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 coachBiljana Crvenkoska
Aco Jonovski
Ice Sokoleski
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

Macedonian bench at EURO 2018
Macedonia team Attacks 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

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, 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

Olympic Games

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Germany 1972 to South Korea 19881972,1976,1980,1984,1988
Within Yugoslavia team
(1),(5),(6),(1),(3)
Spain 1992banned
United States 1996Could not participate in qualification
Australia 2000World cup served as qualifiers
Did not qualify for World Cup
Did not enter
Greece 2004
China 2008
United Kingdom 2012play off
Brazil 2016play off
Japan 2020Did not qualify
France 2024TBD
United States 2028
Total0/3

World Championship

EHF EURO 2012 squad
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
East Germany 1958 to Czechoslovakia 1990 1958,1961,1964,1967, 1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990
Within Yugoslavia team
(8),(9),(6),(7),(3),(3),(5),(2),(1),(4)
Sweden 1993 Could not participate in qualification
Iceland 1995
Japan 1997 Did not qualify
Egypt 1999 Preliminary round 18th 5 1 0 4 122 149 −27
France 2001 Did not qualify
Portugal 2003
Tunisia 2005
Germany 2007
Croatia 2009 Main Round 11th 11 5 0 6 309 322 −13
Sweden 2011 Did not qualify
Spain 2013 Round of 16 14th 6 2 1 3 165 171 −6
Qatar 2015 Round of 16 9th 6 4 0 2 181 168 +13
France 2017 Round of 16 15th 6 2 1 3 163 171 −8
DenmarkGermany 2019 President's Cup 15th 7 3 0 4 191 199 −8
Egypt 2021 Main round 23rd 6 1 0 5 138 192 −54
PolandSweden 2023 President's Cup 27th 7 3 0 4 221 224 −3
CroatiaDenmarkNorway 2025 To be determined
Germany 2027
Total8/14 5421231 14901596−106

European Championship

Lazarov Against Germany EHF EURO 2018
Velkovski Against Denmark EHF EURO 2018
Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Portugal 1994Did not participate
Spain 1996Did not qualify
Italy 1998Preliminary Round12th5015130174
Croatia 2000Did not qualify
Sweden 2002
Slovenia 2004
Switzerland 2006
Norway 2008
Austria 2010
Serbia 20125th / 6th place5th7412185175
Denmark 2014Main Round10th6114141167
Poland 2016Main Round11th6024157176
Croatia 2018Main Round11th6213143164
AustriaNorwaySweden 2020Preliminary round15th31027984
HungarySlovakia 2022Preliminary round22nd30037086
Germany 2024Qualified
DenmarkNorwaySweden 2026To be determined
PortugalSpainSwitzerland 2028
Total8/15348620835941

Mediterranean Games

Year Round Position GP W D L
1993–2009Did not participate
Turkey 2013Group stage8th4202
Spain 2018Group stage13th3102
Algeria 2022Semi Finals4th5212
Total3/3 12516

Macedonian fans

Macedonia has great support at their matches from their fans. There is always a great number of fans following the national team on every World Cup or EURO championship they attend. Cheerful friendly fans create a great atmosphere at every game.

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2023 World 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 1.88 m 125 6 Portugal FC Porto Sofarma
3 LW Dejan Manaskov (1992-08-26) 26 August 1992 1.82 m 74 279 North Macedonia RK Vardar 1961
9 CB Igor Gjorgiev (2000-06-02) 2 June 2000 1.91 m 6 9 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
11 LB Filip Taleski (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 2.00 m 55 131 Portugal S.L. Benfica
12 GK Martin Tomovski (1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 1.94 m 17 0 North Macedonia RK Vardar 1961
17 P Nikola Markoski (1990-05-22) 22 May 1990 1.98 m 60 20 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
18 LB Filip Kuzmanovski (1996-07-03) 3 July 1996 1.98 m 53 75 Germany HSG Wetzlar
19 RW Nenad Kosteski (2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 1.89 m 5 7 North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister
22 RW Goce Georgievski (1987-02-12) 12 February 1987 1.85 m 125 286 North Macedonia RK Vardar 1961
31 LB Mihajlo Mladenovikj (2000-09-21) 21 September 2000 1.90 m 6 0 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
33 P Žarko Peševski (1991-04-11) 11 April 1991 1.95 m 60 85 North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister
34 RB Tomislav Jagurinovski (1998-08-19) 19 August 1998 1.88 m 11 16 North Macedonia RK Vardar 1961
38 CB Ivan Djonov (1997-07-15) 15 July 1997 1.95 m 2 3 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
42 P Marko Stojkovikj (2003-06-27) 27 June 2003 2.04 m 1 3 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
55 LW Petar Atanasijevikj (2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 1.92 m 0 0 North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister 2
77 RB Martin Serafimov (2000-03-03) 3 March 2000 1.90 m 21 14 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid
79 RB David Savrevski (2002-06-16) 16 June 2002 1.99 m 0 0 North Macedonia RK Vardar 1961
88 CB Pavle Atanasijevikj (2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 1.95 m 2 3 North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister
92 P Kostadin Petrov (1992-03-30) 30 March 1992 1.90 m 1 0 North Macedonia RK Alkaloid

