The North Macedonia 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 9 European Championships first one in 1998 then 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026. 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 , 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 YearRoundPosition 1972 to 1988 1972,1976,1980,1984,1988Within 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 qualifiersDid not qualify for World Cup Did not enter 2004 2008 2012Did not qualify 2016Did not qualify 2020Did not qualify 2024 2028 TBD 2032Total0/4 Olympic qualification tournamentTournamentOutcomePosition 2012not qualified4th30037683 2016not qualified 3rd31027684

World Championship

Year Round Position 1958 to 19931958,1961,1964,1967, 1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990,1993 Within Yugoslavia team (8),(9),(6),(7),(3),(3),(5),(2),(1),(4),Banned 1995 Couldn't Participate 1997Did 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 Qualified 2029 2031 Total 10/16 9th 58 22 4 32 1618 1713 −95

EURO Tournaments Within Yugoslavia TeamMini EURO Tournaments till 1994 ECEURO 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

YearRoundPosition 1994 Could not participate in the qualifications 1996 Did not qualify 1998Preliminary Round12th6015130174 2000 Did not qualify 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 20125th / 6th place 5th7412185175 2014Main Round10th6114141167 201611th6024157176 201811th6213143164 2020Preliminary round15th31027984 202222nd30037086 202417th310283100 2026 14th31117788 2028 To be determined 2030 2032Total 9/16 –43 10 7 261061 1214

Mediterranean Games YearRoundPosition1967–1991 1967,1975,1979,1983,1991Within 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 2026 qualified Total 4/4 –12 5 1 6

Team Current squad Squad for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.

Head coach: Kiril Lazarov

Notable players

Mitko Stoilov Stole Stoilov Goran Kuzmanoski Branislav Angelovski Stefan Alushevski Vlatko Mitkov Aco Jonovski Filip Mirkulovski Velko Markoski Zlatko Mojsoski Borko Ristovski Aleksandar Jovikj Naumče Mojsovski Vancho Dimovski Petar Angelov Filip Lazarov Zlatko Daskalovski Goce Makaloski Goran Gjorgonoski Radoslav Stojanović Kiril Lazarov Vlado Nedanovski Lazo Majnov Pepi Manaskov Dejan Manaskov Martin Manaskov Goce Georgievski Vladimir Temelkov Nemanja Pribak Renato Vugrinec

Statistics

+ Most Appearances Name Matches 243 236 159 155 142 138 126 120 119 108

+ Top Scorers Name Goals 1728 967 392 315 280 279 264 250 243 226

Record against other teams As of 3 May 2021

++Key Positive total balance (more wins) Negative total balance (more losses) National team Total Olympic Games World Championship European Championship Mediterranean Games Qualifications Algeria |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Angola |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Austria |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|5 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|3 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 Bahrain |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Belarus |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|4 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 Belgium |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|10 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|10 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |10 ||10 ||0 ||0 Bosnia andHerzegovina |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|7|| bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |3|| bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |6 ||2 ||2 ||2 Brazil |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|2 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 Bulgaria |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|6 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|6 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |6 ||6 ||0 ||0 Chile |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |3 ||3 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 Croatia |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|6 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|5 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||0 ||0 ||2 |2 ||0 ||0 ||2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 Cuba |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Cyprus |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||2 ||0 ||0 Czech Republic |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|15 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|5 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|7 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |5 ||1 ||1 ||3 |— ||— ||— ||— |10 ||4 ||2 ||4 Denmark |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|7 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|6 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||0 ||0 ||2 |5 ||0 ||0 ||5 |— ||— ||— ||— |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 Egypt |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||0 ||0 ||2 |— ||— ||— ||— |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Estonia |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|6 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |6 ||4 ||2 ||0 Finland |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|3 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |4 ||3 ||1 ||0 France |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |2 ||0 ||0 ||2 Germany |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|5 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|4 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |3 ||0 ||0 ||3 |2 ||0 ||1 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Greece |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|8 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|6 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |8 ||6 ||0 ||2 Hungary |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|12 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|2 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|10 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |11 ||2 ||0 ||9 Iceland |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|18 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|4 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|2 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|12 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |3 ||0 ||1 ||2 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |— ||— ||— ||— |14 ||4 ||1 ||9 Iran |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Israel |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|3 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |4 ||3 ||0 ||1 Italy |bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |1 ||0 ||0 ||1 |2 ||2 ||0 ||0 Japan |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |— ||— ||— ||— |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Latvia |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |2 ||2 ||0 ||0 Lithuania |bgcolor="#FFDACC"|3 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFDACC"|2 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |3 ||0 ||1 ||2 Luxemburg |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|4 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |4 ||4 ||0 ||0 Montenegro |bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |1 ||1 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 Netherlands |bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|2 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|1 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|0 ||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"|1 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |— ||— ||— ||— |2 ||1 ||0 ||1 Norway