North Macedonia’s incredible world cup journey has come to an end at last after a 2-0 defeat against a very strong Portugal side. Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes broke North Macedonian heart by scoring a brace. But the journey of North Macedonia remains one of the greatest adventures in the World Cup qualifier.
North Macedonia surprised the whole world as they defeated the reigning Euro Champions Italy to race for a place in the World Cup 2022.
North Macedonia Incredible Journey in World Cup
North Macedonia has shown their incredible desire to play in the World Cup as they came face to face against the top teams of the world. Currently ranked Number 67 in the FIFA Rankings, Macedonia defeated the Number 6 ranked Italy and the Number 11 ranked Germany in the process.
World Cup Qualifier
The European country, North Macedonia was in Group J among the 10 groups. The other countries in the group were Germany, Romania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Armenia. Obviously, the German team was the favorite while their major challenger considered was Romania. The least expected to make it anywhere in the World cup or even Playoff was North Macedonia.
But the strong determination and teamwork of the Macedonian footballer have surprised the world as well as their own fans. They displayed an incredible show in the World Cup qualifier.
Summary of their World Cup Qualifier.
Though they lost their first match by the mere scoreline of 3-2 against Romania, they recorded their first win of the tournament against Liechtenstein by a heavy scoreline of 5-0. Their forward Aleksandr Trajkobski scored 2 goals in an interval of 3 minutes.
Their shocking result came in their third match when they stunned the 2014 World Cup winner Germany by a scoreline of 2-1. It was when the other team knew the Macedonians were the one team to fear.
Another impressive result was against Kazakhstan as they beat them by 4-0. And they again thrashed Liechtenstein by 4 goals and Armenia by 5-0. They ended their last match with a win with Iceland by 3-1.
Did you know: North Macedonia scored 31 goals while 19 goals were scored against them.
Finally, North Macedonia finished the World Cup Qualifier in the second position after Germany. So, Germany automatically qualified for the World Cup while N Macedonia advanced to the Playoffs, as their chance was still left to qualify for the World Cup.
Win against Italy
After an amazing display in the World Cup, they faced their first match versus the 4 times World Cup winner, Italy. Italy advanced to the Playoffs after standing in second position just 2 points after Switzerland. in Group C.
Everyone expected Italy to easily win the match as the Italian sides were much stronger. But surprisingly, Macedonia won the match by 1-0. The only goal was scored by Aleksandr Trajkovski in the 92nd minute.
Final Words:
North Macedonia’s journey to the world cup may have ended in broken hearts but there is a lot of positives to take from the completion and improvement. North Macedonia has shown anything is possible in football.
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