Macedonia's national team were more successful than Northern Ireland in the first match of the UEFA development tournament being held in Strumica.
After the two sides failed to find the net in 90 minutes of play, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout. Blagoja Sedloski took the decisive penalty to win the tie and managed to beat the opposing goalkeeper.
According to the rules of development tournaments, the winner on penalties earns two points, while the loser earns one.
Northern Ireland were the better side during the match, but they failed to convert several goalscoring opportunities.
Macedonia's youngsters had two chances to score, the first in the 31st minute when, following Mateja Masev's pass, Adrian Veleski lobbed the visiting goalkeeper, but the ball finished wide of the goal.
In the 81st minute, Aleksandar Polimac had a chance to score the winner, but he failed to find the opposing net.
In the second match, Macedonia will also face Uzbekistan in Strumica, with the fixture scheduled for Friday kicking off at 15:30.
MACEDONIA: Ilhan Mehmeti, Filip Gjorgjioski (Ardi Bajrami 58), Matej Bocheski (Mario Stojcevski 58), Mateja Masev (Mitko Stojanov 70), Aleksandar Polimac (Efe Raifi 79), Dardan Ademi (Dalibor Markovikj 70), Pavel Stojanov (Ognen Sivevski 46), Ilija Aksentiev, Adrian Veleski (Blagoja Sedloski 70), Dzihan Ibraimi (Mihajlo Pavlov 58), Osman Ismaili (Marin Krstevski 46).
