North Macedonia U21 remain with just two wins in last 22 matches

On October 1, 2026, at the Petar Milosevski stadium in Bitola, North Macedonia's under-21 national team drew 1–1 with Montenegro, continuing a long winless run that has left this qualifying campaign effectively over for the hosts.

With Aleksandar Tanevski now in charge, the U21s again failed to make home advantage count. The campaign had been difficult from the start: Goran Stanic opened the qualifying cycle but was removed before it finished as results and performances lagged behind expectations. One match remains, away to Sweden, but optimism is low.

Numbers that do not lie

The figures are stark: across their last 22 matches the North Macedonia U21 side have recorded only two victories — both against the group’s bottom team, Armenia, once at home and once away. The team also has five draws (most of them in friendlies) and failed to register a win at the Mediterranean Games.

There are a few positives: Matej Gashtarov and Enes Meliqi have progressed to the senior national team. Yet they belong to the 2006 generation; the bulk of players used in these qualifiers were born in 2004 — names such as Dimitar Trajkov, Matej Angelov, Hamza Memetriza, Mihail Talevski, Dashmir Elezi and Vasko Vasilev.

Roughly nine out of ten of these U21 internationals play in the domestic championship, which underlines a wider problem: the youth squad has not functioned as an effective filter for the senior team, and most members are still some distance from making that step up.

Addressing the media ahead of the senior team’s match at the Arena against Scotland, coach Sedloski insisted he will not change course. As he put it, "he will not deviate from the plan to rejuvenate." Whether the current crop of U21 players have the necessary quality to be part of that renewal remains an open question.

Photo: press material from the event