Our prediction for this Euro 2024 match:
North Macedonia
Match Time & Date:
23/03/2023
02:45 PM
Prediction: 2-0
Malta
Northern Macedonia play host to Malta at their National Arena Toshe Proeski in the opening match of their EURO 2024 qualifying campaign. The Macedonians were beaten by Azerbaijan (1-3) in their last friendly, and you should know that they are on a five-game winless run in all competitions ahead of the visit of Malta. A man to keep an eye on in the home team will be Napoli midfielder Eljif Elmas, who has netted six goals in the Serie A this season, while Burnley midfielder Darko Churlinov has overcome his injury.
Fenerbahce left-back Ezgjan Alioski made the cut as well. Meanwhile, Malta are likely to adopt a defence-minded approach in Thursday’s qualifier, but preventing North Macedonia attackers from scoring in Skopje is easier said than done. In their last meeting in the former Yugoslav republic North Macedonia crushed Malta 5-0.
Highlighted Team (Malta):
Back in 1957 Malta played their first international match. The Falcons faced Austria in their debut on the international stage and they suffered a 3-2 loss to Das Team in front of home fans in Gzira. The Malta Football Association joined FIFA in 1959, while joining UEFA the following year and they have been competing in the qualifiers for the major tournaments since 1962.
The Knights of Malta have yet to participate at the finals of the showpiece tournaments, but they often claim major scalps in the qualifying matches. Malta recorded their biggest win (7-1) against Liechtenstein on March 26, 2008, but a win over Hungary in the Euro 2008 qualifiers is considered their biggest achievement.
Speaking of friendly games, it has to be noted that Malta did remarkably well to beat star-studded Ukraine in Graz on June 6, 2017, with Zach Muscat scoring the winner for the minnows. In December 1983 the Maltese suffered their heaviest loss as they were crushed by Spain 12-1 in Seville.
Liverpool
Burnley
Tottenham
Brighton
AS Roma
Inter
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich 
Nottingham Forest 
Newcastle 
Real Madrid 
Girona
