The North Macedonia men's national volleyball team is the national volleyball team of North Macedonia. 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, 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 in the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center (BTSC) at Skopje, 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 Skopje is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of Skopje, Macedonia. It is named after the former president, Boris Trajkovski. The sports center has a capacity of 10,000, and contains an Olympic-size swimming pool 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.
YearRoundPosition 2004did not participate – 2013 2014Semifinals 2015Final 2016Final 2017Final 2018Silver League Semifinals4th 2019did not enter 2021Silver League Final 2022Silver League Semifinals 2023Golden League League Round11th 2024Golden League League Round10th 2025Golden League League Round9th 2026League Round16th Total Participated: 11/11 Top tier (Golden League): 8/11
European Championship Within Yugoslavia 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)
YearPosition 2019 17th place 5 2 3 2021 23rd place 5 0 5 2023 16th place 6 2 4 2026 20th place 5 1 4 2028 TBD
World Championship Within Yugoslavia team 1956(10), 1962(8), 1966(8), 1970(10) Macedonia 1991–2025 did not qualify
Olympic Games Within Yugoslavia team 1980 sixth place Macedonia 1992–2024 did not qualify
Mediterranean Games Within Yugoslavia team 1963 , 1967 , 1971 , 1975 , 1979 , 1987 (4), 1991
YearPosition 2013 7th place 2018 9th place 2022 9th place 2026 TBD
Current team
Roster for the 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship
Head coach: Joško Milenkoski Assistant: Hari Nakovski No.NamePositionHeight (cm)Birth yearDarko AngelovskiLibero180Gjorgi GjorgievSetter197Toshe EfremovOutside Spiker1932007 (C)Opposite196Vlado MilevOutside-spiker195Stojche ArsovOpposite196Slave NakovMiddle-blocker194Aleksandar LjaftovOutside-spiker198Filip LepidovskiMiddle Blocker199David StojanovSetter190Filip DespotovskiSetter194Eftim RichlievSetter187Stefan AleksovOpposite195 Angel BoshkovOutside Spiker193Filip MadjunkovMiddle-blocker199Stojan IlievOutside-spiker190Luka KostikOutside-spiker198Vase MihailovOutside-spiker199Kostadin RichlievLibero184Filip SavovskiMiddle Blocker206Ivan AndonovOpposite198Risto NikolovMiddle Blocker202Hristijan AndonovskiMiddle Blocker196Filip NikolovskiLibero189
Macedonian players in notable squads
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 profile CEV Profile