North Macedonia national under-21 football team

The North Macedonia national under-21 football team is a youth association football national team which represents North Macedonia at this age level and is a feeder team for the North Macedonia national football team. It was formerly known as the Macedonia national under-21 football team.

North Macedonia Under-21

Nickname(s)	The Red Lions (Црвени лавови)
Association	Football Federation of North Macedonia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Blagoja Milevski
Captain	Jani Atanasov Milan Ristovski Agron Rufati Davor Zdravkovski
Most caps	Goran Bogdanović (28)
Top scorer	Samir Fazli (7) Dimitar Mitrovski (7)
FIFA code	MKD
First colours Second colours
First international
Unofficial  Macedonia 7–0  Estonia (Skopje, 31 May 1994) Official  Macedonia 5–3  Denmark (Kočani, 7 September 1994)
Biggest win
Unofficial  Macedonia 7–0  Estonia (Skopje, 31 May 1994) Official  North Macedonia 7–1  Faroe Islands (Skopje, 10 September 2019)
Biggest defeat
Macedonia 0–8  FR Yugoslavia (Skopje, 7 September 1999)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2017)
Best result	Group stage, 2017

This team is for Macedonian players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side and again for the U21s. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible).

The under-21 age category came into existence with the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976. The Macedonia U21 team was formed following Macedonia's independence from SFR Yugoslavia in 1991 and is controlled by the Football Federation of North Macedonia (from 1976 to 1992 Macedonian players played for Yugoslavia U21). A 7–0 win in a friendly against Estonia played on 31 May 1994 was Macedonia U21s' first result. Four months later, Macedonia also had their first competitive match which ended in a 5–3 win against Denmark.

So far, the team has qualified for one final tournament, the one being the 2017 Euro U21 held in Poland for players born 1994 or later. They ended the tournament on the 11th position with 1 draw and 2 losses over the group stage.

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

UEFA U-21 Championship record										UEFA U-21 Championship Qualification record								Manager(s)
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1996	Did not qualify									10	4	0	6	16	27	−11		Jovo Nikushev
1998										8	1	1	6	3	17	−14		Zoran Smileski
2000										8	1	0	7	2	25	−23		Perica Gruevski, Blagoja Kitanovski
2002										10	1	2	7	6	18	−12		Blagoja Kitanovski, Nikola Ilievski
2004										8	0	1	7	4	23	−19		Zharko Odjakov, Mirsad Jonuz
2006										12	2	3	5	9	18	−9		Mirsad Jonuz
2007										4	2	0	2	6	6	0
2009										8	2	3	3	5	6	−1
2011										8	0	2	6	9	19	−10		Mirsad Jonuz, Boban Babunski
2013										8	3	3	2	14	15	−1		Boban Babunski
2015										8	1	1	6	4	13	−13		Boban Babunski, Vujadin Stanojković
2017	Group stage	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7		10	6	3	1	13	7	+6		Blagoja Milevski
2019	Did not qualify									10	2	1	7	17	24	−7		Blagoja Milevski, Dobrinko Ilievski
2021										10	5	3	2	20	12	+8		Blagoja Milevski
2023	To be determined									To be determined								To be determined
Total	1/14	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7		122	30	23	69	128	230	−102

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Macedonia	10	6	3	1	13	7	+6	21	Final tournament		—	2–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–0
2	France	10	6	2	2	17	8	+9	20			1–1	—	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0
3	Iceland	10	5	3	2	13	9	+4	18			3–0	3–2	—	2–4	2–0	1–1
4	Ukraine	10	4	2	4	14	12	+2	14			0–2	1–0	0–1	—	4–0	1–1
5	Scotland	10	2	2	6	8	17	−9	8			0–1	1–2	0–0	2–2	—	3–1
6	Northern Ireland	10	0	2	8	6	18	−12	2			1–2	0–3	0–1	1–2	1–2	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Final tournament

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Knockout stage
2	Portugal	3	2	0	1	7	5	+2	6
3	Serbia	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1
4	Macedonia	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7	1

