win against Wales and lose against Scotland at home. Around the end of September 2013, Janevski would leave the team for Belgian club R.A.E.C. Mons and would be replaced by Zoran Stratev for the last two matches. Away losses to Wales and Serbia meant they would finish last in their group.

After the qualification run, Goran Pandev, Nikolče Noveski, Veliče Šumulikoski and others would retire from the national team due to turbulent relations with the Football Federation of Macedonia. In November 2013, Boško Gjurovski would be appointed the new national team manager.

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. With 5–1 loss to Spain in Valencia, the only win they collected was against Luxembourg in Skopje.

After that match, Macedonia was brought into a run of a four losses; manager Boško Gjurovski was dismissed on 7 April 2015 and replaced by Ljubinko Drulović. Further losses ensued against Slovakia and surprisingly Luxembourg by late goal of Sébastien Thill.

In the last match against Belarus in Barysaw, Macedonia played a draw that broke the streak of seven losses. The team still ended qualification last of the group.

2018 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, along with Albania, Israel and Liechtenstein.

In October 2015, Drulović left the national team to join Serbian club Partizan and the manager place was taken over by the former manager of Rabotnički, Igor Angelovski. That same month, 2010 UEFA Champions League champion Goran Pandev came back to the national team after two years of absence.

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 weather. Later on they also lost to Israel at home after missing a penalty kick by Adis Jahović. After that, the national team also lost to Italy beside their 2–1 lead with the goals scored by Ilija Nestorovski and Ferhan Hasani. At the end of 2016, Macedonia was outclassed by Spain in Granada 4–0; Macedonia had not scored a single point, the worst qualifying start in the history of the national team.

Finally, in March 2017, Macedonia recorded their first win in qualifying against Liechtenstein, 3–0. Then they lost to Spain in Skopje 2–1. They also defeated Israel away through the lone goal by Goran Pandev, which was also a first ever win against Israel. Macedonia later tied Albania in Strumica 1–1.

2018–present

2018–19 UEFA Nations League D

In the first edition of the UEFA Nations League, Macedonia played in League D, the lowest division. Macedonia were drawn in Group 4 with Armenia, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar. The national team won the group with five wins and one loss, and were promoted to the League C for the next edition of the Nations League. North Macedonia were assured of a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs place.

Euro 2020 qualifiers

For UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying North Macedonia were placed in Group G, along with Austria, Israel, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia. North Macedonia managed two first impressive results, drawing Slovenia 1–1 away and before that, defeated Latvia 3–1 at home,. However, North Macedonia would soon fall 1–0 to Poland and 4–1 to Austria. Then, the recently renamed country recorded a 1–1 away draw to Israel, and a 2–1 win over Slovenia at home. North Macedonia then lost 2–0 away to Poland, and 2–1 away to Austria, ending up in third place.

However, due to having successfully taken first place in the UEFA Nations League earlier, North Macedonia was able to reach the country's first ever competitive playoff in history and was scheduled against Kosovo. Eventually, in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs first game, North Macedonia overcame Kosovo 2–1 at home. Then they faced Georgia in the final of Path D's play-offs on 13 November, winning 1–0.

2020–21 UEFA Nations League C

After winning the League D group in the first edition of the UEFA Nations League, North Macedonia were promoted to the third division of the competition, League C. North Macedonia was drawn in Group 2 together with Armenia, Estonia and Georgia.

UEFA Euro 2020

North Macedonia made their Euros debut in 2020, postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All three Group C matches ended up in a loss, to Austria, Ukraine and the Netherlands; Goran Pandev equalized against Austria in the 28th minute and Ezgjan Alioski scored against Ukraine. North Macedonia was the second debutant, after Finland.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands (H)	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9	Advance to knockout phase
2	Austria	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	Ukraine	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	North Macedonia	3	0	0	3	2	8	−6	0

• 13 June 2021 at Arena Națională, Bucharest: Austria 3–1 North Macedonia
• 17 June 2021 at Arena Națională, Bucharest: Ukraine 2–1 North Macedonia
• 21 June 2021 at Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam: North Macedonia 0–3 Netherlands

