A decade since October 11, 2016: North Macedonia U21’s historic night
The 2:0 win at Todor Proeski Arena on October 11, 2016 sent Macedonia to the U21 finals in Poland and remains a defining moment for supporters.
On October 11, 2016, North Macedonia's under-21 football team achieved the single biggest milestone in the country's recent football history by qualifying for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament in Poland. The result arrived at a moment when the nation was already commemorating a historic date: October 11, associated with the start of the wartime resistance in 1941 and the later founding of the Macedonian state in 1945.
Victory at the Todor Proeski Arena
The decisive night in Skopje took place at the Todor Proeski Arena, where the home side needed a win over Scotland while also relying on Ukraine to finish their match favourably. Macedonia delivered on the pitch with a 2:0 victory and ended the qualifying group with 21 points, securing first place ahead of teams such as France, Scotland and Ukraine.
That generation, coached by Blagoja Milevski, produced performances described by many fans as heroic: resilient displays away in France, Scotland and Ukraine and a fighting spirit at home that united supporters across the country. The qualification sparked scenes of jubilation and is still remembered as a rare highpoint in the national game.
The squad that reached the finals included Igor Aleksovski, Damjan Shishkovski, Filip Ilic, Gjoko Zajkov, Darko Velkovski, Besir Demiri, Visar Musliu, Mevlan Murati, Egzon Bejtullai, Aleksa Amanovic, Jovan Popzlatanov, David Babunski, Boban Nikolov, Daniel Avramovski, Kire Markoski, Enis Bardi, Tihomir Kostadinov, Elif Elmas, Nikola Gjorgjev, Marjan Radeski, Viktor Angelov, Filip Pivkovski and Petar Petkovski, with Blagoja Milevski as head coach.
Many of those players later became fixtures of the senior national team; some have since retired from high-level professional football but the image of that October evening remains vivid for the supporters who were present. Photographs and videos from the match were taken by the article's author and colleagues from a newsroom that no longer operates.
As the author put it at the close of his recollection: "Long live the Macedonian people, long live Macedonia…"
Photo: press material from the event
