North Macedonia national football team
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| Nickname(s) | The Red Lions (Црвени лавови) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Federation of Macedonia | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach |  Srečko Katanec (2006-) | ||
| Captain | Goce Sedloski | ||
| Most caps | Goce Sedloski (75) | ||
| Top scorer | Georgi Hristov (16) | ||
| Home stadium | Skopje City Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | MKD | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 67 | ||
| Highest | 49 (March 2007) | ||
| Lowest | 147 (May 1994) | ||
| First international | |||
Slovenia 1 - 4 Republic of Macedonia  (Kranj, Slovenia; October 13, 1993) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Liechtenstein 1- 11 Republic of Macedonia  (Eschen-Mauren, Liechtenstein; November 9, 1996) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Republic of Macedonia 0 - 5 Belgium  (Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; June 7, 1995) | |||
| Appearances | (first in -) | ||
| Best result | - | ||
| Appearances | (first in -) | ||
| Best result | - | ||
The FYR 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 usually play their home games at Skopje City Stadium.
World Cup record
The Macedonian national team are yet to qualify for a World Cup Finals tournament. In their most recent attempt, the Republic of Macedonia 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.
- 1930 to 1990 - Did not enter, was part of Yugoslavia
- 1994 - Did not enter
- 1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify
European Championship record
As with their World Cup campaigns, the Republic of Macedonia is 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.
- 1960 to 1992 - Did not enter, was part of Yugoslavia
- 1996 to 2004 - Did not qualify
Memorable players
- Darko Pančev
- Cedomir Janevski
- Igor Nikolovski
- Toni Savevski
- Vasil Ringov
- Artim Sakiri
- Toni Micevski
- Sasa Kirik
- Georgi Hristov
- Goce Sedloski
- Vlatko Gosev
- Goran Pandev
- Ilija Najdoski
History
The beginning
In 1994, Macedonia became a member of FIFA and UEFA after the break-up of Yugoslavia.
The Macedonian soccer 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 Republic of 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 the Republic of 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, the Republic of Macedonia was drawn against the reigning European Champions, Denmark. The game was played in Skopje on 7 September 1994 and finished 1-1 with the Republic of Macedonia leading for most of the game after scoring in the 4th minute. In this qualifying stage, the Republic of 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
The Republic of 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 to Liechtenstein. On 9 November 1996, the Republic of Macedonia recorded their biggest ever win, an 11-1 thrashing of Liechtenstein. Half of all the goals the Republic of Macedonia scored in the whole campaign were scored in this match alone. The Republic of Macedonia failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, finishing 4th in the group on 13 points.
Euro 2000 Qualifiers
The Republic of Macedonia's campaign to qualify for the Euro 2000 tournament in Netherlands and Belgium saw them grouped with 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. The Republic of Macedonia failed to qualify for Euro 2000, 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 Republic of Macedonia grouped alongside England, Turkey, Slovakia and Liechtenstein. Despite the Republic of 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, the Republic of Macedonia played former world champions England in Southampton, which was England's first home game in Southampton in almost 100 years. The Republic of 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 the Republic of 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. The Republic of Macedonia lost to England again 2-1 at home in the return leg which took place in September 2003. The Republic of Macedonia's only win of the campaign came on 7 June 2003, when they beat Liechtenstein 3-1 at home. The Republic of 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
The Republic of 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 have not won at home since. On 9 October 2004, the Republic of 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, the Republic of 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, the Republic of 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. The Republic of 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 the Republic 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, the Republic of Macedonia managed to end the campaign on a high, with a 0-0 draw against Netherlands in Amsterdam. This result meant that the Republic of 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. The Republic of 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, the Republic of Macedonia took part in a friendly tournament in Iran consisting of 4 teams, each team from a different continent. The teams were the Republic of 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. The Republic of Macedonia lost the final match against Paraguay 1-0. The Republic of 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, the Republic of Macedonia was placed in Group E for the Euro 2008 qualifiers alongside England, Croatia, Russia, Israel, Estonia and Andorra. The matches will be played between August 2006 and November 2007.
On 17 February 2006, Former Slovenian national coach Srecko 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, the Republic of 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, the Republic of Macedonia opened their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win against Estonia. Goce Sedloski scored for the Republic of Macedonia in the 73rd minute. Sedloski's milestone goal meant that the Republic of Macedonia was the first team to score a goal in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
On 6 September 2006, the Republic of 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 the Republic of Macedonia failed to score against England. A month later, on 7 October, the 2 teams met once again in Manchester. The Republic of Macedonia surprisingly held England to a 0-0 draw in front of 72,062 people.
The Republic of Macedonia's home game against Russia on 15 November 2006 turned sour after a group of Serbian and Russian fans clashed with police.
On 15 January 2007, concerns were raised after the Macedonian FA offices were closed down. FIFA and UEFA accused the Macedonian Government of interfering with the running of the football association and requested that they bring the situation back to normal. According to UEFA.com, FIFA and UEFA have revealed they will determine what action will be taken, as government interference goes against Article 17 of the FIFA statutes.
In March 2007, the Republic of Macedonia was ranked 49th on the FIFA Rankings list, their highest ever position on the FIFA Rankings.
In their most recent qualifier, the Republic of Macedonia drew 1-1 at home to Estonia on 12 September.
Currently, the Republic of Macedonia is 5th on 8 points after having played 9 games. Macedonia have failed to qualify to the Euro 2008 Finals.
Presidential controversy
On 14 April, 2007, FIFA and UEFA were informed of an illegal meeting that took place involving a small number of delegates of the Republic of Macedonia to discuss the replacement of the national team's current President Hari Hadzi-Risteski. FIFA and UEFA jointly affirmed that this was a violation of both FIFA and UEFA's statuses act (Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes and Article 7 of the UEFA Statutes) and the club could possibly be suspended and banned indefinitely if the issue is not resolved [1].
Upcoming matches
- Republic of Macedonia v Andorra - 17 October 2007 - Skopje, Republic of Macedonia - Euro 2008 Qualifier
- Republic of Macedonia v Croatia - 17 November 2007 - Skopje, Republic of Macedonia - Euro 2008 Qualifier
- Israel v Republic of Macedonia - 21 November 2007 - Israel - Euro 2008 Qualifier
Current Squad
External links
- Official website of the Football Federation of Macedonia
- Football in the Republic of Macedonia - MacedonianFootball.com(English language)
- RSSSF archive of results 1993-
- JadranSport.org - South-Eastern European football news coverage (English language)
International association football | ||
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| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
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| Non-FIFA | ||