North Macedonia arrive at Old Trafford for the Euro 2024 qualifier against England on Monday night as underdogs but should not be underestimated. Just ask Germany and Italy, who faced them in the last World Cup qualifiers and endured home defeats.
When North Macedonia qualified for Euro 2020, it could be argued they did so thanks only to a new Uefa invention that allowed countries to get there via the Nations League. The team from a Balkan state with a population of two million topped a group in section D – the lowest of the lot – that also contained Armenia, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar, then beat Kosovo and Georgia in the playoffs.
But North Macedonia have proved they can mix it with the best. Although they lost all their games at Euro 2020 (3-1 against Austria, 2-1 against Ukraine and 3-0 against the Netherlands) they fought bravely and played some good football, with performances better than the results. In the qualifiers for Qatar 2022 they made their mark with those landmark wins against two traditional powerhouses.
North Macedonia finished second in their group behind Germany but ahead of Romania and Iceland. A 2-1 win in Duisburg brought national rejoicing and the team stunned Italy in the playoffs in Palermo before losing against Portugal. The current coach, Beluga Milevski, nicknamed “Sir Bobby”, shares the credit with Igor Angelovski, who was in charge for six years until July 2021.
Progress has been remarkable for a team who in October 2015 were ranked 136th in the world by Fifa and not long ago often played home games in front of 1,000 spectators. Bigger successes in basketball and especially handball meant that at one point football appeared to have lost its status as North Macedonia’s most popular sport.
It illustrates how significant handball has become that in 2019 Sting had to delay the start of a concert in Skopje for two hours because locals were watching live TV coverage of Vardar Skopje winning the EHF Champions League final against the Hungarian team Veszprem in Cologne.
Support for the football team has grown. In the first match of this qualifying campaign – a 2-1 win against Malta – the attendance in the 32,500-capacity national stadium, the Tose Proeski Arena, was 10,000. Not spectacular perhaps, but much improved. On Friday they lost 3-2 against Ukraine, having been 2-0 up at half‑time. The central defender Visar Musliu was sent off in the second half and will now miss the game against England.
Otherwise the only major change from the Euro 2020 side is the absence of the iconic striker Goran Pandev, who has retired, and North Macedonia can draw hope from history before travelling to Manchester. England’s only two games at home against North Macedonia have ended in draws: 2-2 in Southampton in a Euro 2004 qualifier and 0-0 at Old Trafford in a Euro 2008 qualifier.
Artim Shaqiri scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner at St Mary’s. “I remember that game very well, especially my goal of course,” he says. “When I took that corner kick it was a spontaneous decision not to put in a cross but to try to score. The ball went in, we were 1-0 up, it was an unforgettable moment. Later we were also 2-1 up. The match ended 2-2, which naturally was a good result for us, as England had a strong team with [David] Beckham, [Steven] Gerrard, [Paul] Scholes, Michael Owen.”
Shaqiri does not want to go into detail about this North Macedonia team, keen to avoid media in the country labelling him “a spy for the English”, but picks out the three players to watch. “The fans in England probably don’t know them but Gareth Southgate surely knows everything about them,” he says. “It’s our midfield trio: [Arijan] Ademi, [Enis] Bardhi, [Elif] Elmas. No doubt, that’s the strongest part of our team.”
Elmas played in all but two of Napoli’s Serie A games this season, 14 of them from the start, to help his club secure the title. Ademi joined Beijing Guoan this year after a long spell with Dinamo Zagreb and Bardhi is with the Turkish club Trabzonspor.
Shaqiri accepts England are favourites but believes his countrymen are capable of delivering a surprise. He delivers his verdict with a big smile. “We played twice in England and both times we achieved draws. Maybe it’s time for a victory. I hope our team win but I wouldn’t be unhappy with a draw.”
