North Macedonia EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 24 May 2021 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

North Macedonia will take part in its first major international tournament, qualifying for the European Championship this summer. Although a completely new team at this level, North Macedonia has a lot of talent and a lot of experience in its team and all the players involved will want to make an impression to show that their nation can play well at the highest level. They will face a well-known rival in Group C in the face of Austria, while they will be joined by the Netherlands and Ukraine, which will certainly offer a strict test for their rivals.

North Macedonia European Championships - History and successes

This is the first participation for North Macedonia at the European finals in history. They have also never played in the World cup too.

The Road to Euro 2020

Igor Angelowski's boys finished third in qualifying group G after Poland and Austria but managed to qualify for Euro 2020 in the playoffs thanks to their performance in the UEFA League of Nations. North Macedonia recorded victories against Kosovo (2:1) and Georgia (1:0) to secure historic European Championship qualifying. In the first international break in 2021, North Macedonia recorded two victories in the qualifications for the 2022 World Cup, and one of these successes was against Germany with 2:1 as a guest and this undoubtedly gives them much reason for optimism before the European finals.

Euro 2020 fixtures

North Macedonia is in Group C of Euro 2020 with the teams of Netherlands, Ukraine, and Austria.

• June 13, 6:00 pm: Austria - North Macedonia / Arena Națională, Bucharest /
• June 17, 3:00 pm: Ukraine - North Macedonia / Arena Națională, Bucharest /
• June 21, 6:00 pm: North Macedonia - Netherlands / Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam /

North Macedonia squad for the European Football Championship 2020

The class in the national team of North Macedonia is proof that football in this small Balkan country has prospered in recent years. They have players from the top championships in Europe. They have names like Ezgjan Alioski from Leeds and Stefan Ristovski from Dinamo Zagreb in defense. Eljif Elmas from Napoli and Enis Bardhi from Levante are impressive in the midfield of North Macedonia. We should also honor Arijan Ademi, who carries the Dinamo Zagreb team. The most famous football player in this team of North Macedonia is Goran Pandev, who is also the country's captain and plays in Serie A for Genoa. In addition to him in attack, the team has players such as Alexander Trajkovski (Mallorca) and Ilija Nestorovski (Udinese).

Goalkeepers: Stole Dimitrievski (Rayo Vallecano), Damjan Siskovski (Doxa), Risto Jankov (Rabotnichki)
Defenders: Stefan Ristovski (Dinamo Zagreb), Kire Ristevski (Ujpest), Gjoko Zajkov (Charleroi), Ezgjan Alioski (Leeds United), Visar Musliu (Fehervar), Darko Velkovski (Rijeka), Egzon Bejtulai (Shkendija)
Midfielders: Ferhan Hasani (Partizani), Stefan Spirovski (AEK), Enis Bardhi (Levante), Boban Nikolov (Lecce), Tihomir Kostadinov (Ružomberok), Elif Elmas (Napoli), Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb), Darko Curlinov (Stuttgart), Marjan Radeski (Akademija Pandev), Daniel Avramovski (Kayserispor)
Forwards: Goran Pandev (Genoa), Aleksandar Trajkovski (Mallorca), Krste Velkoski (Sarajevo), Vlatko Stojanovski (Chambly), Ivan Trickovski (AEK Larnaca), Milan Ristovski (Spartak Trnava)

Source: www.otzasada.com

The Big Star: Goran Pandev

Goran Pandev, 37, is still the big star of North Macedonia. The former Lazio and Inter player is still playing at a high level in Genoa. For whom he scored 13 goals in the last two seasons in early April 2021. Internationally, Pandev is the best goal scorer in North Macedonia with 37 goals, while he is also their most experienced player with 117 meetings. His most recent goal was in the shocking 2:1 victory over Germany in the last international break, which proves that North Macedonia is able to fight the best in Europe. If Pandev gets a chance, you can bet that he will take advantage and can help the team win points in the group stage of Euro 2020.

Expectations for North Macedonia at Euro 2020

Given their vast lack of experience at this level, it is not surprising to see that North Macedonia is the big outsider of Euro 2020. Bookmakers give little chance to the small Balkan country to pass the group stage, but why not succeed in opposing teams such as Ukraine and Austria. In our opinion, North Macedonia will not reach the direct eliminations of the championship this summer. 

Odds for North Macedonia

This is another group, where the teams are very balanced and maybe most of them have the class to continue at least in the next stage. This is our personal view, different from the bookie's view. They are giving a very low probability to this team for winning the group and go through the 1/8 finals. North Macedonia is among the biggest underdogs for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the formation of coach Igor Angelovski:

To win Euro 2020	501.00
To win Group C	21.00