North Macedonia 2020 UEFA Euro Betting
How good is North Macedonia? That’s the question that many Europeans are asking after the country’s stunning 2-1 win over Germany in a World Cup qualifier this March. The Germans hadn’t lost a World Cup or European qualifier at home in over two decades prior to that defeat, and the victory gave North Macedonia’s fringe World Cup hopes a huge boost. It was the country’s biggest win ever in international football, and EURO 2020 will be North Macedonia’s first major international competition.
North Macedonia Squad Profile
UEFA Euro Odds: +50000
Coach: Igor Angelovski
FIFA Ranking: 65
Best Finish: First appearance
Group: C ( Austria, Netherlands and Ukraine )
How They Got Here
North Macedonia played Austria twice as part of EURO 2020 qualifying in Group G. They lost both of those games, and they lost to Poland twice, but they either defeated or drew Slovenia, Israel, and Latvia in their other six matches. They finished with the same number of points as Slovenia and had an -1 goal differential, but they advanced to the qualifying playoffs because they defeated Slovenia at home and drew them on the road.
Due to the coronavirus, teams were placed into geographically friendly groups for the qualifying playoffs. That gave North Macedonia a huge boost as they only had to face fellow minnows Belarus, Georgia, and Kosovo. North Macedonia bested former Yugoslavia rival Kosovo 2-1 in Skopje before heading to Tbilisi to take on Georgia with a place in EURO 2020 on the line. Their two previous meetings in Nations League action ended in draws, but North Macedonia prevailed 1-0 this time with Goran Pandev notching the lone goal.
Team Preview
Goran Pandev is the most recognizable player on the team. Pandev is the face of North Macedonian football. He holds the all-time record for caps (117) and goals (37), and he is twice as seasoned with twice as many goals as any other player on the roster. Pandev has thrived in Serie A with Lazio, Napoli, and Genoa over the years, notching over 100 Serie A goals.
The second leading scorer on North Macedonia is Mallorca’s Aleksandar Trajkovski. Trajkovski has 18 goals for the national team, but he has not seen a lot of action in La Liga for his club team lately. That might open the door for Ilija Nestorovski or Ivan Trichkovski to see more time on the pitch.
This midfield has a decent amount of experience. Enis Bardhi, Boban Nikolov, and Elif Elmas are all in their mid-20s with a couple dozen caps, and they all play in one of the top five domestic leagues on the continent. Elmas is particularly promising as he already has six goals in 25 games and scored one of North Macedonia’s two tallies in their win over Germany.
There isn’t as much talent in the back. Ezgjan Alioski has seven goals for North Macedonia as a left back that can fly up the wing, and he features frequently on Leeds United. There isn’t another defender that plays for a club in a highly regarded league though. North Macedonia was incredibly impressive against Germany in their surprising upset, but this team has recently lost to Romania and Armenia and doesn’t play a lot of top competition.
North Macedonia is one of the biggest longshots on the board at this competition. They would celebrate picking up a result in any match, and a single win would be enough to drive the nation into euphoria.
North Macedonia Schedule
GROUP STAGE
Sunday June 13
Austria vs. North Macedonia (Bucharest; noon ET, 6 p.m.)
Thursday June 17
Ukraine vs. North Macedonia (Bucharest; 9 a.m. ET, 3 p.m.)
Monday June 21
North Macedonia vs. Netherlands (Amsterdam; noon ET, 6 p.m.)
North Macedonia’s History at the European Championships
The national team has only played under the name North Macedonia for a few years. This country was originally known as Macedonia or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, but it underwent a name change in 2018. Greece took offense to calling the country Macedonia due to Alexander the Great and Greek historical roots in the area, leading to a long dispute before the name change.
North Macedonia never won more than four games in qualifying for either the World Cup or European Championships prior to this last iteration. They went 1-1-8 during qualifying for the 2016 Euros, losing to both Belarus and tiny Luxembourg.
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