2022 World Cup qualifiers

For the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, North Macedonia was drawn in Group J with Germany, Romania, Iceland, Armenia and Liechtenstein. On matchday 3, North Macedonia inflicted a 2–1 defeat on Germany in Duisburg, which was Germany's first World Cup qualification defeat since 2001 and only the third in their history. In the last two games against Armenia and Iceland, North Macedonia won both (5–0 away against Armenia, 3–1 against Iceland) to put them in 2nd in Group J. Qualifying for the play-offs, they defeated reigning European champions Italy in Palermo on 24 March 2022, and faced Portugal in the play-off final on 29 March where they lost 2-0.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	9	0	1	36	4	+32	27	Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup		—	1–2	2–1	6–0	3–0	9–0
2	North Macedonia	10	5	3	2	23	11	+12	18	Advance to play-offs		0–4	—	0–0	0–0	3–1	5–0
3	Romania	10	5	2	3	13	8	+5	17			0–1	3–2	—	1–0	0–0	2–0
4	Armenia	10	3	3	4	9	20	−11	12			1–4	0–5	3–2	—	2–0	1–1
5	Iceland	10	2	3	5	12	18	−6	9			0–4	2–2	0–2	1–1	—	4–0
6	Liechtenstein	10	0	1	9	2	34	−32	1			0–2	0–4	0–2	0–1	1–4	—

	Semi-finals				Final
	24 March 2022 – Porto
	Portugal	3
					29 March 2022 – Porto
	Turkey	1
					Portugal	2
	24 March 2022 – Palermo
					North Macedonia	0
	Italy	0
	North Macedonia	1

2022–23 UEFA Nations League C

North Macedonia played in the UEFA Nations League against Georgia, Gibraltar, and Bulgaria. In the end they managed to get the third place.

Team image

Stadiums

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Number of matches	Stadium	First international	Last international
122	Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje	23 March 1994	20 November 2023
5	Stadion Goce Delčev, Prilep	27 March 1996	15 November 2011
5	Stadion Mladost, Strumica	12 April 1995	17 October 2023
1	Gradski stadion, Tetovo	14 May 1994	14 May 1994
1	Gradski stadion, Kumanovo	29 September 1998	29 September 1998

Kit sponsorship

Kit supplier	Period
Adidas	1992–1993
Gems	1994–1998
Puma	1998–2014
Jako	2015–present

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

2024

Coaching history

Updated on 21 November 2023

Name	First game	Last game	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Achievements
Andon Dončevski	13 October 1993	15 November 1995	17	5	5	7	23	23	+0	029.41
Gjoko Hadžievski	27 March 1996	9 June 1999	28	10	7	11	42	37	+5	035.71
Dragi Kanatlarovski	5 September 1999	13 February 2005	31	8	8	15	32	37	−5	025.81
Gjore Jovanovski	2 June 2001	10 January 2002	13	0	6	7	9	27	−18	000.00
Nikola Ilievski	27 March 2002	11 June 2003	13	3	4	6	23	24	−1	023.08
Slobodan Santrač	30 March 2005	17 August 2005	4	1	0	3	4	12	−8	025.00
Boban Babunski (caretaker)	7 September 2005	10 August 2011	4	2	1	1	4	6	−2	050.00
Srečko Katanec	1 March 2006	1 April 2009	27	9	7	11	28	29	−1	033.33
Mirsad Jonuz	6 June 2009	4 June 2011	20	7	4	9	21	19	+2	035.00
Vlatko Kostov (caretaker)	7 September 2010	7 September 2010	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
John Toshack	2 September 2011	29 May 2012	8	1	4	3	4	8	−4	012.50
Goce Sedloski (caretaker)	15 August 2012	15 August 2012	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Čedomir Janevski	7 September 2012	10 September 2013	14	5	1	8	15	19	−4	035.71
Zoran Stratev (caretaker)	11 October 2013	15 October 2013	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	000.00
Boško Gjurovski	5 March 2014	30 March 2015	11	2	3	6	7	12	−5	018.18
Ljubinko Drulović	14 June 2015	12 October 2015	5	0	1	4	1	6	−5	000.00
Igor Angelovski	12 November 2015	21 June 2021	52	23	11	18	83	62	+21	044.23	UEFA Euro 2020 group stage
Blagoja Milevski	2 September 2021		21	7	6	8	30	28	+2	033.33
Total			269	84	69	116	325	355	−30	031.23	—

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Italy and against England on 17 and 20 November 2023, respectively.