Notable players

Manaskov in action

Statistics

Record against other teams

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 Algeria 2200 0000 1100 1100 0000
Angola Angola 1100 0000 1100 0000
Austria Austria 5302 0000 1100 2101 2101
Bahrain Bahrain 1100 0000 1100 0000
Belarus Belarus 4103 0000 1001 1001 2101
Belgium Belgium 101000 0000 0000 0000 101000
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and
Herzegovina
7322 0000 1100 0000 0000 6222
Brazil Brazil 2002 0000 1001 1001
Bulgaria Bulgaria 6600 0000 0000 0000 6600
Chile Chile 4400 0000 3300 1100
Croatia Croatia 6105 0000 2002 2002 0000 2101
Cuba Cuba 1001 0000 1001 0000
Cyprus Cyprus 2200 0000 0000 0000 0000 2200
Czech Republic Czech Republic 15537 0000 0000 5113 10424
Denmark Denmark 7106 0000 2002 3003 2101
Egypt Egypt 3003 0000 2002 1001 0000
Estonia Estonia 6420 0000 0000 0000 6420
Finland Finland 4310 0000 0000 0000 4310
France France 3003 0000 0000 1001 0000 2002
Germany Germany 5014 0000 3003 2011 0000
Greece Greece 8602 0000 0000 0000 0000 8602
Hungary Hungary 122010 0000 0000 1001 11209
Iceland Iceland 184212 0000 3012 1001 14419
Iran Iran 1100 0000 1100 0000
Israel Israel 4301 0000 0000 0000 4301
Italy Italy 4202 0000 0000 1001 1001 2200
Japan Japan 1100 0000 1100 0000
Latvia Latvia 2200 0000 0000 0000 2200
Lithuania Lithuania 3012 0000 0000 0000 3012
Luxembourg Luxemburg 4400 0000 0000 0000 4400
Montenegro Montenegro 1100 0000 0000 1100 0000 0000
Netherlands Netherlands 2101 0000 0000 0000 2101
Norway Norway 5113 0000 2002 1010 2101
Poland Poland 4202 0000 1100 2101 1001
Portugal Portugal 8404 0000 0000 0000 8404
Qatar Qatar 1100 0000 1100 0000
Romania Romania 4202 0000 0000 0000 4202
Russia Russia 5122 0000 4112 1010 0000
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1100 0000 1100 0000
Serbia Serbia 4211 0000 0000 2110 2101 0000
Slovakia Slovakia 2101 0000 0000 0000 2101
Slovenia Slovenia 7205 0000 3003 2200 0000 2002
South Korea South Korea 1100 0000 1100 0000
Spain Spain 7007 0000 2002 3003 0000 2002
Sweden Sweden 3012 0000 1001 1010 1001
Switzerland Switzerland 11506 0000 0000 1100 10406
Tunisia Tunisia 5203 0000 3201 1001 1001
Turkey Turkey 7601 0000 0000 0000 2101 5500
Ukraine Ukraine 5221 0000 0000 1100 4121
Total (49) 24410821115

References

  1. "Селекторот Кирил Лазаров го објави списокот на повикани ракометари за IHF Men's World Championship 2023 POL/SWE" (in Macedonian). macedoniahandball.com.mk. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. "Team Roster North Macedonia" (PDF). ihf.info. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
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