As it was already announced in mid April, now Igor Angelovski was officially presented as new national team coach of Central Asian side Tajikistan.
photo by FFT: Angelovski with Jovanovski (left) and Ilievski (right)
Angelovski will prepare the national team known as the Persian Lions for participation in the 2027 Asian Cup, which will be held in Saudi Arabia from 7 January to 5 February. For Tajikistan this will be only their second participation in the continental competition. At the draw held last week, they were drawn in the Group D with Australia, Iraq and Singapore.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the leadership of the Football Federation of Tajikistan for the warm welcome. I have felt the support of all the Federation employees since the first days of my work. I would like to congratulate the Tajik U17 team on their successful performance at the 2026 Asian Cup and securing a place in the World Cup. Yesterday I watched the youth team play in the CAFA Championship in Hissar. I also congratulate them on winning their first match. My assistants and I have already attended in several matches of the Tajik Championship in Dushanbe, Tursunzoda and Bokhtar. There are many good players.”
If TFF doesn’t schedule another friendly, Angelovski will debut on 9 June in a friendly match against Indonesia in Jakarta
Angelovski previously led the Macedonian national team from October 2015 to July 2021, leading them to their debut appearance at the 2020 European Championship in 2021.
“My compatriots Milan Ilievski and Ivan Jovanovski will help me in the national team of Tajikistan. I have worked with them for many years. Ilievski will be my assistant, and Jovanovski will be the physio. By the way, Ivan, who has been a physical coach for more than 20 years, knows goalkeeper Oleg Baklov well from his time working for the Ural team in Yekaterinburg. The entire coaching staff and administration are coordinated with the Football Federation of Tajikistan. It is important for me that the employees have mutual understanding and a single approach to work.”
The Macedonian coach replaced Serbian coach Goran Stevanović. This national team has previously been led by foreigners, namely Georgian Gela Shekliadze (2024–2025), Petar Shegrt (2022–2024) and Uzbek Usmon Toshev (2018–2021).
“Australia and Iraq will play in the 2026 World Cup, and this speaks volumes about their level. Singapore will also enter the competition with high spirits. We respect all our opponents, but we must first believe in our own strength and use our full potential in every match. Every match requires high concentration, discipline and dedication. We must be prepared both physically and mentally.”
Tajikistan will open the Asian Cup with a matcgh against Iraq on 10 January 2027, on the 14th will face Singapore, while on the 19 will take on group favorite Australia.
At the club level, Angelovski was successful with Rabotnichki, with whom he won the first league in the 2013/2014 season, and twice won the Macedonian Cup (2013/2014 and 2014/2015).
He also had engagements in Gorica (Croatia), Kaspiy (Kazakhstan) and Etnikos (Cyprus), but without significant success.
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