North Macedonia cadets beat Turkey 29:27 to reach 9–16 placement round
A late second-half surge and 13 saves from goalkeeper Gjorgji Nikolovski secured a 29:27 win over Turkey in Belgrade.
North Macedonia's cadet handball team recorded a second straight win at the European Championship in Belgrade on 4 August 2026, beating Turkey 29:27 (15:13).
The victory followed the earlier success over Italy and came after a strong second-half performance under coach Goran Kuzmanoski. At the break Turkey led 15-13, but North Macedonia turned the game around after the interval.
Turning points
Goalkeeper Gjorgji Nikolovski was decisive with 13 saves, while Popovski finished as the team's top scorer with nine goals; Damchevski added two fewer. Early in the second half the Macedonian side produced an 8-2 run to move from 17-21 and later pushed the margin to plus six at 20-26.
Turkey fought back and reduced the deficit to 24-27. Kuzmanoski called a timeout but the opponents scored again to make it 25-27 with about a minute and a half remaining. Popovski then ended Turkey's comeback streak with a goal that made it 25-28 and effectively sealed the result.
The first half had gone in Turkey's favour as they opened 4-1 and later 7-3; North Macedonia briefly led 11-10 and 12-11 during the middle phases before conceding a 15-13 halftime deficit. With this result North Macedonia finished second in the newly formed group and will compete for places 9–16 in the tournament.
Photo: press material from the event