• Caps and goals are correct as of 20 November 2023, after the match against England.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Stole Dimitrievski	25 December 1993	66	0	Rayo Vallecano
12	GK	Igor Aleksovski	24 February 1995	1	0	Rabotnichki
22	GK	Damjan Shishkovski	18 March 1995	11	0	Doxa
2	DF	Ahmed Iljazovski	31 July 1997	2	0	Hvidovre
3	DF	Stefan Ashkovski	24 February 1992	28	0	Unattached
4	DF	Nikola Serafimov	11 August 1999	12	0	Fehérvár
6	DF	Visar Musliu	13 November 1994	57	1	Paderborn
8	DF	Ezgjan Alioski	12 February 1992	72	12	Al-Ahli
14	DF	Bojan Dimoski	23 November 2001	9	0	Akron
15	DF	Jovan Manev	25 January 2001	6	1	Osijek
23	DF	Todor Todoroski	26 February 1999	6	0	Zalaegerszeg
5	MF	Arijan Ademi	29 May 1991	33	4	Dinamo Zagreb
7	MF	Elif Elmas	24 September 1999	56	12	RB Leipzig
10	MF	Enis Bardhi (captain)	2 July 1995	62	16	Trabzonspor
11	MF	Darko Churlinov	11 July 2000	22	4	Burnley
13	MF	Dimitar Mitrovski	28 January 1999	1	0	Varaždin
16	MF	Tihomir Kostadinov	4 March 1996	20	0	Piast
17	MF	Agon Elezi	1 March 2001	9	0	Varaždin
18	MF	Isnik Alimi	2 February 1994	5	0	Sepsi OSK
21	MF	Jani Atanasov	31 October 1999	14	2	Cracovia
	MF	David Babunski	1 March 1994	15	0	Mezőkövesd
9	FW	Bojan Miovski	24 June 1999	20	2	Aberdeen
19	FW	Milan Ristovski	8 April 1998	22	4	Bohemians
20	FW	Erdon Daci	4 July 1998	1	1	Westerlo
	FW	Aleksandar Trajkovski	5 September 1992	86	21	Hajduk

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Davor Taleski	19 May 1995	0	0	Shkëndija	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
GK	Dejan Iliev INJ	25 February 1995	1	0	Sarajevo	v. England, 19 June 2023
GK	Kristijan Naumovski	17 September 1988	7	0	DPMM	v. Faroe Islands, 27 March 2023
DF	Gjoko Zajkov INJ	10 February 1995	27	1	Universitatea Craiova	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
DF	Darko Velkovski	21 June 1995	48	3	Dinamo București	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
DF	Stefan Ristovski	12 February 1992	82	2	Dinamo Zagreb	v. England, 19 June 2023
DF	Egzon Bejtulai	7 January 1994	27	0	Gjilani	v. England, 19 June 2023
DF	Vladica Brdarovski	7 February 1990	9	0	Vardar	v. England, 19 June 2023
DF	Kire Ristevski	22 October 1990	59	0	Ethnikos	v. Faroe Islands, 27 March 2023
MF	Valon Ethemi	3 October 1997	4	0	İstanbulspor	v. Ukraine, 14 October 2023 WD
MF	Davor Zdravkovski	29 March 1998	0	0	Motherwell	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
MF	Sefer Emini	15 July 2000	0	0	Sønderjyske	v. England, 19 June 2023
FW	Ljupcho Doriev	13 September 1995	9	0	Sogdiana	v. Armenia, 17 October 2023
FW	Ilija Nestorovski	12 March 1990	52	10	Ascoli	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
FW	Dorian Babunski	29 August 1996	7	0	Grasshopper	v. Malta, 12 September 2023
FW	Marjan Radeski	10 February 1995	17	1	Struga	v. Italy, 9 September 2023 WD
Notes INJ = Withdrew due to injury PRE = Preliminary squad / standby RET = Retired from the national team SUS = Serving suspension U21 = Player called up to the U21 squad. WD = Player withdrew from the squad.

