The North Macedonia men's national basketball team () represents

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

in international

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia. They joined

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

in 1993, after they gained

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Yugoslavia. That same year the national team played their first official match against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Prior to 1993, Macedonian players took part on the Yugoslavia national team. Macedonia debuted in their first international tournament at the

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. They have appeared five times at the event overall, with their top performance coming in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, finishing in fourth place.

History

Before 1991, Macedonia was a Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, with players from Macedonia being part of the Yugoslavia national team. First match was in 1945 when Macedonia finished 4th. The first match was in 1945 against Croatia finishing 27-29. The team had mostly played matches against teams from other republics of federation and was represented by Macedonian players under the traditional red, color.

EuroBasket 1999

After qualifying for EuroBasket 1999, the national team was placed in Group A, along with

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The first game Macedonia came out firing showing solid competitive play against the French Team, however, eventually lost by a narrow margin of 67–71. Next up, was Group A favorites FR Yugoslavia, showing superior play with their post up offense, Macedonia lost 68–83. With the final game of the group Macedonia played a fairly even match, however, luck was not on their side, losing 82–84. Even though Macedonia lost all 3 of their matches to be eliminated, the team showed heart and talent with their impressive play against France and Israel. Due to their small margin of the losses Macedonia ended the tournament ranked as 13th overall.

EuroBasket 2009

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

was the first

tournament that Macedonia qualified for in a decade. Macedonia was placed in Group A, along with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

. Macedonia began the tournament with a brutal 54–86 loss to rivals Greece, but rebounded with an 82–79 victory over Israel. Despite dropping their last match against Croatia, the Israel result was enough to secure second round qualification. In the second round, Macedonia was placed in Group E alongside

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Macedonia lost to France in the second round opener, but famously defeated Germany in the next game. Against Russia, Macedonia was narrowly defeated by a score of 69–71. This performance was not enough to secure a berth in to the knockout round. Nevertheless, Macedonia considers this as a historic success for the national team, since it was only the country's second appearance at the EuroBasket and the team advanced past the first round. In the final tournament rankings, Macedonia ranked 9th place with a record of 2–4.

EuroBasket 2011

Through the qualifying round, Macedonia qualified for EuroBasket 2011 and was in Group C along with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the preliminary phase. The national team lost their first match to Montenegro 65–70 in overtime but won the remaining four against Croatia 78–76, Greece 72–58, Finland 72–70, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 75–63. Macedonia finished first in the group and advanced to the second round. In the second round, Macedonia was in Group F with

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, Greece,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and Finland. Having beaten Greece and Finland in the preliminary round, Macedonia went in to the second round with a 2–0 record. After beating Georgia 65–63, Macedonia qualified for the knockout round. The team then beat Slovenia 68–59, but lost to Russia by 2 points 63–61 after Sergey Monya made a buzzer-beating shot to win the final game of the second round. Macedonia, therefore, finished second in Group F. For the first time in the national team's history, it reached the knockout stage where it defeated host country

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

67–65 by 2 points in the quarter-finals. Macedonia then lost to the eventual champion

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

92–80 in the semi-finals. They then lost again in the third place game to Russia 68–72 and finished in fourth place.

2012 Olympic qualifying tournament

By finishing in 4th place at EuroBasket 2011, Macedonia qualified for the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They were drawn into Group D along with Angola and New Zealand. In the first game against Angola, Macedonia came out non-aggressive in the 1st half falling to a 13 pt deficit 40–53 at halftime. During most of the match, the top Macedonian players showed fatigue due to the grueling playoff matches they had played for their club teams. In addition, Macedonia came out with a strong 4th quarter, eventually losing by a margin of 4 points, with the final score being 84–88 Angola. Top scorers for Macedonia against Angola were Pero Antic with 17, and Bo McCalebb with 21. On the next match day, which was the day after with less than 24 hours of rest, Macedonia came out a lot stronger in the 1st quarter with a strong lead that carried over the entire game. Eventually, New Zealand could not recover, and fell to Macedonia with a final score of 84–62. Leading scorers for the game were Todor Gecevski with 16,

Antic Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977–1978 b ...

with 17, and McCalebb with 23. The Macedonian players got much needed rest before the quarterfinals, which would begin two days later on 6 July 2012. The team, following the 68–64 victory by New Zealand over Angola, won Group D and its opponent in the quarterfinals was to be the Group C runner-up,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. Macedonia lost the game 86–76, though the team had a 13-point lead at halftime. The lost eliminated the national team from qualifying for the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

EuroBasket 2013

By participating at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Macedonia qualified for

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

in Slovenia. In a disappointing campaign, Macedonia did not manage to repeat the success from the previous

Eurobasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

, having one victory in five matches in their preliminary Group B against Serbia 89–75, which was good enough only for the last place in the group stage and 21st overall. The first game of the Eurobasket against Montenegro was particularly demoralizing, as the Montenegrins won 81–80 in controversial fashion, after the referees didn't call interference on the basket during Gjorgji Čekovski's last second game winning attempt, despite the fact that one of the Montenegrin players got his hand trapped in the net. Macedonia's best performers were once again McCalebb and Antić, with 17.6 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. After the tournament, several of the Macedonian veteran players, led by captain Pero Antić, announced their retirement from the national team.

EuroBasket 2015

At the EuroBasket 2015 there were not high expectations for Macedonia, due to their poor performance at their last EuroBasket appearance in 2013. In their first match against

they were thoroughly manhandled throughout as they were defeated 65-85. Looking for their first victory heading in to their second match of the tournament they went up against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The outcome was different this time, as the national team played with more energy and heart and pulled out an 78-71 win. Unfortunately, that would wind up being the only win for Macedonia, as they finished with an 1-4 record and a lousy 19th place at the event.

