The North Macedonia men's national volleyball team is the national

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team of

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 ...

. They are colloquially known as the Red Lions. The team has participated in the European Championship since 2019.

History

The Macedonian Volleyball Federation was established in 1946, following the framework of the Macedonian Physical Culture Association. On 13 February 1949, the Macedonian Volleyball Federation became an independent sports organization. The Macedonian team qualified twice for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, in 2019 and in 2021. The national team also played in the European Championship for a third time in 2023, as they hosted the

2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship The 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship was the 33rd edition of the Men's European Volleyball Championship, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, European Volleyball Confederation, CEV. For the third time, the championship was ...

in the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center (BTSC) at

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 ...

, the national team's home ground. *CEV Eurovolley 2019: The Macedonian national team performed favorably at the European Championship in 2019. In Ljubljana Stozice Area, the home ground of the Group C team, they beat the Belarusian national team with a score of 3-1 (23-25), (25-19), (29-27), (25-20). They won against the hosts of the Group C team, Slovenia, by a score of 3-1 (26-24), (30-28), (19-25), (26-24). The Macedonian team finished 17th with a score of 2-3. *CEV Eurovolley 2021: The national team failed to win any games in this event. *CEV Eurovolley 2023: The Red Lions were the host of Pool C, and Skopje's Boris Trajkovski Sports Center was the venue. In the opening match, the Macedonian team beat Denmark by a score of 3-1 (22-25), (25-22), (25-19), (25-22). Two days later, the national team won against Montenegro with a score of 3-0 (25-22), (25-18), (25-20). The Red Lions qualified for the top 16, but lost to the Italian men's national volleyball team. In the end, the Red Lions finished 16th.

Home ground

The Boris Trajkovski Sports Center (), or BTSC, in

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 ...

. The sports center has a capacity of 10,000, and contains an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...

and the 5-star hotel Alexander Palace within the complex. The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar. Nearby, a water park and ice skating rink are accessible. The arena is the home ground of the Macedonian volleyball team, both men and women. It was the venue for the European League three times in 2016, 2018 and 2022.

European League

The team has historically focused on competing in the European League, with the goal was of making a team for the European Championship Qualifiers that will be able to qualify for the European Volleyball Championship. This project was started in 2010 by the National Volleyball Federation in order to elevate the smaller sports, such as volleyball, to a higher level. The national team has participated in eight European League tournaments. The strongest players of the team throughout this period have been the Georgiev brothers, Ljaftov and Madjunkov.

European Championship

*Within

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 ...

team :1951(5), 1955(5), 1958(7), 1963(7), 1967(7) :1971(11), 1975 , 1977(7), 1979 , 1981(10) :1985(11), 1987(8), 1989(8), 1991(6)

World Championship

*Within

team :1956(10), 1962(8), 1966(8), 1970(10) *Macedonia 1991-2022 didn't qualify

Olympic Games

*Within

team :1980 sixth place *Macedonia 1992-2024 didn't qualify

Mediterranean Games

*Within

team :1963 , 1967 , 1971 , 1975 , 1979 , 1987 (4), 1991

Current team

Roster for the

Macedonian players in notable squads

200px, Vladimir Bogoevski ;1975 European Championship * Vladimir Bogoevski ;1979 European Championship * Goran Srbinovski, Aleksandar Tasevski, Vladimir Bogoevski ;1980 Olympic Games * Vladimir Bogoevski, Goran Srbinovski, Aleksandar Tasevski

External links

FIVB profileCEV Profile
{{National sports teams of North Macedonia National men's volleyball teams

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Men's sport in North Macedonia Volleyball in North Macedonia