Statistics

As of 18 November 2023

Players in bold are still active with Macedonia.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Goran Pandev	122	38	2001–2021
2	Goce Sedloski	100	8	1996–2010
3	Aleksandar Trajkovski	86	21	2011–present
4	Veliche Shumulikoski	84	1	2002–2013
5	Stefan Ristovski	82	2	2011–present
6	Artim Shakiri	73	15	1996–2006
7	Ezgjan Alioski	72	12	2013–present
8	Igor Mitreski	70	1	2001–2011
9	Ivan Trichkovski	67	7	2010–2021
10	Stole Dimitrievski	66	0	2015–present

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Goran Pandev	38	122	0.31	2001–2021
2	Aleksandar Trajkovski	21	86	0.24	2011–present
3	Gjorgji Hristov	16	48	0.33	1995–2003
	Enis Bardhi	16	62	0.26	2015–present
5	Artim Shakiri	15	73	0.21	1996–2006
6	Elif Elmas	12	56	0.21	2017–present
	Ezgjan Alioski	12	72	0.17	2013–present
8	Goran Maznov	10	45	0.22	2001–2009
	Ilija Nestorovski	10	52	0.19	2016–present
10	Ilcho Naumoski	9	46	0.2	2003–2012

Captains

This is a list of Macedonian captains for five or more official and friendly matches.

Player	Period	Games as captain (Total caps)	Major tournaments as captain (Games)
Darko Pančev	1993–1995	6 (6)
Toni Micevski	1996–2001	12 (44)
Artim Šakiri	2002–2005	10 (72)
Goce Sedloski	2004–2009	43 (100)
Veliče Šumulikoski	2009–2012	11 (84)
Goran Pandev	2010–2013	22 (75)
Tome Pachovski	2014–2015	10 (46)
Goran Pandev	2016–2021	69 (122)	UEFA Euro 2020 (3)
Stefan Ristovski	2019–2023	16 (82)
Enis Bardhi	2021–	12 (62)

Note: Some of the other players to have captained the team include: Dragi Kanatlarovski (1 cap; 1993), Ilija Najdoski (3; 1994), Dančo Celeski (2; 1995), Ljupčo Markovski (4; 1995 to 1997), Mitko Stojkovski (2; 1998), Boban Babunski (2; 1996 and 1999), Gjorgji Hristov (2; 2002 to 2003), Petar Miloševski (2; 2004 and 2008), Ilcho Naumoski (1; 2008), Igor Mitreski (4; 2007 to 2010), Aleksandar Lazevski (1; 2010), Nikolče Noveski (4; 2011 to 2013), Daniel Mojsov (1; 2012), Boban Grncharov (3; 2012 to 2014), Blazhe Ilijoski (1; 2014), Blagoja Todorovski (1; 2014), Vanche Shikov (4; 2015), Ivan Trichkovski (4; 2018 to 2020), Ilija Nestorovski (1; 2019), Darko Velkovski (1; 2022) and Elif Elmas (1; 2023).