EuroBasket 2017

FIBA World Cup 2019

Since 12 February 2019, the national team participate as North Macedonia. The national team took part in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers, but were eliminated after posting a 1–3 record in their group.

EuroBasket 2022

The team went through EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers for the chance to qualify to the

.They didn't make it finishing third with score 2-4.

FIBA World Cup 2023

2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

1950(10),1954(11),1963(2),1967(2),1970(1) 1974(2),1978(1),1982(3),1986(3),1990(1)

Olympic Games

1960(6),1964(7),1968(2) 1972(5),1976(2),1980(1),1984(3),1988(2)

EuroBasket

1947(13),1953(6),1955(8),1957(6),1959(9),1961(2) 1963(3),1965(2),1967(9),1969(2),1971(2),1973(1),1975(1),1977(1) 1979(3),1981(2),1983(7),1985(7),1987(3),1989(1),1991(1)

Minor Tournaments

* Yugoslav Basketball tournament ** 4 th place:

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

Team image

Home ground

The BTSC – Boris Trajkovski Sports Center ,

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the

Karpoš Municipality Karpoš Municipality () is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. Geography Karpoš borders: * Saraj Municipality and Ǵorče Petrov Municipality to the west, * Čučer-S ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. It is named after the former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Boris Trajkovski Boris Trajkovski ( GCMG; , pronounced ; 25 June 1956 – 26 February 2004) was a Macedonian politician who served as the President of Macedonia from 1999 until his death in 2004 in a plane crash. Early life Trajkovski was born on 25 June 195 ...

. Its capacity is 10,000 .There is an Olympic size Swimming Pool and 5 Star Hotel Alexander Palace within the complex. Additional Water Land Fun Park and Ice Skating Rink next to it. The arena is a home-ground of the Macedonian basketball team (men and women). The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar.

Colors

National kit colors are colors of the

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

which are also Spread on the Presidential Shield. Noble Red blood and Golden Yellow Sun Devine "ILI".

Team

Current roster

Squad for EuroBasket 2025 qualification games against Estonia and Poland in February 2025. , valign="top" , ; Head Coach * Aleksandar Jonchevski ; Assistant Coaches * Nikola Vasilev * Nikola Velev ---- ;Legend: *Club – describes last
team before the competition *Age – describes age
on 12 August 2023 Following list is of active players who have been called up by the national team in the last year

Depth chart

Notable players

Petar Naumoski Petar "Pece" Naumoski (; born 27 August 1968) is a former Macedonian professional basketball player. At a height of 1.95 m (6'4 ") tall, and a weight of 95 kg (210 lbs.). He played mainly at the point guard position during his career, b ...

– (1995–2002) * Vrbica Stefanov – (1995–2009) * Pero Blaževski – (1995–2009) * Todor Gecevski – (1996–2013) * Pero Antić – (2002–2013) * Bo McCalebb – (2010–2013) *

Vlado Ilievski Vlado Ilievski (; born 19 January 1980) is a former Macedonian professional basketball. Standing at , he played at the point guard position. Professional career During his career, Ilievski played for Nemetali Ogražden, KK Partizan, Antbirlik An ...

– (1998–2015) * Predrag Samardžiski – (2005–2015) * Gjorgji Čekovski – (1999–2017) * Damjan Stojanovski – (2009–2024) * Vojdan Stojanovski – (2008–)

Coaching history

Past rosters

1999 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams 4 Vrbica Stefanov, 5

, 6 Gjorgji Čekovski, 7 Mirza Kurtović, 8 Marjan Srbinovski, 9 Igor Mihajlovski, 10

, 11

Todor Gečevski Todor Gečevski (; born 28 August 1977) is a Macedonian former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of , he played at the center and power forward positions. Professional career While playing with KK Zadar, Gečevski was named t ...

, 12 Dejan Jovanovski, 13 Srdjan Stanković, 14 Pero Blaževski, 15 Dušan Bocevski (Coach: Zare Markovski) ---- 2009 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams 4 Vrbica Stefanov, 5 Dimitar Mirakovski, 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Riste Stefanov, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Pero Blaževski, 10 Dime Tasovski, 11

, 12 Pero Antić, 13 Damjan Stojanovski, 14 Jeremiah Massey, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Jovica Arsić) ---- 2011 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 24 teams 4 Dimitar Mirakovski, 5

, 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Bo McCalebb, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11

, 12 Pero Antic, 13 Ivica Dimcevski, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Marin Dokuzovski) ---- 2013 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams 4 Aleksandar Kostoski, 5

. 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Bo McCalebb, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Vladimir Brčkov, 11

, 12 Pero Antić, 13

Stojan Gjuroski Stojan Gjuroski () (born November 6, 1991) is a Macedonian professional basketball player for KK Rabotnički, Rabotnički of Macedonian First League (basketball), Macedonian League. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2014, where he pl ...

, 14 Gjorgji Čekovski, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Aleš Pipan) ---- 2015 EuroBasket: finished 19th among 24 teams 4 Vladimir Brčkov, 5

. 6 Darko Sokolov, 7 Aleksandar Kostoski, 8 Vojdan Stojanovski, 9 Damjan Stojanovski, 10 Marko Simonovski, 11 Ljubomir Mladenovski, 12 Bojan Trajkovski, 13

, 14 Richard Hendrix, 15 Predrag Samardžiski (Coach: Marjan Srbinovski)

Results and fixtures

2024

2025

Statistics

Most games played

All time points scored

*''* Active NT players are listed in bold'' *''* Official FIBA games excluding Friendly games''

Leader in points per game

References

External links

Official website

North Macedonia FIBA profileNorth Macedonia National Team – Men
at Eurobasket.com {{National sports teams of North Macedonia

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Men's national basketball teams 1993 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia National sports teams established in 1993