Three Decades of Macedonian National Team Sports
The Macedonian national football/soccer team received international attention in March 2022 by denying Italy an appearance at the 2022 World Cup by beating them at home. This was Italy’s first World Cup qualifying loss on home turf ever. This came a year after giving Germany its first World Cup qualifier loss in 20 years. The win against Italy put Macedonia just one win away from Qatar. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as the team lost to Portugal.
Yet, one would be hard pressed to find another country of under two million residents that has done as well across major team sports in just 30 years as an independent nation. For example, neighboring Albania (independent since 1913) has one UEFA Euro appearance, two EuroBasket appearances (most recently in 1957), and no other appearances in major national sports championships.
Many may not realize this, as the success of larger former Yugoslav nations like Serbia and Croatia hogs the spotlight. This post summarizes the major Macedonian successes by European and world standards in the country’s major team sports since independence. Of course, prior to independence, Macedonians made many achievements on Yugoslav teams. In addition, athletes of Macedonian descent in the diaspora have made their marks in sports not traditionally played in the Balkans like ice hockey, Australian rules football, American football, and more.
Handball
Macedonia’s strongest sport since its independence has undoubtedly been handball, led by perhaps the greatest handball player of all time, Kiril Lazarov. The all-time leading scorer in the Champions League, Lazarov also holds the record for most goals scored in a single World Handball Championship. Macedonia has appeared at the World Championships seven times, with its best finish coming in 2015 at 9th place. In European play, Macedonia has appeared at seven European Championships, with a best finish of 5th place in 2012. In that tournament, Macedonia narrowly missed out on a semifinal appearance. The 41-year-old Lazarov captains and coaches the national team.
The women’s side also has an impressive record, having appeared at five World Women’s Handball Championships. Its best finish was 7th place in 1997. At the European Women’s Championship, Macedonia has made five appearances, including a 7th place finish as host in 2008. The team will also appear at the 2022 tournament as host.
Water Polo
The other major team sport in which Macedonia has qualified for a world championship is in water polo. That single appearance came in 2009 with a 14th-place finish. The national water polo team has also made three European Water Polo Championship appearances, including an 8th place finish in 2008.
Basketball
Macedonia has appeared at five European Basketball (EuroBasket) Championships. The best era was with Pero Antić and Bo McCalebb leading the team to the semifinals in 2011. Down by 4 with a minute left, Macedonia devastated the host Lithuania with a two-point win. However, the Macedonians themselves later lost a nail-biter in the third-place game to Russia.
Volleyball
Macedonia qualified for its first Men’s European Volleyball Championship in 2019, finishing 17th. It qualified again at the next championship in 2021.
Soccer
The most popular sport in Macedonia is the one that has had the least success among the national teams, on paper at least. The team is rising, however. Under veteran captain Goran Pandev, the team qualified for its first Euro in 2020. The team made its exit after the group stage, failing to achieve a win. 2022 World Cup qualifiers saw Macedonia come in second place, qualifying for the UEFA playoff. After beating Italy, the team fell short of qualifying for the tournament with the loss to Portugal.
The team now looks forward to Nations League play in June and hopefully a second consecutive Euro appearance.
Macedonia punches above its weight in sport, especially as an upper-middle-income country and one that does not rely on foreign athletes.
