North Macedonia National Football Team

Manager / Igor Angelovski
Appointed / October 2015
Captain / Goran Pandev
Top Scorer in Euro 2020 Qualifiers / Elif Elmas, 4
Top Scorer in Squad (Domestic season 2020-21) / Ivan Trickovski, 16 (AEK Larnaca, Cyprus First Division)
Most Carded in qualifying / Nestorovski and Nikolov, 5
Group / C, vs. Austria (13/06/2021), vs. Ukraine (17/06/2021), vs. Netherlands (21/06/2021)

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

North Macedonia Road to Euro 2020

Though it was met with derision in some quarters to allow a nation from League D of the Nations League qualification to Euro 2020, composed of the lowest ranked teams in Europe, it has given North Macedonia the chance to make their major tournament debut. They did manage to finish third in their qualifying group ahead of Israel, Slovenia and Latvia, but still a distance behind Poland and Austria, who join them in Group C. Progression past Kosovo and Georgia in the Nations League Play-Offs meant they made history and qualified for this tournament. They did lose twice to Austria in qualifying but a win against Germany in March will give North Macedonia hope of navigating what isn’t the most difficult group.

North Macedonia Euro 2020 Squad

They do have a decent starting XI, be it lining up as a 4-2-3-1 or 5-3-2, with some of their key players plying their trade in some of Europe’s biggest leagues. Beyond what is a talented first team, there isn’t a massive deal of quality though that is to be expected for the lowest ranked team at the tournament. The three attacking midfielders most likely to feature, Enis Bardhi, Goran Pandev and Eljif Elmas, are all capable of winning games on their own and do give their nation hope that Euro 2020 could last longer than the three group games they’ve got scheduled in.

Goalkeeper

Stole Dimitrievski is the country’s undisputed number one with the Rayo Vallecano ‘keeper missing his club side’s Play-Offs to take part in the tournament. Rayo just snuck into the La Liga 2 promotion spots but they’ll have to do without their first choice stopper in their hunt for a return to La Liga. Rayo Vallecano’s loss is North Macedonia’s gain, with Dimitrievski joined by Risto Jankov and Damjan Siskovski, two players with limited experience at national team level. Dimitrievski will have to be at his best if he’s to give his country a chance of progression, though he did only have to face two shots on target in his country’s 2-1 win over Germany in March.

Defence

Igor Angelovski has experimented with five at the back against the bigger nations in the build up to this tournament, though the change between a 5-3-2 and 4-2-3-1 doesn’t require different personnel with Boban Nikolov equally adept as a defensive midfielder or as a right back. Stefan Ristovski and Leeds’ Ezgjan Alioski are the big names at the back, with Alioski particularly key whether he’s playing as an orthodox left-back or given more attacking responsibilities as a wing-back. Visar Musliu and Darko Velkovski will be two of the busier centre halves at the tournament as the pair tasked with marshalling the North Macedonia defence.

Midfield

There are game winners in the North Macedonia midfield, but as I touched upon earlier there isn’t a lot of room for injury and suspension. Elmas, Pandev and Bardhi are all highly talented, with Napoli midfielder Elmas taking to life at this level expertly. Pandev is his nation’s top scorer and will play in the number 10 spot should they go for four at the back, or be pushed up front should Angelovski opt for a back five. Bardhi is one of the finest free-kick takers in La Liga, scoring six times from dead ball opportunities for Levante since 2017, only Iago Aspas and Lionel Messi have more. That should give the North Macedonian’s hope that even a game with limited chances can be turned on its head, with that level of attacking quality admirable for a country that has never made it to a major tournament.

Attack

Ijlija Nestorovski would’ve been the man tasked with leading the North Macedonia line, though the Udinese frontman will miss the tournament due to a knee injury that requires surgery. That’s a real blow for Angelovski but he does have options in the shape of Real Mallorca’s Aleksandr Trajkovski and Stuttgart’s Darko Churlinov, though neither managed a league goal for their club sides last season. It could be the experienced duo of Pandev and Ivan Trichkovski that lead the line, though the loss of Nestorovski is undoubtedly a blow.

North Macedonia predicted line-up vs. Austria: Dimitrievski; Nikolov, Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski; Ademi, Elmas, Bardhi; Pandev, Trajkovski (5-3-2)

North Macedonia Euro 2020 Betting Tips & Predictions

Though I do think they’ll struggle to get out of the group, I don’t think North Macedonia will go down with a whimper and could bloody some noses, just as they did in their win against Germany. They face a far from consistent Austria in their opening game and end the groups with a game against a Netherlands side that could very well be safely qualified through to the Round of 16 before they face each other in Amsterdam on the 21^st of June. That does lead me to think they could get themselves, at the very least, on the scoresheet at least a couple of times and for them to notch two or more tournament goals at 1.4 does look an interesting way in.

Though the loss of Nestorovski isn’t ideal for that market, they obviously have enough talent to hurt some less than impenetrable defences in the group stages. The first name I think could chip in with those goals is the dangerous Elmas. He has seven national goals to his name in just 26 games for his country, with three of those strikes coming this year, including the winner against Germany. The Napoli man is 9.0 to finish as his nation’s top scorer at this tournament, a hefty price for a 21-year-old who thrives while wearing his national colours.

Another who could scoop the same award is Enis Bardhi (8.0). His ability from free-kicks will mean he’s always got half a chance of banging one in, even against the run of play. At similar prices, I think I might just err on the side of Elmas scoring the most for his country, though both are more than capable of outscoring their side’s goal-shy strikers.

Predicted stage of elimination: Group Stage

How to watch Ukraine v North Macedonia Euro 2020

📅   When / Thursday, 17 June 2021, 14:00 BST
🏟   Where / Arena Națională (Bucharest)
📺   TV / BBC One, ZDF
📱   Online streaming / bet365