In March, the Belgians played a play -off in a division and the league of nations with Ukraine, which is why they only began the eliminations for the World Cup in June. In the first meeting, their task was not easy after all. They played away with North Macedonia, who stopped Walia 1.5 months ago. Despite this, at Belgians you had to look at the favorites of the clash.
Belgian slip -up at the start of the elimination
“Red Devils” from the beginning tried to impose their pace and style. But they had to be concentrated in the back, because Macedonians can counter. For over 20 minutes, however, they did not allow them to their penalty area. Guests had several opportunities. Alexis Salemekers' dangerous shots from the edge of the penalty area or Nicolas Raskin's head did not find a way to the net.
Later, Macedonians had their moment. They counted, accelerated, twice knocked the Belgian goal. After a while, unused situations took revenge on the hosts. In the 28th minute Belgians gave Maxim de Cuyper, who finished the unclean shot of Romelu Lukaku in the penalty area. The Belgians wanted to close this match before the break, but they no longer had such clear opportunities.
In the second part, the image of the game has changed a bit. It is true that Belgium continued to mention a series of passes, arduously built their actions, but the Macedonians attacked boldly. They could have had a draw in the 48th minute, but Boyan Ilievski's hit was canceled. The ball after the impact of Eljif Elmas hit the player Struga, who was on Ofsajda.
It was a warning signal for Belgium. She had to get to work if she wanted to take the victory calmly. The seriousness of the situation was aware of Jeremy Dok, who became the driving force of the guests. The substitutes also brought a new quality to the guest game. But Dimitrievski looked very well on the goal line. He stopped everything he could.
In the 82nd minute, the red card was seen by the host coach Blagoja Milevski. He spontaneously and nervously discussed with the arbiter, he accused him of unjust judging. Earlier, the Macedonians demanded a penalty kick, or demanded that the Belgians be caught up, which Chris Kavanagh did not do.
The Macedonians survived in the defensive and and the end decided to attack in full swing. Stubbornness brought measurable results. It was possible to level out in the 86th minute, and Ezgjan Alioski went into the net. He overtook the Belgian defense, got to the upper ball and gave the longed -for draw with an effective shot from the air. The Belgians overwhelmed the defensive again, completely omitted the covenant of low Alioski.
There were no good opportunities on both sides until the end of the match. North Macedonia was satisfied with a 1: 1 draw, and Belgium resembled a boxer stunned after a strong sickle.
Macedonians are invincible after three matches, they drew twice with much stronger rivals. In the table they are in second place, they lose two points to Wales. The Belgians take fourth place, but they have the most meetings in front of them.
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On Monday, Belgium will play at home with Wales, and Macedonia North away with Kazakhstan. Liechtenstein will pause.