Report.az
"Shkendija", the North Macedonian club that "Qarabag" will face in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, is 46 years old.
According to "Report", the team representing the city of Tetovo was founded in 1979 by Albanians living in Yugoslavia.
The club, which carried both a political and cultural "burden" from the first day of its establishment, was forced to cease operations in the early 1980s due to pressure from the then communist government. However, after Macedonia's independence (1991), the club was re-established in 1992 and returned to the football scene. "Shkendija" qualified for the country's main football league in 1995.
The club's main colors, red and black, symbolize the Albanian flag. For this reason, "Shkendija" is also known as "Kuq e Zi" (Red-Black). The team plays its home games at the "Ecolog Arena", which has a capacity of 15,000 fans.
"Shkendija" achieved its first major success by becoming the national champion in the 2010/2011 season. Later, the North Macedonian representative won the championship in the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 and 2024/2025 seasons. The team also won the national cup twice (2016 and 2018) and the Super Cup once (2011). The five-time national champion also has 4 silver medals.
"Shkendija's" biggest success in European cups was reaching the play-off stage of the UEFA Europa League in the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons. In the current season, "Shkendija" secured a place in the main stage of one of the European cups for the first time in its history. The North Macedonians, who first defeated Welsh representative TNS (0:0, 2:1, in extra time) and then Romanian club FCSB (1:0, 2:1), advanced to the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
"Qarabag" is not the first opponent of the North Macedonian club from Azerbaijan. In 2016, "Shkendija" defeated "Neftchi" in the second qualifying round of the Europa League with the result of two games (0:0, 1:0). In 2020, they eliminated "Sumgayit" from the fight in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League - 2:0 (qualification stages consisted of one game due to COVID-19).
The best scorer in the club's history is Besart Ibraimi. The Macedonian striker has scored 126 goals in 205 matches in which he played for "Shkendija" in different years (2015-2021, since 2024). The 38-year-old football player played 30 games in the team in 2024 and scored 15 goals.
It should be noted that the first match between the teams will be held in North Macedonia. The meeting will start on August 5 at 22:00 Baku time at the Toshe Proeski National Arena in Skopje. The return match will be held on August 12 at the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium. The starting time of the match has not yet been determined.
