North Macedonia men's national handball team

The Macedonian national handball team is the national handball team of North Macedonia. The team is run by the Macedonian Handball Federation, the governing body of handball in North Macedonia. Prior to joining the International Handball Federation in 1991 as an independent country, North Macedonia was represented within the Yugoslavia men's national handball team.

North Macedonia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Information
NicknameRed-Yellow Lions
AssociationMacedonian Handball Federation
CoachKiril Lazarov
Assistant coachPetar Basnarkov
Ninoslav Pavelić
CaptainNikola Mitrevski
Most capsStevče Aluševski (245)
Most goalsKiril Lazarov (1717)
Colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
1st
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
2nd
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
3rd
Results
World Championship
Appearances8 (First in 1999)
Best result9th (2015)
European Championship
Appearances8 (First in 1998)
Best result5th (2012)
Last updated on Unknown.

History

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Macedonian bench at EURO 2018
 
Macedonian team attacking at EURO 2020
  • First Handball teams in Macedonia emerged in the second half of the 1940s. Soon Macedonian Handball federation started to organize national championships in big handball −11 players on a soccer field size. By the '60s it was transformed into small handball or indoor handball. Macedonian champions were qualified for federal Yugoslav Championship instead of European cup competitions. The best Macedonian players played for the Federal team of Yugoslavia. In the time of the federation, 6 of the constitutional republics were sending one federal team to compete at the Olympics and World cup. Macedonia was participating within the federal team from 1950 till 1991.

During the period 1958 till 1991 Macedonia was within the Federation of SFRJ. It was represented internationally within the team Yugoslavia as part of the Federation of 6 Republics. Macedonia is not a successor of the results of team Yugoslavia it was just part of it. During that time was present at the 5 Olympics and 10 World cup tournaments within the successful team Yugoslavia.

  • After the split of the federation, as a single republic from 1992 till 1994 Macedonia did not manage to enter the qualifications for EC, WC and OG. Macedonian team started to compete representing the single independent Republic. At the 1992 Olympics Yugoslavia team was banned to participate. At the World cup 1993 only teams from the Olympics qualified so the Macedonian team did not have a chance to qualify. From 1995 Macedonia participates as a single Republic to all qualifications and Championship tournaments.
  • European Championship For the first European Championship 1994 team Macedonia did not enter the qualifications. Since EURO 1996 team Macedonia is regular in the qualifications. It entered 8 European Championships first one in 1998 then 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. Most successful was the 2012 when they've finished 5th.
  • World Cup For the World cup 1995 only teams from EURO 1994 qualified so again team Macedonian did not get a chance to participate. At the World Cup's they entered 8 times – 1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. The most successful was in 2015 when they finished 9th.
  • Olympics For the Olympic tournament qualifications they have entered two times – 2012 finishing 4th and 2016 finishing 3rd. They did not manage to finish in the first two spots and have not qualified.

Home ground

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Boris Trajkovski Sports Center
 
Boris Trajkovski Sports Center side view

The BTSC – Boris Trajkovski Sports Center Macedonian: Спортски центар Борис Трајковски, Skopje is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of Skopje, North Macedonia. It is named after the former president, Boris Trajkovski. Its capacity is 10,000 .There is an Olympic size Swimming Pool and 5 Star Hotel Alexander Palace within the complex. Additional Water Land Fun Park and Ice Skating Rink next to it.

The arena is a home ground of the Macedonian handball team (men and women). The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar. It was one of two venues for the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship and will be used again for the 2022 European Women's Handball Championship for the preliminary and main round.

Competitive record

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Olympic Games

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Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
  1972 to   1988 1972,1976,1980,1984,1988
Within Yugoslavia team
(1),(5),(6),(1),(3)
  1992 banned
  1996 Could not participate in qualification
  2000 World cup served as qualifiers
Did not qualify for World Cup
Did not enter
  2004
  2008
  2012 play off
  2016 play off
  2020 Did not qualify
  2024
  2028 TBD
Total 0/4

World Championship

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EHF EURO 2012 squad
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1958 to   1990 1958,1961,1964,1967, 1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990
Within Yugoslavia team
(8),(9),(6),(7),(3),(3),(5),(2),(1),(4)
  1993 Could not participate in qualification
  1995
  1997 Did not qualify
  1999 Preliminary round 18th 5 1 0 4 122 149 −27
  2001 Did not qualify
  2003
  2005
  2007
  2009 Main Round 11th 11 5 0 6 309 322 −13
  2011 Did not qualify
  2013 Round of 16 14th 6 2 1 3 165 171 −6
  2015 9th 6 4 0 2 181 168 +13
  2017 15th 6 2 1 3 163 171 −8
   2019 President's Cup 15th 7 3 0 4 191 199 −8
  2021 Main round 23rd 6 1 0 5 138 192 −54
   2023 President's Cup 27th 7 3 0 4 221 224 −3
    2025 Qualified
  2027 To be determined
   2029
    2031
Total 9/15 54 21 2 31 1490 1596 −106

European Championship

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Lazarov Against Germany EHF EURO 2018
 
