North Macedonia national under-21 football team

North Macedonia Under-21
Nickname(s)	The Red Lions (Црвени лавови)
Association	Football Federation of Macedonia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Dragi Kanatlarovski
Captain	Mario Ilievski
Most caps	Mario Ilievski (31)
Top scorer	Samir Fazli (7); Mario Ilievski (7); Dimitar Mitrovski (7);
Home stadium	Petar Miloshevski TC
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

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.

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									10	2	3	5	8	15	−7	Blagoja Milevski, Dragan Kanatlarovski
Total	1/15	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7	132	32	26	74	136	245	−109

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos	Team v t e	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 v t e	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 v t e	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

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	10	8	2	0	31	5	+26	26	Final tournament	—	5–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	7–0
2	Ukraine	10	7	2	1	20	11	+9	23	Play-offs	3–3	—	2–1	1–0	4–0	2–1
3	Serbia	10	3	3	4	10	11	−1	12		0–3	0–1	—	0–0	2–1	2–0
4	Faroe Islands	10	2	4	4	6	12	−6	10		1–1	0–4	1–1	—	1–1	2–0
5	North Macedonia	10	2	3	5	8	15	−7	9		0–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	—	3–1
6	Armenia	10	1	0	9	7	28	−21	3		1–4	0–2	1–4	2–0	1–2	—

Source: UEFA

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	10	10	0	0	32	3	+29	30	Final tournament	—	3–1	3–0	5–0	3–0	1–0
2	Georgia	10	6	1	3	14	10	+4	19	Play-offs	0–3	—	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–0
3	Sweden	10	5	2	3	25	10	+15	17		2–4	3–2	—	0–1	4–0	9–0
4	North Macedonia	10	4	0	6	8	15	−7	12		0–2	0–1	0–2	—	2–1	1–0
5	Moldova	10	2	1	7	7	20	−13	7		0–3	0–1	0–0	2–1	—	1–2
6	Gibraltar	10	1	0	9	3	31	−28	3		0–5	0–2	0–5	0–2	1–3	—

Source: UEFA

Recent results and fixtures

Generation 2004+

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Macedonia scorer(s)	Report
Friendly matches
14 November 2024	Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia	Kosovo	1–3	Velichkovski 16'	ffm.mk
17 November 2024	Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia	Kosovo	0–1

* Macedonia's scores are always listed first

Squad

Current squad

Squad named for the friendly matches against Kosovo on 14 and 17 November 2024.^[1]
Caps and goals as of 17 November 2024, after both matches against Kosovo.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
12	1GK	Vasko Vasilev	(2004-04-16) 16 April 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Gostivar
1	1GK	Ljupche Djekov	(2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Sileks
22	1GK	Stefan Jovanoski	(2006-02-17) 17 February 2006 (age 18)	1	0	Slavia U19

3	2DF	Gjorge Djekov	(2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 19)	7	0	Sileks
4	2DF	Malik Hamzikj	(2005-05-02) 2 May 2005 (age 19)	3	0	Gostivar
5	2DF	Anes Meliqi	(2006-01-09) 9 January 2006 (age 18)	3	0	Shkëndija
16	2DF	Xhelaidin Amedoski	(2005-03-14) 14 March 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Sion U21
6	2DF	Benan Hamidović	(2006-03-28) 28 March 2006 (age 18)	2	0	Magdeburg U19
15	2DF	Ardian Osmani	(2005-02-03) 3 February 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Grasshopper U21
14	2DF	Numan Ajetovikj	(2006-03-18) 18 March 2006 (age 18)	1	0	Shkupi
13	2DF	David Dailoski	(2005-02-26) 26 February 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Venlo U21
2	2DF	Daniel Markovski	(2005-04-29) 29 April 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Helsingborg U19
17	2DF	Borjan Poposki	(2004-04-23) 23 April 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Belasica

