FYR Macedonia v Scotland: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch

UEFA Nations League, League B – 3

FYR Macedonia MAC

3/10/2026 19:45

Scotland SCO

Nacional Arena Todor Proeski

Francois Letexier

Preview for FYR Macedonia v Scotland

Scotland travel to Skopje on Saturday night looking for their first UEFA Nations League win under Sebastien Pocognoli when they take on North Macedonia.

The Scots have collected one point from their opening two League B Group 1 matches, while North Macedonia are bottom of the group following successive defeats.

Scotland’s first home game under Pocognoli proved to be a difficult evening as Switzerland claimed a comfortable 3-0 win at Hampden Park.

Another failure to win would make Pocognoli only the fourth Scotland manager to go without a victory in his opening three games in charge.

History is also on their side against North Macedonia. Scotland have gone unbeaten in the last three meetings between the nations since suffering a 1-0 defeat in Skopje in September 2008.

North Macedonia, meanwhile, have endured an even more difficult start to their Nations League campaign.

Goce Sedloski’s side were beaten 3-0 at home by Switzerland before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Slovenia on Tuesday.

Sedloski is still searching for his first win since taking charge, with North Macedonia failing to score in any of his five matches at the helm.

The UEFA Nations League Table

UEFA Nations League 2026

World

League B – Group A

#	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Last 2
1	Switzerland	2	2	0	0	6	0	6	6	W W
2	Slovenia	2	1	1	0	2	0	2	4	W D
3	Scotland	2	0	1	1	0	3	-3	1	L D
4	FYR Macedonia	2	0	0	2	0	5	-5	0	L L

• Position 1 : Promotion
• Position 2 : Promotion Play-offs
• Position 3 : Relegation Playoffs
• Position 4 : Relegation

Team News for FYR Macedonia v Scotland

Scotland will be forced into at least one change after Hendry was sent off against Switzerland.

The defender is suspended for the trip to Skopje, potentially opening the door for Luis Binks to join Scott McKenna and Stephen Welsh in the back three.

Scott McTominay remains unavailable, meaning Billy Gilmour could continue alongside Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson in central midfield.

Andy Robertson is set to make his 100th Scotland appearance and will captain the side from the left flank. That would move him to within two appearances of Kenny Dalglish’s national record of 102.

North Macedonia captain Enis Bardhi should make his 84th appearance for his country and remains one of the hosts’ biggest attacking threats, having scored 20 international goals.

Boban Nikolov and Ezgjan Alioski have both withdrawn from the squad, with Alioski suffering a calf injury during the opening game against Switzerland.

Expected line-ups for FYR Macedonia v Scotland

North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; Ilievski, Zajkov, Musliu, Alomerovic; Atanasov, Gashtarov; Mitrovski, Bardhi, Elmas; Miovski.

Scotland: Gunn; Binks, McKenna, Welsh; Hickey, Gilmour, Ferguson, McGinn, Robertson; Bowie, McBurnie.

Recent Form & Stats for FYR Macedonia v Scotland

• Scotland have taken one point from their opening two Nations League matches.
• Scotland have failed to score in four successive games across all competitions.
• North Macedonia have lost both of their Nations League matches without scoring.
• North Macedonia have now gone six consecutive matches without finding the net.
• Scotland have lost just one of their last seven away matches across all competitions.
• Scotland have kept five clean sheets across those seven away games.
• Scotland are unbeaten in their last three meetings with North Macedonia.
• North Macedonia have not suffered consecutive home defeats since 2019.

Where to Watch FYR Macedonia v Scotland: TV and online streams

North Macedonia v Scotland kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Saturday, October 3. The match will be shown live in the UK on BBC Two and BBC Scotland, with coverage beginning at 7:30pm. Supporters can also watch the game online via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Prediction for FYR Macedonia v Scotland

Goals have been a major problem for both sides, with Scotland and North Macedonia arriving on the back of lengthy scoring droughts.

That could make for a tight game in Skopje, particularly with both teams already under pressure to pick up points.

Scotland’s recent away record gives them reason for optimism, though, and Pocognoli’s side should have enough quality to finally find a breakthrough and claim their first win of the campaign.

Match Prediction

FYR Macedonia

0 – 1

Scotland