The Macedonian national football team will play the decisive match against Wales in Cardiff on Tuesday to win second place in the qualifying group for the World Cup.
Given that this is a match that directly decides which of the two teams will secure a place in the play-offs, UEFA has delegated one of the best referees in Europe.
The main referee is the Dutchman, Dani Makelele, and he will be assisted by Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries. The fourth official is Mark Nagtegal.
A Dutch pair will also be in the VAR room, with Paul van Boekel and assistant Richard Martens being delegated there.
The 42-year-old police officer from Dordrecht, who has worn the FIFA badge since 2011, refereed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the last two European Championships.
He was delegated to the Champions League final five years ago between PSG and Bayern as well as the Europa League final between Sevilla and Inter Milan.
Makelele was the main referee of matches involving the Macedonian national team three times.
In 2016 in Skopje, in the match in which Italy defeated our national team 3:2. Three years later, in the Macedonia – Slovenia match also in Skopje, when we celebrated 2:1, and in 2021, in the match at the Todor Proeski Arena against Germany, in which the guests triumphed 4:0.
The Dutchman is one of the most experienced referees on the Old Continent. He has 750 matches in his career, of which 362 in the national championship, 54 in the Champions League, 18 in the Europa League, and was delegated 31 times to qualifying matches for the World and European Championships.
