One of the three games to be played in the 2020 European Championship on Sunday the 13th of June takes place at the Arena Națională, Bucharest as Austria meet North Macedonia.
The teams are competing in Group C along with Netherlands and Ukraine for the two automatic qualification spots.
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Austria qualified for the tournament by finishing second in their group behind Poland. Austria were some way off the pace in terms of finishing in first place and won 6 of their 10 qualifying games, losing 3 and drawing one.
Austria have been struggling to pick up victories in recent matches and they have won only one of their last 6 games in all competitions.
The win came at home over the Faroe Islands in 2022 World Cup qualification but Austria were held to a 2-2 draw away against Scotland and suffered a heavy 4-0 loss at home against Denmark.
Austria have played two friendly games prior to the start of the European Championship and were defeated 1-0 in England before drawing at home with Slovakia.
The Austrian team qualified for the 2016 European Championship but failed to progress beyond the group stage having lost two and drawn one of their 3 fixtures.
In fact, Austria have failed to win any of their last 6 games at the European Championship, having achieved the same record at the 2008 tournament.
This is a huge moment in the history of North Macedonian football as they will play their first match in a major international tournament.
North Macedonia qualified for the competition courtesy of the Nations League playoffs and are regarded by many onlookers as being the weakest team in the tournament.
North Macedonia finished third in their European Championship qualifying group, behind opponents Austria. The two results in the group between the teams went in favour of Austria, who defeated North Macedonia 4-1 away from home and 2-1 at home, meaning North Macedonia have work to do if they are going to change their fortunes.
North Macedonia come into the match in good form having remained undefeated in their last 4 matches.
They recorded a tremendous 2-1 victory away against Germany in 2022 World Cup qualifying, which is arguably the best result in their history. North Macedonia also beat Liechtenstein in World Cup qualifying plus Kazakhstan 4-0 at home in a friendly.
Team news and Austria will be relying on the goals of Marko Arnautović. Bayern Munich man David Alaba often plays in midfield for his country and he will be joined by Marcel Sabitzer.
North Macedonia have the experienced striker Goran Pandev up-front and the 37 year old could be asked to play without a partner. There is plenty of international experience in the team including Stole Dimitrievski, Ezgjan Alioski, and Stefan Ristovski.
North Macedonia will be feeling confident coming into this game and should make life difficult for Austria.
The Austrians have a poor record at the European Championship but could record their first victory with a 2-1 win.