Sports Mole previews Thursday’s International Friendlies clash between North Macedonia and Latvia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
In preparation for a set of decisive 2026 World Cup qualifiers, North Macedonia will welcome Latvia to Tose Proeski Arena for a friendly on Thursday.
The Lions could make it four games unbeaten this weekend, while the 11 Vilki are looking for their first win since March.
Match preview
North Macedonia have never reached the World Cup finals as an independent nation, but they are pushing for a spot in next summer’s tournament under Blagoja Milevski.
The Lions are currently second in UEFA qualifying Group J with 13 points, a tally that sees them just one behind top-of-the-pile Belgium with one match to play, though the leaders do have a game in hand.
Milevski’s side are also impressively unbeaten so far, winning three and drawing four of their seven Group J clashes, and they will be hoping to prepare for next Tuesday’s decisive showdown with Wales by beating a down-on-their-luck Latvia team.
That being said, North Macedonia come into Thursday’s friendly on the back of consecutive stalemates in October – a 0-0 draw against Belgium and a comparatively disappointing 1-1 tie with Kazakhstan.
With that in mind, while the manager will be pleased with his players’ resilience, he will be frustrated by the fact that they have only triumphed in three of their eight games in 2025 (four draws and one loss), and victory in midweek would be just their second in five home contests.
Meanwhile, Paolo Nicolato‘s Latvia have already been eliminated from the World Cup qualifying process, though they will still have a vital role to play in deciding the fate of their groupmates.
The 11 Vilki are fourth in Group K, where they are unable to catch either second-placed Albania or third-placed Serbia, two nations that are separated by just one point and are vying for the playoff spot after England secured the automatic ticket to the finals.
Back on October 14, Nicolato’s men followed up a 2-2 draw with bottom-of-the-table Andorra – the only time that the Tricolors have avoided defeat in qualifying – by being thrashed 5-0 by the Three Lions, a dismal result that marked Latvia’s third defeat from their four most recent games.
Ahead of this week’s friendly, the boss will want to take the chance to reset his team before next spring’s UEFA Nations League playoff against Gibraltar, in which they will be battling to stay in League C.
However, the visitors have only won once on the road since June 2022, and after failing to score in three of their last four away games, fans will make the trip with low expectations.
North Macedonia International Friendlies form:
North Macedonia form (all competitions):
Latvia International Friendlies form:
Latvia form (all competitions):
Team News
North Macedonia have called up centre-back Visar Musliu, but he is a doubt due to a muscle injury and may sit out entirely on Thursday in order to be ready for next week’s crucial qualifier against Wales.
If the Sint-Truiden man does not see the pitch, then Andrej Stojchevski, Darko Velkovski and Gjoko Zajkov could start as a defensive trio in front of goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Elsewhere, the versatile Ezgjan Alioski has been a regular for the Lions, but he suffered an injury towards the end of October, so expect Milevski to try out Bojan Dimoski at left wing-back.
As for Latvia, Riga midfielder Renars Varslavans featured against England, but as he is not in November’s squad, Eduards Daskevics could come into the XI on Thursday.
Up top, Vladislavs Gutkovskis of K League 1 side Daejeon Hana Citizen should start as a lone striker, with support from attacking midfielder Janis Ikaunieks.
North Macedonia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Ilievski, Stojchevski, Velkovski, Zajkov, Dimoski; Alimi, Bardhi, Elmas; Miovski, Ristovski
Latvia possible starting lineup:
Zviedris; Jurkovskis, Veips, Cernomordijs, Balodis, Ciganiks; Daskevics, Vapne, Zelenkovs, Ikaunieks; Gutkovskis
We say: North Macedonia 2-0 Latvia
North Macedonia have been resilient this year but have found wins hard to come by, though they will see Thursday as a golden opportunity to build confidence ahead of next week’s crucial World Cup qualifier.
Latvia have consistently struggled on the road in recent years, and after failing to score in three of their last four away games, the visitors could blank once again.
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