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	The Red Lions (Црвени лавови)
Association	Football Federation of Macedonia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Goran Stanić
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 UEFA European Under-21 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, Dragi Kanatlarovski
2025										10	4	0	6	8	15	−7		Dragi Kanatlarovski
2027	To be determined																	Goran Stanikj
Total	1/15	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7	142	36	26	80	144	260	−116

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

2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Poland	6	6	0	0	18	1	+17	18	Final tournament		—	2–1	2–0	30 Sep '26	3–0	27 Mar '26
2	Italy	6	5	0	1	17	5	+12	15	Play-offs		5 Oct '26	—	2–1	4–0	26 Mar '26	5–1
3	Montenegro	6	3	0	3	9	11	−2	9			31 Mar '26	1–4	—	2–0	3–2	5 Oct '26
4	Sweden	6	3	0	3	8	13	−5	9			0–6	31 Mar '26	27 Mar '26	—	5 Oct '26	3–0
5	North Macedonia	6	1	0	5	5	13	−8	3			0–1	0–1	30 Sep '26	1–4	—	2–1
6	Armenia	6	0	0	6	3	17	−14	0			0–4	30 Sep '26	1–2	0–1	31 Mar '26	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 November 2025. Source: UEFA

Recent results and fixtures

Generation 2004+

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	North 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
21 March 2025	Ekodizayn football complex, Antalya, Turkey	Belarus	1–3	Stojanov 81'	ffm.mk
25 March 2025		Azerbaijan	0–0		ffm.mk
28 May 2025	Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo	Kosovo	0–0		ffm.mk
31 May 2025	Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia		0–0		ffm.mk

• * Macedonia's scores are always listed first

Squad

Current squad

Squad named for the European Under-21 qualifiers against Sweden and Poland on 13 and 18 November 2025.
Caps and goals as of 19 November 2025, after the match against Poland.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Vasko Vasilev	(2004-04-16) 16 April 2004 (age 21)	9	0	Rabotnichki
12	1GK	Ljupche Djekov	(2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 20)	6	0	Sileks
22	1GK	Slave Vrgov	(2006-01-18) 18 January 2006 (age 19)	0	0	AP Brera
3	2DF	Gjorge Djekov	(2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 20)	17	0	Sileks
5	2DF	Anes Meliqi	(2006-01-09) 9 January 2006 (age 19)	13	1	Shkëndija
16	2DF	David Dailoski	(2005-02-26) 26 February 2005 (age 20)	7	0	Venlo
4	2DF	Andrija Dimeski	(2005-02-05) 5 February 2005 (age 20)	3	0	Voždovac
2	2DF	Xhezair Avduli	(2004-06-20) 20 June 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Arsimi
18	2DF	Rexhep Murati	(2004-02-10) 10 February 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Bashkimi
6	3MF	Matej Angelov (captain)	(2004-07-11) 11 July 2004 (age 21)	24	0	Rabotnichki
8	3MF	Adrian Zendelovski	(2005-02-06) 6 February 2005 (age 20)	13	0	Olympic
10	3MF	Martin Gjorgievski	(2005-02-28) 28 February 2005 (age 20)	12	0	Zbrojovka Brno
21	3MF	Dimitar Danev	(2006-05-23) 23 May 2006 (age 19)	12	0	Vardar
7	3MF	Matej Gashtarov	(2006-11-15) 15 November 2006 (age 19)	8	0	Crvena Zvezda
19	3MF	Memetriza Hamza	(2004-02-09) 9 February 2004 (age 21)	8	0	Struga
23	3MF	Shaban Zenku	(2004-02-04) 4 February 2004 (age 21)	7	0	Struga
13	3MF	Muhamed Elmas	(2006-01-31) 31 January 2006 (age 19)	3	0	Makedonija GP
15	3MF	Mateo Sofijanoski	(2004-06-24) 24 June 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Makedonija GP
11	4FW	Dimitar Trajkov	(2004-08-08) 8 August 2004 (age 21)	14	3	Rabotnichki
20	4FW	Dashmir Elezi	(2004-11-21) 21 November 2004 (age 21)	8	1	Rabotnichki
17	4FW	Kire Stojanov	(2005-08-28) 28 August 2005 (age 20)	5	1	AP Brera
9	4FW	Mihail Talevski	(2004-02-09) 9 February 2004 (age 21)	5	0	Vardar

Recent call-ups

Players that have been called up within the past 12 months and are eligible for the 2027 European U21 Football Championship Qualifiers.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Numan Ajetovikj	(2006-03-18) 18 March 2006 (age 19)	4	0	Shkëndija	v.  Montenegro, 14 October 2025
DF	Marko Stojilevski	(2005-10-24) 24 October 2005 (age 20)	1	0	AP Brera	v.  Kosovo, 31 May 2025
DF	Nikola Najdovski	(2004-02-05) 5 February 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Tikvesh	v.  Kosovo, 31 May 2025
DF	Benan Hamidović	(2006-03-28) 28 March 2006 (age 19)	3	0	Unattached	v.  Azerbaijan, 26 March 2025
DF	Daniel Markovski	(2005-04-29) 29 April 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Jönköpings Södra	v.  Azerbaijan, 26 March 2025
DF	Andrej Velkov	(2006-02-07) 7 February 2006 (age 19)	1	0	AP Brera	v.  Azerbaijan, 26 March 2025
MF	Teodor Nikolovski	(2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 (age 20)	9	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Montenegro, 14 October 2025
MF	Andrej Arizankoski	(2005-05-08) 8 May 2005 (age 20)	2	0	AP Brera	v.  Montenegro, 14 October 2025
MF	Gjorgji Doshev	(2005-02-03) 3 February 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Makedonija GP	v.  Italy, 10 September 2025
MF	Nikola Manojlov	(2006-02-01) 1 February 2006 (age 19)	4	0	Rabotnichki	v.  Kosovo, 31 May 2025
MF	Besmir Daci	(2004-09-29) 29 September 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Sharri	v.  Azerbaijan, 26 March 2025
FW	Nikola Velichkovski	(2005-09-13) 13 September 2005 (age 20)	3	1	AP Brera	v.  Azerbaijan, 26 March 2025

• A: Called up by the Macedonia A National Team
• U19: Called up by the Macedonia U19 National Team
• INJ: Injured
• WD: Withdrew
• NA: Not available

Current First Squad

Vasilev

Meliqi

Djekov

Dimeski

Hamza

Angelov

Gashtarov

Danev

Trajkov

Gjorgievski

Elezi

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
• UEFA European Under-21 Championship