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 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

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

Main article: 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3

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

Main article: 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

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

Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6

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

Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group H

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

Main article: 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group C

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

Main article: Macedonia national under-21 football team results

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			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 Metodi Maksimov 2021–2024 5 David Babunski 2012–2017 27 Davor Zdravkovski 2015–2020 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 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

See also

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

References

1. 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.