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	10	9	1	0	20	1	+19	28	Final tournament		—	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–0	2–0
2	North Macedonia	10	5	3	2	20	12	+8	18			0–1	—	1–1	1–1	7–1	2–1
3	Israel	10	3	4	3	12	14	−2	13			1–1	1–1	—	1–2	3–1	0–0
4	Kazakhstan	10	3	1	6	12	21	−9	10			0–1	1–4	1–2	—	2–3	0–4
5	Faroe Islands	10	3	0	7	11	25	−14	9			0–2	1–2	3–1	1–3	—	1–0
6	Montenegro	10	2	1	7	11	13	−2	7			0–2	1–2	1–2	1–2	3–0	—

Source: UEFA

Recent results and fixtures

Generation 1998+

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Macedonia scorer(s)	Report
2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
10 September 2019	Petar Miloshevski TC, Skopje, North Macedonia	Faroe Islands	7–1	Mitrovski  26', 45+3', 85', Churlinov  32', 88', Daci  59', Lichina  62'	uefa.com
10 October 2019	DG Arena, Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	2–1	Atanasov  14', 33' (pen)	uefa.com
15 October 2019	Petar Miloshevski TC, Skopje, North Macedonia	Kazakhstan	1–1	Ristovski  20'	uefa.com
14 November 2019	Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo, Alcorcón, Spain	Spain	0–3		uefa.com
3 September 2020	Toshe Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia	Spain	0–1		uefa.com
8 September 2020	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	2–1	Ristovski  16', Ackovski  80'	uefa.com
8 October 2020	Ortalyk Stadion, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	4–1	Churlinov  38', 48', Atanasov  41', Mitrovski  67'	uefa.com
13 October 2020	Petar Miloshevski TC, Skopje, North Macedonia	Israel	1–1	Atanasov  90+5'	uefa.com
12 November 2020	Sala Stadium, Ashkelon, Israel	Israel	1–1	Atanasov  76'	uefa.com
17 November 2020	Petar Miloshevski TC, Skopje, North Macedonia	Montenegro	2–1	Gjorgjievski  13', Miovski  78' (pen)	uefa.com
Friendly matches
24 May 2018	Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	1–1	Trajanovski  87'	affa.az
27 May 2018	Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	1–0	Krivotsyuk  24' (o.g.)	affa.az
16 November 2018	Camp FSCG, Podgorica, Montenegro	Serbia	0–1		fss.rs
19 November 2018	Camp FSCG, Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	2–0	Abaz  21', 50'	fscg.me
22 March 2019	Bellis SC, Belek, Turkey	Ukraine	1–3	Krstovski  85'	ffm.mk
24 March 2019	Limak Arcadia SC, Belek, Turkey	Latvia	0–1		lff.lv
26 March 2019	Limak Arcadia SC, Belek, Turkey	Estonia	1–1	Ristovski  26'	jalgpall.ee
6 June 2019	Červeník Stadium, Trnava, Slovakia	Finland	1–0	Jovanov  4'	ffm.mk

• * Macedonia's scores are always listed first

Squad

Current squad

Squad named for the training camp in Ohrid from 18 to 23 December 2020.[1]
Caps and goals as of 17 November 2020, after the game against Montenegro.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Metodija Velkovski	24 May 2000	0	0	Struga
12	GK	Aleksandar Angjelkovski	25 May 2002	0	0	Renova U19
	GK	David Denkovski ^WD	17 August 2000	0	0	Bregalnica
	GK	Stefan Jakimovski ^WD	28 May 2000	0	0	Kadino
2	DF	Georgije Jankulov	25 November 2001	0	0	Železničar
3	DF	Kristijan Dodevski	27 July 2000	0	0	Sileks
4	DF	Ardit Iljazi	16 June 2000	0	0	Shkupi
5	DF	Aleksandar Gjurkovski	11 February 2002	0	0	Vardar
6	DF	Marko Simunovikj	10 April 2000	0	0	Teleoptik
14	DF	Matej Nikolov	26 January 2001	0	0	Zlatibor
15	DF	Jovan Manev	25 January 2001	0	0	Bregalnica
7	MF	Ali Adem	1 June 2000	0	0	Shkupi
8	MF	Arbi Vosha	4 August 2001	0	0	Makedonija Gj. P.
13	MF	Bojan Dimoski	23 November 2001	0	0	Akademija Pandev
16	MF	Ramin Alii	18 May 2001	0	0	Shkupi
17	MF	Florent Ramadani	27 August 2000	0	0	Shkëndija
18	MF	Besnik Ferati	19 April 2000	0	0	Akademija Pandev
23	MF	David Kalpachki	1 June 2000	0	0	Belasica
	MF	Filip Aleksovski ^WD	25 March 2000	0	0	Makedonija Gj. P.
9	FW	Marko Gjorgjievski	18 April 2000	4	1	Radnički Pirot
10	FW	Suhejlj Muharem	25 August 2001	0	0	Renova
11	FW	Ensar Luma	17 June 2000	1	0	Shkëndija
19	FW	Jakup Berisha	20 February 2000	0	0	Shkupi
20	FW	Emir Skenderi	1 April 2000	0	0	Struga
21	FW	Zoran Ivanovski	7 May 2000	0	0	Belasica

