The Macedonian first league wakes up from the long winter break and will start the second half season with matches scheduled in three days.
photo by FC Struga: aerial duel between Marjan Radeski and Anes Meliqi from a past Shkëndija – Struga encounter
Macedonia is still among the rare European countries with such a long winter mid-season break, if the only remained with two months gap between the last opening half season round and the first second half season round. The excuse that the fields of the Macedonian stadiums are not good for playing during the winter months is not a good excuse anymore. If countries with far more harsh winters can play, an even our neighboring countries, it is obvious that the problem are not the fields but those who (not) taking good care of them.
The second half season was not even planed to start on 10 February, but on the 13th. However, as one round was not played due to the Local elections in mid October, FFM had to reschedule a round before the planned restart. So, the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday matches are actually those postponed from the opening half season.
The half season will officially kick-off with two matches on Tuesday. Shkupi hosts Tikvesh, but the match will actually take place at Tikvesh’s stadium in Kavadarci. Shkupi is still paying the penalty for their fans behaviour when they accidently put on fire the TV vehicle of MRT and made a serious damage. So, their Chair stadium is still banned for hosting matches. Anyway, Shkupi also has a transfer ban from FIFA, so besides the many departures this winter transfer window, they could not bring in any reinforcements. Enough said, Tikvesh is firm favorite to take the points.
The other match on Tuesday is areal table top derby. Holder and third-placed Shkëndija hosts runner-up Struga in Tetovo in a match that can decide many things for the rest of the season. It is a must win match for the hosts who are five points behind Struga and six behind the leaders Vardar. In the other hand, if Struga drops points they could allow Vardar to extend the lead. Both did well on the transfer market.
The round continues on Wednesday with another two matches. Vardar hopes to continue the great form from the opening half season with a home win over Arsimi. This match will not be played on Vardar’s home ground but at FFM’s training center, the Field 2 more precisely. Still, Vardar is the favorite despite the fact that Arsimi this season showed that they know how make things difficult for the big teams (they hammered Shkëndija 3:0 in November). However, few days ago Arsimi lost its best goalscorer Shefit Shefiti (11 goals, 2 assists), who transferred to Hatta in the UAE.
A short distance visit from Kumanovo will make Bashkimi away to Sileks in Kratovo in the other Wednesday match. Sileks must win to get back in the race for the third place that at the end may lead in the Conference League qualifiers (depending on the Macedonian Cup outcome). Several players left Bashkimi this winter, while they brought in some other so we will see how long they will need to start playing as a team.
The round will close on Thursday with the last two matches. Brera in Strumica welcomes Makedonija GjP, a team for whom many speak that is with one leg relegated, despite being just a point behind the play-off zone. The thing is that financial problems hit the Lions in November and since they started playing with many players from the U19 team. Most of the better players left this winter, while almost none arrived. That is a good reason for Brera to be favorite for the points.
Bitola will be the place to be on Thursday as Pelister hosts Rabotnichki in a very important match in the battle for avoiding relegation. Both teams made several squad changes this winter hopping to build a better team to start winning point. This is especially for Rabotnichki who played a disastrous opening half-season, winning only 7 points and recording only one win, that being a comfortable 3:0 against Pelister in Skopje. 13 players left Rabotnichki, while 10 arrived and, since the transfer window in Macedonia ends on the 11th, it is rumored that Rabotnichki is making last efforts to bring in some last minute reinforcement. Pelister did some squad changes, but far from the number of its match day rival.
Unfortunately, all the matches are in mid-week in working hours, so the stands are expected to the graveyard empty. Tikvesh and Shkupi decided even to open the doors to all fans, so entry will be free of charge for this match.
1.MFL 2025/26
| Pos | Club | Pts | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Vardar | 68 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 65 | 20 | 45 |
| 2 |  Shkëndija | 67 | 28 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 59 | 21 | 38 |
| 3 |  Struga | 59 | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 65 | 22 | 43 |
| 4 |  Sileks | 52 | 28 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 55 | 26 | 29 |
| 5 |  Tikvesh | 40 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 49 | 35 | 14 |
| 6 |  Bashkimi | 37 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 33 | 45 | -12 |
| 7 |  Arsimi | 35 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 50 | -9 |
| 8 |  Brera Strumica | 33 | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 36 | 51 | -15 |
| 9 |  Pelister | 29 | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 37 | -11 |
| 10 |  Rabotnichki | 28 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 31 | 47 | -16 |
| 11 |  Makedonija GjP | 24 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 28 | 47 | -19 |
| 12 |  Shkupi | 1 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 14 | 101 | -87 |