Macedonia U21 head coach Aleksandar Tanevski has announced the extended squad of footballers for the final two matches of the current European Championship qualifying cycle. Macedonia will face Montenegro on 1 October in Bitola and Sweden on 5 October in Falkenberg.
Before the two qualifying matches, the youth national team will also play a friendly against the Russia U20 team. The match is scheduled for 28 September at the „Petar Miloshevski“ training centre. From the extended squad, coach Tanevski will subsequently determine the group of footballers who will be in contention for the final two qualifying matches.
In the closing stages of the cycle, alongside the imperative to achieve results, the focus will also be on laying the foundations for the next generation of the Macedonia U21 national team. Tanevski has announced that younger footballers may be given more playing time, as they are expected to take over their roles in the national team in the future.
„Given that the final two matches of the current qualifying cycle are ahead of us, we want to give opportunities to the younger footballers as well, who should be part of the next U21 generation. Every match for the national team must be played with maximum responsibility, discipline and a desire to achieve a result. That does not change regardless of the circumstances or the stage we are at.
At the same time, it is our responsibility to build a team for the future in parallel. These matches are a good opportunity to see which footballers we can count on in the next qualifying cycle and give them the chance to gain international experience. We want to create healthy competition and gradually prepare the next generation for the challenges that await them,“ Tanevski said.
Goalkeepers: Џеков Љупче (Силекс), Вргов Славе (Брера), Димовски Натаниел (Пелистер), Филевски Никола (Брегалница);
Defense: Zlatko Radevski (Teteks), Gjorgje Tanchev (FC Brera), Andrej Velkov (Bregalnica), Filip Cvetkovski (Vardar), Redzep Murati (Malisheva, Kosovo), Luka Atanasovski (Teteks), Adis Murati (Bashkimi), Davor Serafimov (Skopje), Mario Mitrev (Brera);
Middle row: Vasil Tasovski (Mladost Lucani, Serbia), Emir Shabotic (Detonit), Andrej Arizankovski (Shkendija), Teodor Nikolovski (Tikvesh), Matej Angelov (Bregalnica), Ilija Maslarov (Lugano, Switzerland), Darijan Tasev (Bregalnica), Luka Trpevski (Crvena zvezda, Serbia);
Attack: Nikola Velichkovski (Skenderbeu, Albania), Stefan Ristovski (Bashkimi), Nikola Manojlov (Sileks), Dimitar Danev (Vardar), Salim Arifi (Mitrovica, Kosovo), Marko Nikolovski (Ohrid), Admir Ljatifi (Osijek, Croatia), Ariton Mehmed (Shkendija Aracinovo), Ditmir Hodza (Leeds, England), Muhamed Kurtishi (Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland), Martin Dzhangarovski (Radnik Surdulica, Serbia), Fadil Islamovic (Kustosija), Ivan Shiric (Brera);
Before the final two matches, Macedonia are in fifth place in Group E of the 2027 European Championship qualifiers. After eight matches played, Macedonia have 6 points. Poland lead the standings with 24 points, ahead of Italy on 21, while Montenegro and Sweden have 10 points each. Armenia are bottom without a point.