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1930 to 1990	Within Yugoslavia 1930,1950,1954,1958,1962,1974,1982,1990									Within Yugoslavia 4,5,7,5,4,7,16,5
1994	Did not enter									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										10	3	2	5	15	15	5/6
2022										12	6	3	3	24	13	2/6 (play-offs)
2026	To be determined									To be determined
2030
2034
Total		0/7	–	–	–	–	–	–		72	20	15	37	95	115	—

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1960 to 1992	Within Yugoslavia 1960,1968,1972,1976,1984,1992									Within Yugoslavia 2,2,8,4,8,banned
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
2020	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	2	8		12	6	2	4	15	14	3/6 (PO winners)
2024	Did not qualify									8	2	2	4	10	20	4/5
2028	To be determined
2032
Total	Group stage	1/8	3	0	0	3	2	8		78	19	18	41	84	123	—

Olympic Record

• Within Yugoslavia Team

1920 Round 1, 1924 Preliminary, 1928 Preliminary, 1948(2nd), 1952(2nd), 1956 (2nd), 1960 Champion, 1964 1/4 finals, 1980(4th), 1984(3rd),1988 group

• Since 1996 under 21 team plays at Olympics
• 1996 couldn't participate
• 2000-2020 didn't qualify

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	4	6	5	0	1	14	5	+9		41st
2020–21	C	2	6	2	3	1	9	8	+1		40th
2022–23	C	4	6	2	1	3	7	7	0		42nd
2024–25	C	Future event
Total			18	9	4	5	30	20	+10	40th

Minor tournaments

• Yugoslav Football Tournament
  • 5th place: 1945

Team Macedonia

Rustenov, Bogojevski, Vidovik, Martinovski, Petrovski, Davidovski, Janevski, Adamovski, Atanaskov, Balevski, Gerov. Manager: Illes Spitz

Head-to-head record

As of 20 November 2023, after the match against England.

