North Macedonia men's national handball team

Macedonia
Macedonia
Information
Nickname	Red-Yellow Lions
Association	Macedonian Handball Federation
Coach	Kiril Lazarov
Assistant coach	Biljana Crvenkoska; Naum Taneski
Most caps	Stevče Aluševski (245)
Most goals	Kiril Lazarov (1717)
Colours
Results
World Championship
Appearances	9 (First in 1999)
Best result	9th (2015)
European Championship
Appearances	8 (First in 1998)
Best result	5th (2012)
	Last updated on Unknown.

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.

History

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 that time was present at the 5 Olympics and 10 World cup tournaments within the successful team of 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. 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 9 times – 1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025. 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

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, North 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
1972 to 1988	1972,1976,1980,1984,1988 Within Yugoslavia team (1),(5),(6),(1),(3)
1992	Qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics but banned due to UN sanctions
1996	Could not participate in qualification
2000	World cup served as qualifiers Did not qualify for World Cup Did not enter
2004
2008
2012	play off
2016	play off
2020	Did not qualify
2024	Did not qualify
2028	TBD
Total	0/4

Tournament	Outcome	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Olympic qualification tournament
2012	not qualified	4th	3	0	0	3	76	83
2016	not qualified	3rd	3	1	0	2	76	84

World Championship

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1958 to 1990	1958,1961,1964,1967, 1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990 Within Yugoslavia team (8),(9),(6),(7),(3),(3),(5),(2),(1),(4)
1993	Could not participate in qualification
1995	Could not participate in qualification
1997	Did not qualify
1999	Preliminary round	18th	5	1	0	4	122	149	−27
2001	Did not qualify
2003
2005
2007
2009	Main Round	11th	9	4	0	5	256	260	−4
2011	Did not qualify
2013	Round of 16	14th	6	2	1	3	165	171	−6
2015		9th	6	4	0	2	181	168	+13
2017		15th	6	2	1	3	163	171	−8
2019	President's Cup	15th	7	3	0	4	191	199	−8
2021	Main Round	23rd	6	1	0	5	138	192	−54
2023	President's Cup	27th	7	3	0	4	221	224	−3
2025	Main Round	15th	6	2	2	2	181	179	+2
2027	To be determined
2029
2031
Total	9/15	–	58	22	4	32	1618	1713	−95

EURO Tournaments

Within Yugoslavia Team	Mini EURO Tournaments till 1994 EC
EURO World Cup Sweden	1971,1974,1979,1984,1988,1992 (1),(1),(7),(3),(5),(2)
EURO Super Cup Germany	1979,1981,1983,1985,1987,1989,1991 (4),(3),(3),(5),(5),(4),(6)

European Championship

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1994	Did not participate
1996	Did not qualify
1998	Preliminary Round	12th	6	0	1	5	130	174
2000	Did not qualify
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012	5th / 6th place	5th	7	4	1	2	185	175
2014	Main Round	10th	6	1	1	4	141	167
2016		11th	6	0	2	4	157	176
2018		11th	6	2	1	3	143	164
2020	Preliminary round	15th	3	1	0	2	79	84
2022		22nd	3	0	0	3	70	86
2024		17th	3	1	0	2	83	100
2026	Qualified
2028	To be determined
Total	9/15	–	40	9	6	25	988	1126

Mediterranean Games

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L
1967–1991	1967,1975,1979,1983,1991 Within Yugoslavia team (1),(1),(1),(1),(1)
1993–2009	Did not participate
2013	Group stage	8th	4	2	0	2
2018	Group stage	13th	3	1	0	2
2022	Semi Finals	4th	5	2	1	2
Total	3/3	–	12	5	1	6

