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The North Macedonia national soccer team has qualified for a major tournament for the first time in history and will face Austria in the final of the European Championship next year. Going 1-0 (0-0) in the play-off final in Georgia, old star Goran Pandev became the shining hero on Thursday night. His home country’s record 37-year-old international scored the decisive goal in the 56th minute in front of empty ranks in Tbilisi.
At the European Championship, North Macedonia will face Austria, the Netherlands and Ukraine in Group C. The first match will be played by Pandev and Co. according to the draw on June 13 in Bucharest against the Austrians. In any case, they know each other. The two teams only met in the group stage of qualifying for the European Championship. A 4: 1 in Skopje was followed almost exactly one year ago in November 2019 in Vienna by a 2: 1 win for the ÖFB team. It was the last defeat of North Macedonia’s now seven undefeated matches.
In the empty Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, the expected balanced game unfolded, in which the slightly favored Georgians were the most creative team after 20 minutes and also had opportunities. With the best, Tornike Okriashvili edged out Kreuzeck after half an hour. The local team had to play with important players, especially on offense. Sturm Graz pro Otar Kiteishvili was injured, as was Giorgi Chakvetadze (Gent) and ex-Rapidler Giorgi Kvilitaia.
North Macedonia has only been an independent member of Uefa since 1994
North Macedonia coach Igor Angelovski (44) had to do without his injured player Enis Bardhi (Levante). Eljif Elmas was there again after suffering from corona. The Napoli professional turned out to be the pioneer of the decisive goal. After a solo from the offensive man, Ilija Nestorovski brought old star Pandev into play, who used the quick combination in front of the Georgia goalkeeper.
For Pandev, who played for top clubs like Inter Milan, Lazio Roma and Napoli for a long time in Italy and now stormed at FC Genoa, it was goal number 36 in his 114th international appearance. Nestorovski could have added a quarter of an hour later, but he acted too complicated. The score should not change because the Georgians entered the game without any effect.
The rise of North Macedonia continues. The 65th place in the FIFA rankings has made its way from the depths of European football in recent years. In qualifying for the European Championship, the team finished third in the Austrian group, ahead of Slovenia and Israel. The North Macedonians were drawn from the fifth and penultimate pot in the draw.
They had secured their place in the play-off of their Nations League group with Armenia, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein in League D. In the semi-finals, Kosovo was defeated 2-1. North Macedonia has been a member of FIFA and UEFA since 1994 after the separation of Yugoslavia. The Balkan state, originally founded as Macedonia, changed its name in spring 2019, ending a naming dispute with Greece.
Hungary thanks to Szoboszlai
All MS participants have now been determined. In the remaining matches on Thursday, Hungary, Slovakia and Scotland secured the last innings. The Hungarians were able to thank Salzburg player Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored in the 92nd minute to beat Iceland. The Icelanders were up 1-0 until the 88th minute before the hosts could turn the game around and win 2-1. Hungary, co-host of the European Championship with Budapest, will be able to compete in the first group with the world champions France, the European champions Portugal and the former world champions Germany.
Scotland have reached the finals for the first time since the 1998 World Cup. In Belgrade, the guests won 5-4 on penalties against Serbia. After 120 minutes it was 1: 1. The Scots will join the group with England, Croatia and the Czech Republic at the European Championships. Slovakia reached the European Championship after a 2-1 win after extra time in Northern Ireland. Poland, Spain and Sweden are the opponents there.
In Budapest Gylfi Sigurdsson seemed to have brought the Icelanders to MS after a serious mistake by Peter Gulacsi. The Leipzig goalkeeper missed a free kick from the midfielder in the 11th minute between his hands. The Hungarians, for whom head coach Marco Rossi was not present after a crown infection, ran in vain for a long time. Frenchman Loic Nego scored the equalizer three minutes after being substituted (88th).
Then the Icelanders also had a chance before Szoboszlai ran down midfield after a counter attack and hit the corner with a long shot. At the beginning of the week, after the positive corona tests in Salzburg, he was still unsure if the 20-year-old would be available for his team in the playoffs. (off / red)
