Kicking off European qualifying Group J, North Macedonia begin their latest quest for a World Cup debut on Saturday, when they visit Liechtenstein in Vaduz.
After contrasting campaigns in this season's UEFA Nations League, the sides will convene at Rheinpark Stadion.
Match preview
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After losing twice to fellow minnows San Marino in the Nations League late last year, Liechtenstein finished bottom of their three-team Nations League group, bringing notoriety for all the wrong reasons.
Beaten home and away by one of the few teams below them in FIFA's world rankings, they may not expect to pick up many points over the next few months and are surely set to claim the wooden spoon.
Though German coach Konrad Funfstuck - who has been in charge since June 2023 - has only tasted success once in 18 games to date, he recently extended his contract for another three years.
Funfstuck's side start 2025 by playing their first qualifiers for next year's World Cup - to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico - hosting North Macedonia and then Kazakhstan three days later.
As the Macedonian squad is worth an estimated 40 million euros, compared to less than a million for Liechtenstein, the tiny principality would do well to end their long head-to-head losing streak this weekend.
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Not only have Saturday's visitors won all six previous encounters while conceding just one goal, but in qualifying for Qatar 2022, the two nations met twice with a 9-0 aggregate scoreline in North Macedonia's favour.
Further highlighting the gulf that lies between them, while Liechtenstein finished rock-bottom of the whole European pyramid, the Lynxes claimed top spot in their most recent Nations League group, ahead of Armenia, the Faroe Islands and Latvia.
After being held to a 1-1 draw in their first fixture, they then seized control with five straight wins - each without conceding - and were automatically promoted to League B with one game to spare.
Between now and November, Blagoja Milevski's men seek to break new ground by becoming their country's first representatives at a World Cup, potentially vying with Belgium, Wales and Kazakhstan for a top-two finish in Group J.
With only the first-placed team from each of 12 groups qualifying automatically - second-placed sides must participate in a playoff - the Macedonians will try to sprint out of the blocks this month, first visiting Vaduz, then welcoming Wales to Skopje.
Having missed out in the playoffs last time, their sole finals since gaining independence remains a brief and unsuccessful appearance at Euro 2020, so Milevski will be intent on going one step further this time around.
Team News
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Liechtenstein boss Konrad Funfstuck has called up 23 men for consecutive home fixtures at the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Several players are absent through injury or have been dropped following November's 3-1 loss to San Marino, including goalkeeper Justin Ospelt, defender Noah Frommelt, and midfielders Marcel Buchel, Livio Meier and Liam Kranz.
Among five potential debutants is Italy-born forward Willy Pizzi, who holds Liechtenstein citizenship and has previously featured for national youth teams. Dennis Salanovic and Switzerland-based striker Ferhat Saglam will also vie for selection up front.
Meanwhile, Blagoja Milevski has named a 27-man squad list, including two players from North Macedonia's domestic league. His only new call-up is the versatile Luka Stankovski, who has scored three goals in 19 matches this season for Serbian club Radnicki.
While captain Enis Bardhi, Torino midfielder Eljif Elmas and Girona striker Bojan Miovski are the visitors' star names, Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski has recently kept five consecutive clean sheets - a new national record.
The Lynxes' most notable absentees are Milan Ristovski and Darko Velkovski, both of whom have been sidelined by injury.
Liechtenstein possible starting lineup:
B. Buchel; Marxer, Traber, Goppel; S. Wolfinger, Sele, Hasler, Luchinger, Hofer; Saglam, Salanovic
North Macedonia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Dimoski, Zajkov, Serafimov, Alioski; Bardhi, Alimi; Churlinov, Elmas, Trajkovski; Miovski
We say: Liechtenstein 0-4 North Macedonia
Once again, North Macedonia will be merciless when meeting little Liechtenstein, as they aim to build up momentum before meeting Wales.
Blessed with several talented players across the final third, the Lynxes should fully exploit their hosts' leaky defence.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