8	3MF	Matej Angelov	(2004-07-11) 11 July 2004 (age 20)	14	0	LNZ
20	3MF	Bekim Kamberi	(2004-09-02) 2 September 2004 (age 20)	4	1	Struga
10	3MF	Martin Gjorgievski	(2005-02-28) 28 February 2005 (age 19)	4	0	AP Brera
7	3MF	Adrijan Zendelovski	(2005-02-06) 6 February 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Olympic
21	3MF	Shaban Zenku	(2004-02-04) 4 February 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Struga
11	3MF	Rayan Berberi	(2004-03-18) 18 March 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Standard Liège U21
18	3MF	Dimitar Danev	(2006-05-23) 23 May 2006 (age 18)	2	0	Rabotnichki
26	3MF	Shenol Demiroski	(2005-09-07) 7 September 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Udinese U19
19	3MF	Donart Ibraimi	(2004-02-16) 16 February 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Voska Sport
25	3MF	Leon Tashov	(2005-11-13) 13 November 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Preußen U21
24	3MF	Teodor Nikolovski	(2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Rabotnichki
27	3MF	Mateo Sofijanoski	(2004-06-24) 24 June 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Makedonija GP

9	4FW	Nikola Velichkovski	(2005-09-13) 13 September 2005 (age 19)	2	1	Septemvri
23	4FW	Matej Momchilovski	(2005-01-11) 11 January 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Orijent
	4FW	Mihail Talevski	(2004-02-09) 9 February 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Pelister

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	Stefan Tasev	(2004-07-08) 8 July 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Tikvesh	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5 June 2024

DF	Eren Alievski	(2004-10-31) 31 October 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Trelleborg	v. Moldova, 11 October 2024 ^WD
DF	Davor Serafimov ^INJ	(2005-03-03) 3 March 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Shkupi	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5 June 2024

MF	Ardijan Chilafi	(2004-06-03) 3 June 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Sampdoria U19	v. Gibraltar, 9 September 2024

FW	Erkan Semovski ^INJ	(2004-11-23) 23 November 2004 (age 19)	2	0	Køge	v. Sweden, 26 March 2024

A: Called up by the Macedonia A National Team
U19: Called up by the Macedonia U19 National Team
INJ: Injured
WD: Withdrew

Current First Squad

Djekov

Meliqi

Hamzikj

Serafimov

Djekov

Chilafi

Angelov

Kamberi

Semovski

Gjorgievski

Velichkovski

Current First Squad (2004+) with the Club Leagues they play in

Past squads

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship squad

Statistics

As of 15 October 2024.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	U21 Career	Caps
1	Mario Ilievski	2020–2024	33
2	Dimitar Todorovski	2021–2024	32
3	Goran Bogdanovikj	2009–2012	28
3	Metodi Maksimov	2021–2024	28
5	David Babunski	2012–2017	27
5	Davor Zdravkovski	2015–2020	27
7	Luka Stankovski	2021–2024	25
8	Stefan Despotovski	2022–2024	24
	Boban Nikolov	2013–2017
	Reshat Ramadani	2021–2024
	Gjoko Zajkov	2013–2017

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	U21 Career	Goals	Caps	Ratio
1	Dimitar Mitrovski	2018–2020	7	18	0.39
	Samir Fazli	2008–2012		22	0.32
	Mario Ilievski	2020–2024		33	0.21
4	Kire Markoski	2013–2017	6	16	0.38
	Luan Abazi	2021–2024		18	0.33
	Jani Atanasov	2018–2020		18	0.33
7	Darko Churlinov	2018–2021	5	16	0.31
	Ilija Nestorovski	2009–2012		19	0.26
	David Babunski	2012–2017		27	0.19
10	Miroslav Gjokikj	1994–1995	4	5+	0.8
	Artim Shaqiri	1994–1995		9+	0.44
	Muarem Muarem	2009–2010		11	0.36
	Aco Stojkov	2002–2005		13	0.31
	Enis Bardhi	2014–2017		14	0.29
	Berat Kalkan	2021–2024		17	0.24
	Tihomir Kostadinov	2015–2018		18	0.22
	Marjan Radeski	2013–2017		21	0.19
	Metodi Maksimov	2021–2024		28	0.14

References

^ Македонија до 21: Два контролни натпревари со Косово

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.

[1] Македонија до 21: Два контролни натпревари со Косово

[1]

North Macedonia national under-21 football team

Contents

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Final tournament

Group stage

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Recent results and fixtures

Generation 2004+

Squad

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Current First Squad

Past squads

Statistics

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

See also

References

External links