North Macedonia 0-2 Scotland UEFA Nations League, League B, Group B1 Saturday, 3rd October 2026 National Arena Todor Proeski, Skopje
Scorers
North Macedonia 0 Scotland 2 (Kieron Bowie 8’, John McGinn (Pen) 69’)
Team News
Sebastian Pocognoli made two changes to the side that lost to Switzerland on Tuesday evening, with Ben Gannon-Doak and Stephen Welsh replacing Nathan Patterson and the suspended Jack Hendry. Skipper Andy Robertson retained his place, reaching a century of caps for his country – just two shy of Scotland Men’s record appearance holder, Kenny Dalglish.
As It Happened
Scotland started strongly in Skopje, with centurion Andy Robertson testing North Macedonian goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski on four minutes. Shortly afterwards, Sebastian Pocognoli’s side took an early lead through Kieron Bowie. Billy Gilmour won possession in an advanced position, feeding the ball to Bowie who fired into the bottom left corner from outside the penalty area, leaving Dimitrievski with no chance. An exquisite John McGinn pass on eight minutes had the Scots in on goal once more, with Robertson shooting narrowly wide – opting to go himself with Oli McBurnie crying for the square pass in the centre of the penalty box. Scotland were reminded of the hosts’ counter-attacking threat on 22 minutes when Tirana defender Bojan Ilievski made a lung-busting run towards the Scots’ penalty box, though fortunately the full-back’s effort never troubled Angus Gunn. Ben Gannon-Doak ought to have added Scotland’s second from Bowie’s cutback, but the Bournemouth man skied his effort over the bar. Bowie nearly added to his goal tally for the evening with half an hour played, pinching the ball from Dimitrievski only to see his goalward effort blocked by Visar Musliu with the keeper nowhere to be seen. In a half where Scotland created clear-cut chances aplenty, Pocognoli’s team were good value for their lead heading into the interval and would be forgiven for feeling slightly disappointed not to be further ahead.
Half-Time – North Macedonia 0-1 Scotland
Scotland maintained their first half promise at the beginning of the second, with Gannon-Doak winning a penalty kick on 51 minutes, after the winger appeared to be brought down by Matej Gashtarov. Following a lengthy VAR check, the decision was overturned meaning there would be no opportunity for the Scots to double their lead from twelve yards. Gannon-Doak responded positively, driving into the penalty area and seeing his shot saved by Dimitrievski after he attempted to reverse the ball beyond the goalkeeper. McGinn was next to go close for Scotland, curling the ball on his left foot in search of the top corner, with his effort dropping narrowly wide. The Scots had two further near misses in a matter of minutes, with Bowie seeing his effort saved at close range and Scott McKenna striking the post with a header from a corner. In the aftermath of McKenna’s effort, Bowie threw himself at the rebound with Bojan Miovski seemingly blocking the ball from heading goal wards with his arm in the penalty box. This time VAR was on Scotland’s side as the referee pointed to the spot, with John McGinn cooly dispatching the penalty to draw level with Lawrie Reilly on 22 Scotland goals. North Macedonia offered very little all evening though they were gifted a glimmer of hope when McKenna was shown a straight card for his challenge on Agon Elezi in the 82nd minute. Red card aside, Scotland cruised through the remaining minutes, maintaining their attacking threat and looking defensively sound despite being reduced to ten men. Luke Graham made his international bow on 86 minutes, replacing Gilmour, capping off a dominant away performance, giving Sebastian Pocognoli his first win in charge of the national team.
Next Up
Scotland face Slovenia at Barclays Hampden on Tuesday evening in their final match of this extended international window in the UEFA Nations League.
Teams
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Ilievski (Doriev 62’), Herera (Djekov 31’), Musliu, Elmas, Stankovski (Atanasov 31’), Miovski, Bardhi (Elezi 62’), Mladenovski, Gashtarov (Maleski 79’) Unused Substitutes: Taleski, Shishkovski, Stojchevski, Rastoder, Omeragiki, Kostadinov, Mitrovski
Scotland: Gunn, Binks, Welsh, McKenna, Robertson, Gannon-Doak (Hickey 75’), Ferguson, Gilmour (Graham 87’), McBurnie (Christie 46’), Bowie (Ure 75’), McGinn Unused Substitutes: Kelly, Bain, Doig, Donovan, Miller, McPake, Patterson, Montgomery
