The head coach of the Macedonian national team today announced the list of players called up for the October matches against Belgium and Kazakhstan as part of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
photo by FFM: Milevski at the press-conference
The coach cannot count only on the injured attacker Lirim Qamili, while Stefan Ashkovski and David Babunski are making a come back in the national team. Out of a total of 26 summoned players, only the experienced Aleksandar Trajkovski is still without a club, while with Babunski’s call-up the number of players from the domestic league has increased to three.
“We have two returnees, Stefan Ashkovski and David Babunski, and unfortunately Lirim Qamili will be absent due to injury. As for the challenge, all matches are important for us. So far we have played five big battles, and the same will be for the remaining three. Belgium remains the main favorite in our group, but we have shown that we can play against everyone. No one can take away our hope of qualifying for the World Cup. We will prepare as seriously as possible and do everything to achieve success. Our goal is to prove that Macedonia can be competitive even against teams of significantly higher quality,” said Milevski.
“We have in our Macedonian genes a special X-factor that we don’t know when it will work. Sometimes it comes out when it is needed most, in moments when everyone thinks it is impossible. That is our strength, our faith and stubbornness, something that is not always seen on the scoreboard, but on the field it makes a difference,” the coach added at today’s press-conference.
Stole Dimitrievski – Valencia 
Dejan Iliev – UTA 
Damjan Shishkovski – Borac 
Igor Aleksovski – Flamurtari 
Ezgjan Alioski – Lugano 
Andrej Stojchevski – Slovácko 
Bojan Ilievski – Struga 
Darko Velkovski – Zrinjski
Gjoko Zajkov – Ajman 
Nikola Serafimov – Levski 
Visar Musliu – Sint-Truiden 
Stefan Despotovski – OFK Beograd 
Stefan Ashkovski – Radnicki Nis
Elif Elmas – Napoli 
Enis Bardhi – Konyaspor 
Tihomir Kostadinov – Sigma
Reshat Ramadani – Shkëndija
Isnik Alimi – Dàlián Yīngbó 
Luka Stankovski – Radnički 1923
Jani Atanasov – Larissa 
Bojan Miovski – Rangers 
Darko Churlinov – Kocaelispor
Milan Ristovski – Bohemians 1905
Aleksandar Trajkovski – without club
David Babunski – Vardar
Elmin Rastoder – Thun
Macedonia will first travel to Ghent to face group favorites Belgium on Friday, October 10, and then will hosts Kazakhstan in Skopje three days later on Monday.
The national team’s meeting is scheduled for October 6 (Monday), and will train at FFM’s Petar Miloshevski Training Center in Skopje.