Macedonian U17 national team managed to win in the last qualifying match for U17 Euro Championship.

Macedonia U17 overcame Bulgaria in a match only played for pride. Both Macedonia and Bulgaria had no points until today and lost their chances for qualifying to the Elite Round as they did not had the chance to be best third placed team since Denmark in Group 12 had one point from the matches against the group winner and runner-up and only those games are taken into consideration when determining the best third placed team.

Still, the match was here to be played and Macedonia did well to beat Bulgaria. Jevtoski opened the scoreline in 38th minute after Alomerovikj took a free-kick. Prior to that, Bulgaria had a good chance early in the match but Georgiev hit the woodwork in 8th minute. Macedonia held a 1:0 lead on half-time and had a good chance for doubling the lead in 49th minute but Mirchevski saw a penalty saved by Bulgarian keeper Mihaylov after Minkov fouled the same Mirchevski in the box. However, 5 minutes later, Mirchevski assisted to Petkovski who then doubled Macedonia’s lead. 6 minutes later it could have been 3:0 but Krstevski’s shot was saved by Mihaylov. In 69th minute, Boban Georgiev had a good chance for the home team but his shot hit the woodwork and in 78th minute, two minutes from time Bulgaria lowered the lead. Ramadan took a free-kick and Maksimov set the final score of 2:1. In the injury time, Bulgaria could have equalized the game but Aleksandar Georgiev’s shot was saved by Macedonia’s keeper Ilikj.

Macedonia – Bulgaria 2:1 (1:0)
Stefan Jevtoski 38′, Petar Petkovski 54′ – Angel Maksimov 78′

Macedonia played the match with the following line-up: Ilikj, Bocevski, Alomerovikj, Aleksikj, Kurt (34′ Bilali), Georgiev, Petkovski, Mirchevski, Krstevski (75′ Hristov), Josheski (59′ Perchinkov), Jevtoski.

In the match for the first place, Poland defeated Belgium 2:0. Therefore, Poland finished first with 9 points, Belgium is second with 6 points and those two teams advance to the Elite Round. Macedonia is third with three points but none against the top 2 teams so they are eliminated.

Final standings:

Poland and Belgium qualified to the Elite round.