North Macedonia 1-1 Belgium: Alioski´s stunning volley secures hard-fought draw

Ezgjan Alioski secured a vital point for North Macedonia in Friday’s UEFA World Cup Qualifier against Belgium, netting a stunning volley to earn a 1-1 draw.

The hosts left it late to snatch a point, with Alioski scoring in the 86th minute to draw level.

Both sides threatened in the opening minutes at Todor Proeski National Arena, with Nicolas Raskin and Alexis Saelemaekers squandering good opportunities inside the opening 20 minutes.

The hosts immediately threatened, striking the woodwork twice in quick succession as Eljif Elmas first bent a shot onto the inside of the post before Alioski failed to turn in the rebound.

Maxim De Cuyper finally put Belgium ahead just before the half-hour mark, capitalising smartly on a rebounded save off Romelu Lukaku’s close-range shot.

North Macedonia raced out of the blocks after the break with renewed vigour and were immediately rewarded when Bojan Ilievski drew them level with a fine finish just three minutes after the restart, though the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

The hosts continued to ask questions of Belgium’s disorganised defence, though Jeremy Doku, ever the livewire, posed a constant threat and tried to set up Raskin, who could only guide his effort onto the post.

Belgium looked as though they were going to scrape away with a win before Darko Churlinov clipped an excellent cross in behind with just four minutes remaining, which Alioski met with a thundering left-footed volley to level the score.

North Macedonia sit second in Group J, having earned five points from three qualifiers. Belgium, meanwhile, are in fourth place after their first qualifying match.

A day full of goals in European qualifying!#FIFAWorldCup

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 6, 2025

Data debrief: North Macedonia come up trumps

North Macedonia have scored in all three of their UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, while no team has done so more often.

It marks their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of three games from 11th November 2021 to 24th March 2022.

They finished Friday’s encounter with an expected goals (xG) value of 1.29, while Belgium severely underperformed their 2.16 xG.

The Red Devils have now scored in each of their last 20 games in the World Cup qualifying, scoring 70 goals in that run.