Velkovski Against Denmark EHF EURO 2018
Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
  1994 Did not participate
  1996 Did not qualify
  1998 Preliminary Round 12th 6 0 1 5 130 174
  2000 Did not qualify
  2002
  2004
  2006
  2008
  2010
  2012 5th / 6th place 5th 7 4 1 2 185 175
  2014 Main Round 10th 6 1 1 4 141 167
  2016 11th 6 0 2 4 157 176
  2018 11th 6 2 1 3 143 164
    2020 Preliminary round 15th 3 1 0 2 79 84
   2022 22nd 3 0 0 3 70 86
  2024 17th 3 1 0 2 83 100
    2026 To be determined
    2028
Total 8/15 40 9 6 25 988 1126

Mediterranean Games

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Year Round Position GP W D L
1993–2009 Did not participate
  2013 Group stage 8th 4 2 0 2
  2018 Group stage 13th 3 1 0 2
  2022 Semi Finals 4th 5 2 1 2
Total 3/3 12 5 1 6

Team

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Current squad

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Squad for the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Kiril Lazarov

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
1 GK Nikola Mitrevski (1985-10-03) 3 October 1985 (age 39) 1.84 m 34 7   RK Eurofarm Pelister
2 LB Edvin Omeragikj (2002-10-09) 9 October 2002 (age 22) 1.96 m 0 0   RK Alkaloid
4 RB Martin Velkovski (1997-03-10) 10 March 1997 (age 27) 1.88 m 34 9   RK Alkaloid
9 CB Igor Gjorgiev (2000-06-02) 2 June 2000 (age 24) 1.87 m 16 27   RK Alkaloid
10 CB Marko Mitev (2003-02-23) 23 February 2003 (age 21) 1.81 m 4 7   RK Alkaloid
11 LB Filip Taleski (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 (age 28) 2.00 m 64 164   SL Benfica
12 GK Martin Tomovski (1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 (age 27) 1.94 m 26 0   1. VfL Potsdam
17 P Nikola Markoski (1990-05-22) 22 May 1990 (age 34) 1.98 m 70 24   RK Alkaloid
18 CB Filip Kuzmanovski (1996-07-07) 7 July 1996 (age 28) 1.98 m 63 124   RK Eurofarm Pelister
19 RW Nenad Kosteski (2001-04-03) 3 April 2001 (age 23) 1.89 m 15 34   RK Eurofarm Pelister
20 GK Marko Kizikj (2001-01-22) 22 January 2001 (age 23) 1.98 m 2 0   RK Alkaloid
26 RW Nikola Kosteski (1992-08-22) 22 August 1992 (age 32) 1.83 m 0 0   RK Alkaloid
33 P Žarko Peševski (1991-04-11) 11 April 1991 (age 33) 1.95 m 68 112   RK Eurofarm Pelister
34 RB Tomislav Jagurinovski (1998-08-19) 19 August 1998 (age 26) 1.88 m 9 5   RK Vardar 1961
36 P Milan Lazarevski (1997-02-09) 9 February 1997 (age 27) 1.93 m 0 0   RK Vardar 1961
38 LB Ivan Džonov (1997-07-15) 15 July 1997 (age 27) 1.91 m 10 13   RK Alkaloid
55 LW Petar Atanasijevikj (2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 (age 21) 1.92 m 7 14   RK Eurofarm Pelister
79 RB David Savrevski (2002-06-16) 16 June 2002 (age 22) 1.95 m 5 5   RK Alkaloid

Notable players

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Manaskov in action

Statistics

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Record against other teams

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As of 3 May 2021

Key
Positive total balance (more wins)
Neutral total balance (equal W/L ratio)
Negative total balance (more losses)
National team Total Olympic Games World Championship European Championship Mediterranean Games Qualifications
Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L
  Algeria 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Angola 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Austria 5 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 1 0 1
  Bahrain 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Belarus 4 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 1
  Belgium 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 0 0
  Bosnia and
Herzegovina
7 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 2 2
  Brazil 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
  Bulgaria 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 0
  Chile 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 0
  Croatia 6 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
  Cuba 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
  Cyprus 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
  Czech Republic 15 5 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 1 3 10 4 2 4
  Denmark 7 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 3 2 1 0 1
  Egypt 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
  Estonia 6 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 2 0
  Finland 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1 0
  France 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
  Germany 5 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
  Greece 8 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 0 2
  Hungary 12 2 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 11 2 0 9
  Iceland 18 4 2 12 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 14 4 1 9
  Iran 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Israel 4 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 1
  Italy 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 0
  Japan 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Latvia 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
  Lithuania 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2
  Luxemburg 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0
  Montenegro 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Netherlands 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
  Norway 5 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 1
  Poland 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
  Portugal 8 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 0 4
  Qatar 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Romania 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 2
  Russia 5 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
  Saudi Arabia 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Serbia 4 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
  Slovakia 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
  Slovenia 7 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
  South Korea 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Spain 7 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
  Sweden 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
  Switzerland 11 5 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 10 4 0 6
  Tunisia 5 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
  Turkey 7 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 5 5 0 0
  Ukraine 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 1 2 1
Total (49) 244 108 21 115

References

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  1. ^ "СЕЛЕКТОРОТ НА МАШКАТА СЕНИОРСКА РЕПРЕЗЕНТЦИЈА КИРИЛ ЛАЗАРОВ ГО ОБЈАВУВА СПИСОКОТ НА ПОВИКАНИ РАКОМЕТАРИ ЗА СОБИР И ПОДГОТОВКИ ЗА EHF EURO 2024" (in Macedonian). macedoniahandball.com.mk. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Team roster: North Macedonia". res.ehf.eu. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
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