Macedonia all-time head-to-head record
Against	Region	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	First match	Last match
Albania	UEFA	10	4	4	2	12	7	+5	40%	14 May 1994	5 September 2017
Andorra	UEFA	6	4	1	1	9	1	+8	66.67%	13 October 2004	6 September 2011
Angola	CAF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%	29 May 2012
Armenia	UEFA	13	6	3	4	23	18	+5	41.67%	10 May 1995	17 October 2023
Australia	AFC	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	0%	12 March 1997	30 March 2015
Austria	UEFA	3	0	0	3	3	9	−6	0%	10 June 2019	13 June 2021
Azerbaijan	UEFA	8	5	2	1	15	8	+7	62.5%	26 July 2000	20 November 2022
Bahrain	AFC	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%	7 January 2001
Belarus	UEFA	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	33.33%	27 March 2015	28 March 2017
Belgium	UEFA	4	0	1	3	1	9	−8	0%	16 November 1994	26 March 2013
Bosnia and Herzegovina	UEFA	5	1	3	1	8	8	0	20%	3 June 1998	26 March 2008
Bulgaria	UEFA	9	2	2	5	4	9	−5	22.22%	12 April 1995	26 September 2022
Cameroon	CAF	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0%	9 February 2011	26 May 2014
Canada	CONCACAF	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	50%	18 May 1998	14 November 2009
China	AFC	5	0	2	3	0	4	−4	0%	27 January 2004	22 June 2014
Croatia	UEFA	8	1	2	5	9	12	−3	12.5%	14 October 1998	12 October 2012
Cyprus	UEFA	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	50%	17 December 1994	11 October 1995
Czech Republic	UEFA	3	0	1	2	2	9	−7	0%	28 February 2001	8 June 2005
Denmark	UEFA	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	33.33%	7 September 1994	6 February 2013
Ecuador	CONMEBOL	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%	28 May 2006
Egypt	CAF	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%	29 September 1998
England	UEFA	6	0	3	3	4	13	-9	0%	16 October 2002	20 November 2023
Estonia	UEFA	6	4	2	0	13	7	+6	66.67%	1 June 1994	15 November 2020
Faroe Islands	UEFA	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%	27 March 2023
Finland	UEFA	6	1	2	3	3	12	−9	16.67%	10 January 2002	17 November 2022
Yugoslavia	UEFA	3	0	0	3	4	9	–5	0%	5 September 1999	23 February 2000
Georgia	UEFA	5	1	2	2	3	7	–4	20%	8 September 2020	23 September 2022
Germany	UEFA	2	1	0	1	2	5	−3	50%	31 March 2021	11 October 2021
Gibraltar	UEFA	4	4	0	0	12	0	+12	100%	6 September 2018	12 June 2022
Hungary	UEFA	2	0	1	1	0	5	−5	0%	22 April 1998	14 November 2001
Iceland	UEFA	6	3	2	1	9	5	+4	50%	1 June 1996	14 November 2021
Iran	AFC	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	0%	9 June 2000	2 June 2016
Israel	UEFA	7	2	1	4	7	9	−2	28.57%	20 November 2002	6 September 2019
Italy	UEFA	5	1	2	2	7	10	−3	20%	9 October 2016	17 November 2023
Jamaica	CONCACAF	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%	20 April 1998
Kazakhstan	UEFA	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100%	4 June 2021
Kosovo	UEFA	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%	8 October 2020
Latvia	UEFA	3	3	0	0	7	2	+5	100%	5 March 2014	9 September 2019
Lebanon	AFC	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0%	17 November 2015
Liechtenstein	UEFA	11	10	1	0	42	5	+37	90.91%	24 April 1996	8 October 2021
Lithuania	UEFA	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	33.33%	6 September 1997	15 August 2012
Luxembourg	UEFA	4	2	0	2	8	6	+2	50%	20 August 2008	5 September 2015
Malta	UEFA	8	7	1	0	19	3	+16	87.5%	27 March 1996	12 September 2023
Moldova	UEFA	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	0%	11 October 2000	11 February 2009
Montenegro	UEFA	3	2	0	1	7	4	+3	66.67%	19 November 2008	15 August 2012
Netherlands	UEFA	5	0	2	3	3	11	−8	0%	9 October 2004	21 June 2021
Nigeria	CAF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%	22 August 2007
Norway	UEFA	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	25%	6 June 2009	11 November 2017
Oman	AFC	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0%	30 December 2001
Poland	UEFA	5	0	1	4	2	11	−9	0%	14 February 2003	13 October 2019
Portugal	UEFA	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	0%	2 April 2003	29 March 2022
Qatar	AFC	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	33.33%	25 July 2001	30 May 2014
Republic of Ireland	UEFA	6	1	1	4	5	11	−6	16.67%	9 October 1996	4 June 2011
Romania	UEFA	7	1	1	5	7	14	−7	14.29%	14 December 1996	8 September 2021
Russia	UEFA	4	0	0	4	0	7	−7	0%	15 November 2006	2 September 2011
Saudi Arabia	AFC	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	0%	1 August 2001	22 October 2022
Scotland	UEFA	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	25%	6 September 2008	10 September 2013
Serbia	UEFA	3	1	1	1	3	6	−3	33.33%	6 February 2008	15 October 2013
Slovakia	UEFA	8	0	2	6	3	16	−13	0%	3 September 2000	14 June 2015
Slovenia	UEFA	7	4	2	1	13	7	+6	57.14%	13 October 1993	1 June 2021
South Korea	AFC	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	0%	18 April 1998	7 June 2000
Spain	UEFA	7	0	0	7	4	20	−16	0%	12 October 1994	11 June 2017
Sweden	UEFA	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0%	24 March 2001	3 June 2013
Turkey	UEFA	8	1	2	5	9	14	−5	12.5%	31 August 1994	5 June 2017
Ukraine	UEFA	7	1	1	5	4	10	−6	25%	11 October 2003	16 October 2023
United States	CONCACAF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%	16 May 1998
Wales	UEFA	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	50%	6 September 2013	11 October 2013
Total	67 nations	279	87	70	122	338	375	−37	31.18%

FIFA ranking history

FIFA-ranking yearly averages for North Macedonia. The country reached 46th in October 2008, and 166th in March 2017. As of 25 March 2022, they sit in 66th.

1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
x	90	94	86	92	59	68	76	89	85
2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
92	92	87	54	58	56	65	76	103	81
2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
83	100	136	162	76	68	68	65	67

See also

• List of Macedonia international footballers
• Macedonia national football team results
• Macedonia national under-21 football team
• Macedonia national under-19 football team
• Macedonia national under-17 football team
• Macedonia women's national football team