North Macedonia will be looking to notch another win as they travel to Malta for their Euro 2024 qualifier. The visitors sit in fourth position. Malta is located at the foot of Group C after suffering four consecutive qualifying defeats.
Preview (Malta vs. North Macedonia)
Malta was aware their chances of competing in their first major event were little to none. They have lost their first four games by a combined score of 9-1. As a result, Malta has now dropped 13 straight games. This was since defeating the Faroe Islands 2-1 in March 2019 to get to the European Championship. Joseph Mbong scored the only goal in the second half. They will now return to competitive play in an effort to achieve a surprise outcome and win a European Championship qualifying match for just the third time in the twenty-first century. The team that North Macedonia won their first match against is the opponent they are hoping to defeat in their second qualifying round.
Ciro Immobile’s goal for Italy in the first two minutes of the second half gave them reason to believe they would lose. North Macedonia’s captain Enis Bardhi emerged as their national hero by converting a spectacular free kick. It guaranteed that the teams shared the victory. North Macedonia will see Tuesday’s match as a must-win game if they are to have any realistic chance of making successive appearances in the European Championship Finals since they are now three points behind second-placed Ukraine.
Team News
Teddy Teuma, a midfielder for Reims, is anticipated to start after Michele Marcolini omitted him from the starting lineup for the victory over Gibraltar in order to focus on Tuesday’s Euro 2024 qualifier. Cain Attard from the Portuguese team Belenenses, was not used as a substitute in the friendly match on Wednesday. He could start the match against North Macedonia. Darko Churlinov, Valon Ethemi, and Marjan Radeski were out from the starting lineup because of injuries. They are not available for visitors.
North Macedonia manager Blagoja Milevski plans to start the same lineup for Tuesday’s road game. This was after his team put on a spirited performance to draw a point against Italy on Saturday. Despite having reason for optimism after defeating Gibraltar in a friendly match on Wednesday, Malta is fully aware that the opponents they face on Tuesday are a major step up in caliber. In their previous encounter, North Macedonia prevailed by a slim margin. We predict that they will use that knowledge to earn a victory at the Ta’Qali National Stadium.
Malta 0 – 2 North Macedonia
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