In the first game of the Elite Round Macedonia faced Latvia at the Petar Miloshevski training center. Unfortunately Macedonia lost despite dominating the entire game.

photo by FFM: Dmitrijs Litvinskis clears the ball before Elif Elmas

Coach Vujadin Stanojkovikj fielded predominantly the expected starting eleven against Latvia with just one surprise as he had Mihail Manevski at left-back instead of Filip Antovski. Captain Stevkovski was on goal, Todoroski at right-back, Trajanovski and Rufati in central defense, Todorov and Atanasov in defensive midfield, while Mitrovski had the spot at attacking midfield. Furthermore Ferukoski started on the right wing, Churlinov on the other side and Elmas was brought at center-forward. Macedonia controlled the game from the first minute, but the first chance came after around 15 minutes when Trajanovski headed the ball directly in the hands of the visitors goalie. From the 29th to the 44th minute the young Lions created five chances, but the efforts were not precise enough. The punishment for the missed chances came in the 42nd minute when Bogdans Samoilovs netted after a counter attack.

Latvia’s goals (there is still no video of Macedonia’s goal):

After the half-time break Enis Fazlagikj substituted Todorov who received a yellow card during the first half. In the 53rd minute Ferukoski had a chance, but his left-footed shot was wide. Just three minutes later Latvia scored their second goal, once again from nowhere with a shot from the distance. Later on attackers Trapanovski and Kolevski were introduced to strengthen the offense. Macedonia continued to dominate the game, but our first goal came late in the 88th minute when Mitrovski converted a penalty. Very disappointing and undeserved win. Just the first-placed of the group qualifies, but with two wins in the upcoming games against Hungary and England (in the other game the latter won 4:1) the U19 could qualify for the tournament in Finland.

Petar Miloshevski stadium in Skopje
Macedonia – Latvia  1:2 (0:1)
Goals: 42′, 56′ Bogdans Samoilovs
Macedonia: 1. Stevkovski (C); 2. Todoroski, 6. Trajanovski, 5. Rufati, 6. Manevski; 4. Todorov (46′ 17. Fazlagikj), 8. Atanasov (69′ 19. Kolevski); 16. Ferukoski, 10. Mitrovski, 7. Churlinov (62′ 11. Trapanovski); 9. Elmas.
Latvia: 1. Matrevics; 5. Ķipsts, 8. Soloveičiks, 4. Litvinskis, 2. Veips; 10. Grīnbergs (89′ 7. Puriņš), 14. Saveļjevs, 19. Čudars, 21. Toniševs (90’+4 16. Jaunzems); 11. Samoilovs (69′ 13. Rubenis); 9. Regža.
Yellow cards: Todorov, Manevski (M), Saveļjevs, Regža, Grīnbergs, Ķipsts (L)
Red cards: /
Referee: Karim Abed (France)

National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje
Hungary – England 1:4 (1:0)
Goals: 39′ Zsombor Bévárdi  – 48′ Mason Mount, 54′, 86′ Reiss Nelson, 87′ Jadon Sancho

Current standings:

	M	W	D	L	GD	P
England	1	1	0	0	4:1	3	to qualify
Latvia	1	1	0	0	2:1	3
Macedonia	1	0	0	1	1:2	0
Hungary	1	0	0	1	1:4	0

Next round (24 March at 14.00 CET):

Petar Miloshevski stadium in Skopje
Macedonia vs Hungary

National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje
England vs Latvia