Recent call-ups

Players that have been called up within the past 12 months and are eligible for the 2023 European U21 Football Championship Qualifiers.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Marko Alchevski ^INJ	16 April 2002	0	0	Akademija Pandev	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
DF	Filip Antovski	24 November 2000	12	0	Slavia	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
DF	Blerton Sheji	21 October 2000	1	0	Struga	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
DF	Viktor Krstevski ^U19	4 April 2002	0	0	Vardar	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
DF	Slave Markoski ^U19	21 April 2002	0	0	Ohrid	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
DF	Mario Mladenovski	16 September 2000	0	0	Botev Plovdiv	v.  Faroe Islands, 8 September 2020 ^WD
MF	Darko Churlinov	11 July 2000	13	5	Stuttgart	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
MF	Enis Fazlagikj	27 March 2000	6	0	Žilina	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
MF	Tomche Grozdanovski	14 March 2000	5	0	ViOn	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
MF	Agon Elezi	1 March 2001	3	0	Varaždin	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
MF	Sefer Emini	15 July 2000	1	0	Akron	v.  Israel, 13 October 2020
MF	Dimitar Todorovski	7 March 2002	0	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Faroe Islands, 8 September 2020
FW	David Toshevski	16 July 2001	5	0	Rostov	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020
FW	Mario Ilievski ^U19	24 February 2002	1	0	Septemvri Sofia	v.  Montenegro, 17 November 2020

• A: Called up by the Macedonia A National Team
• U19: Called up by the Macedonia U19 National Team
• INJ: Injured
• WD: Withdrew
• PRE: Preliminary squad

Current First Squad

Jankov

Lichina

Rufati

Todoroski

Antovski

Zdravkovski

Atanasov

Daci

Churlinov

Mitrovski

Ristovski

Current First Squad (98+) with the Club Leagues they play in

Past squads

• 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship squad

Statistics

As of 17 November 2020

Most appearances Rank Name U21 Career Caps 1 Goran Bogdanovikj 2009–2012 28 2 David Babunski 2012–2017 27 Davor Zdravkovski 2015–2020 4 Boban Nikolov 2013–2017 24 Gjoko Zajkov 2013–2017 6 Samir Fazli 2008–2012 22 Kire Ristevski 2010–2012 Yani Urdinov 2009–2012 Darko Velkovski 2013–2017 10 Marjan Altiparmakovski 2010–2012 21 Marjan Radeski 2014–2017 Stefan Spirovski 2009–2012

Top goalscorers Rank Name U21 Career Goals 1 Samir Fazli 2008–2012 7 Dimitar Mitrovski 2018–2020 3 Jani Atanasov 2018–2020 6 Kire Markoski 2013–2017 5 David Babunski 2012–2017 5 Darko Churlinov 2018 – Ilija Nestorovski 2009–2012 8 Enis Bardhi 2014–2017 4 Miroslav Gjokikj 1994–1995 Tihomir Kostadinov 2015–2018 Muarem Muarem 2009–2010 Marjan Radeski 2013–2017 Artim Shaqiri 1994–1995 Aco Stojkov 2002–2005

See also

• Macedonia national football team
• Macedonia national under-19 football team
• Macedonia national under-17 football team
• European Under-21 Football Championship

References

1. Милевски и Арслани ги одредија фудбалерите за тренинг кампот во Охрид

External links

• MacedonianFootball Contains news and information about the Macedonian U-21 National Football Team.
• UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.