North Macedonia vs Ukraine

National Arena Toshe Proeski is the venue as North Macedonia and Ukraine go head-to-head in a high-stakes 2024 European Championship qualifier.

North Macedonia’s bid to advance to the European Championship finals for the second time in a row was off to a decent start as they squeezed past Group C outsiders Malta 2-1 at home in their opening game. They followed that result with a narrow 1-0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands last time out, meaning they’ve won back-to-back matches after five straight winless internationals (D1, L4). Avenging a 2-1 H2H defeat in a delayed Euro 2022 feels like a must-do task, with an ominously-looking meetings with Italy and England waiting in the wings. North Macedonia posted an evenly-balanced recod in the last Euro qualifying campaign (W4, D2, L4), but with three of those victories coming on home turf, they ought to take the field in a buoyant mood.

In the meantime, Serhiy Rebrov’s managerial tenure at the helm of Ukraine started with a goal-glutted 3-3 friendly draw against Germany in midweek, yet a 2-0 loss at England in their opening Euro qualifier suggests there’s plenty of work to be done. After qualifying for the last three Euro finals, the Ukrainians came into this cycle with lofty ambitions despite only managing one win in four competitive games ahead of the qualifying campaign (D2, L1). Accustomed to playing away from home due to warfare conditions in the country, Rebrov’s men won’t be under pressure, but back-to-back winless travels (D1, L1) cannot inspire much confidence. That’s not to mention they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in three of their last five away matches in competitive action (W2, L3).