Macedonia got the opponents for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and national team coach Blagoja Milevski right away commented the draw.

photo by FFM

The Lynx were drawn in the Group J together with Belgium, Wales, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.

“The draw in Zurich brings us hope. We have a group with teams that we can play with and hope for a good placement. Belgium is a big favorite. One of the strongest teams in the world and it will be a big surprise if they don’t manage to win first place in this group. Wales is an excellent team, a team that plays dynamic and fast football. Of course, they enter with their own calculations for the final group placement, but I am convinced that we can compete in the right way. Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein may not have had positive results in the last qualifiers, but every new beginning is a new hope for the relatively smaller teams in the group. For me, it is important that we maintain the same approach as in the last matches of the Nations League, strongly motivated to enter the qualifiers and once again fight for a result that can bring us the opportunity for a possible place in a major competition.”