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2025 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	140	6	RK Eurofarm Pelister
4	RB	Martin Velkovski	(1997-03-10) 10 March 1997	1.86 m	42	35	RK Alkaloid
9	CB	Igor Gjorgiev	(2000-06-02) 2 June 2000	1.88 m	24	32	RK Alkaloid
10	CB	Marko Mitev	(2003-02-23) 23 February 2003	1.83 m	12	26	RK Alkaloid
13	P	Valentin Karasmanakis	(2005-01-14) 14 January 2005	2.01 m	2	1	RK Alkaloid
16	GK	Ivan Galevski	(2004-07-05) 5 July 2004	1.97 m	0	0	RK Alkaloid
17	P	Nikola Markoski	(1990-05-22) 22 May 1990	1.95 m	86	49	RK Alkaloid
18	LB	Filip Kuzmanovski	(1996-07-03) 3 July 1996	1.97 m	75	231	RK Eurofarm Pelister
19	RW	Nenad Kosteski	(2001-03-04) 4 March 2001	1.83 m	33	65	RK Eurofarm Pelister
20	GK	Marko Kizikj	(2001-01-22) 22 January 2001	1.90 m	4	0	RK Alkaloid
26	RW	Aleksandar Petkovski	(2004-05-24) 24 May 2004	1.85 m	2	3	RK Alkaloid
33	P	Zharko Peshevski	(1991-04-11) 11 April 1991	1.95 m	78	173	RK Eurofarm Pelister
34	RB	Tomislav Jagurinovski	(1998-08-19) 19 August 1998	1.88 m	19	21	RK Vardar 1961
36	P	Milan Lazarevski	(1997-02-09) 9 February 1997	1.97 m	6	8	RK Vardar 1961
38	LW	Ivan Djonov	(1997-07-15) 15 July 1997	1.91 m	16	26	RK Alkaloid
42	P	Marko Stojkovikj	(2003-06-27) 27 June 2003	2.00 m	9	15	RK Alkaloid
55	LW	Petar Atanasijevikj	(2003-07-09) 9 July 2003	1.92 m	16	27	RK Eurofarm Pelister
77	RB	Martin Serafimov	(2000-03-03) 3 March 2000	1.90 m	36	71	RK Alkaloid
88	LB	Pavle Atanasijevikj	(2003-07-09) 9 July 2003	1.95 m	8	9	RK Eurofarm Pelister

Notable players

Statistics

Most Appearances
Name	Matches
Stevče Aluševski	243
Kiril Lazarov	208
Branislav Angelovski	159
Borko Ristovski	155
Nikola Mitrevski	142
Petar Angelov	138
Filip Mirkulovski	126
Goce Georgievski	120
Vancho Dimovski	119
Naumče Mojsovski	108

Top Scorers
Name	Goals
Kiril Lazarov	1603
Stevče Aluševski	967
Branislav Angelovski	392
Filip Mirkulovski	315
Goce Georgievski	280
Dejan Manaskov	279
Pepi Manaskov	264
Filip Kuzmanovski	250
Vladimir Temelkov	243
Vancho Dimovski	226

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
National team	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	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Angola	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Austria	5	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	1	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Belarus	4	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Belgium	10	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	10	10	0	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2	2	2
Brazil	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	1
Bulgaria	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	6	6	0	0
Chile	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	0
Croatia	6	1	0	5	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1
Cuba	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Cyprus	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
Czech Republic	15	5	3	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	3	—	—	—	—	10	4	2	4
Denmark	7	1	0	6	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	3	0	0	3	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Egypt	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Estonia	6	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	6	4	2	0
Finland	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	4	3	1	0
France	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
Germany	5	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	2	0	1	1	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Greece	8	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	6	0	2
Hungary	12	2	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	11	2	0	9
Iceland	18	4	2	12	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	2	1	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	14	4	1	9
Iran	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Israel	4	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	4	3	0	1
Italy	4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	0
Japan	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Latvia	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	2	2	0	0
Lithuania	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	3	0	1	2
Luxemburg	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	4	4	0	0
Montenegro	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Netherlands	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Norway	5	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Poland	4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	1	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	1
Portugal	8	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	8	4	0	4
Qatar	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Romania	4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	4	2	0	2
Russia	5	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	4	1	1	2	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Serbia	4	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	2	1	0	1
Slovenia	7	2	0	5	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
South Korea	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0
Spain	7	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
Sweden	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	1
Switzerland	11	5	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	10	4	0	6
Tunisia	5	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	1	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1
Turkey	7	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	5	5	0	0
Ukraine	5	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	4	1	2	1
Total (49)	244	108	21	115

References

^ "СЕЛЕКТОРОТ НА МАШКАТА СЕНИОРСКА РЕПРЕЗЕНТЦИЈА КИРИЛ ЛАЗАРОВ ГО ОБЈАВУВА СПИСОКОТ НА ПОВИКАНИ РАКОМЕТАРИ ЗА СОБИР" (in Macedonian). macedoniahandball.com.mk. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
^ "Team Roster North Macedonia" (PDF). ihf.info. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.

External links

[1] "СЕЛЕКТОРОТ НА МАШКАТА СЕНИОРСКА РЕПРЕЗЕНТЦИЈА КИРИЛ ЛАЗАРОВ ГО ОБЈАВУВА СПИСОКОТ НА ПОВИКАНИ РАКОМЕТАРИ ЗА СОБИР" (in Macedonian). macedoniahandball.com.mk. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

[2] "Team Roster North Macedonia" (PDF). ihf.info. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.

[1]

[2]