# North Macedonia men's national volleyball team

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 (Macedonian: Спортски центар Борис Трајковски), 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.
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | SW | SL |
| 2004 | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| – | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 2013 | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 2014 | Semifinals | | | | | | |
| 2015 | Final | | | | | | |
| 2016 | Final | | | | | | |
| 2017 | Final | | | | | | |
| 2018 | Silver League Semifinals | 4th | | | | | |
| 2019 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| 2021 | Silver League Final | | | | | | |
| 2022 | Silver League Semifinals | | | | | | |
| 2023 | Golden League League Round | 11th | | | | | |
| 2024 | Golden League League Round | 10th | | | | | |
| Total | Participated: 9/9 | Participated: 9/9 | | | | | |
| Total | Top tier (Golden League): 2/2 | Top tier (Golden League): 2/2 | | | | | |

## 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)
| Year | Position |
| 2019 | 17th place |
| 2021 | 23rd place |
| 2023 | 16th place |

## World Championship

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

## Olympic Games

* Within Yugoslavia team
    1980 sixth place
* Macedonia 1992-2020 didn't qualify

### Mediterranean Games

* Within Yugoslavia team
    1963 ,1967 ,1971 ,1975 ,1979 ,1987 (4) ,1991
| Year | Position |
| 2013 | 7th place |
| 2018 | 9th place |
| 2022 | 9th place |

## Current team

Roster for the 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship
| Head coach: | Joško Milenkoski |
| Assistant: | Hari Nakovski |
| No. | Name | Position | Height (cm) | Birth year |
| 1 | Darko Angelovski | Libero | 180 | 1994 |
| 2 | Gjorgi Gjorgiev | Setter | 197 | 1992 |
| 3 | Toshe Efremov | Outside Spiker | 193 | 2007 |
| 4 | Nikola Gjorgiev (C) | Opposite | 196 | 1988 |
| 5 | Vlado Milev | Outside-spiker | 195 | 1987 |
| 6 | Stojche Arsov | Opposite | 196 | 2003 |
| 7 | Slave Nakov | Middle-blocker | 194 | 1994 |
| 8 | Aleksandar Ljaftov | Outside-spiker | 198 | 1990 |
| 9 | Filip Lepidovski | Middle Blocker | 199 | 2002 |
| 10 | David Stojanov | Setter | 190 | 2001 |
| 11 | Filip Despotovski | Setter | 194 | 1986 |
| 12 | Eftim Richliev | Setter | 187 | 1995 |
| 13 | Stefan Aleksov | Opposite | 195 | 1996 |
| 14 | Angel Boshkov | Outside Spiker | 193 | 2002 |
| 15 | Filip Madjunkov | Middle-blocker | 199 | 1996 |
| 16 | Stojan Iliev | Outside-spiker | 190 | 1999 |
| 17 | Luka Kostik | Outside-spiker | 198 | 2001 |
| 18 | Vase Mihailov | Outside-spiker | 199 | 1986 |
| 19 | Kostadin Richliev | Libero | 184 | 2000 |
| 20 | Filip Savovski | Middle Blocker | 206 | 2002 |
| 21 | Ivan Andonov | Opposite | 198 | 1989 |
| 22 | Risto Nikolov | Middle Blocker | 202 | 1990 |
| 23 | Hristijan Andonovski | Middle Blocker | 196 | 2004 |
| 24 | Filip Nikolovski | Libero | 189 | 1997 |

## 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