The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from North Macedonia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Macedonian Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 52 of which were born in North Macedonia. This makes North Macedonia the birth place of the 55th most number of Soccer Players behind South Africa, and Finland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Macedonian Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Macedonian Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Macedonian Soccer Players.

Photo of Dragoslav Šekularac

1. Dragoslav Šekularac (1937 - 2019)

With an HPI of 59.84, Dragoslav Šekularac is the most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages on wikipedia.

Dragoslav Šekularac (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгослав Шекуларац, pronounced [drǎgoslaʋ ʃekulârats]; 8 November 1937 – 5 January 2019) was a Serbian professional footballer and coach. Nicknamed Šeki, he was quick and crafty with the ball, displaying creative skills which turned many heads. Possessing supreme self-confidence along with impeccable technical ability, he was one of the biggest showmen and crowd draws in the history of Yugoslav football. His enormous popularity throughout FPR Yugoslavia during the early 1960s transcended sports as he easily became one of the most recognizable individuals in the country. As a coach, he led several clubs in Canada, Colombia, Australia, Serbia, Mexico, and Spain, as well as the Guatemala national team in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification. Šekularac is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade: he is the second (and one of only five players) to have been awarded the Zvezdina zvezda status.

Photo of Darko Pančev

2. Darko Pančev (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 55.75, Darko Pančev is the 2nd most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Darko Pančev (Macedonian: Дарко Панчев, Macedonian pronunciation: [ˈdarkɔ ˈpantʃɛf]; born 7 September 1965) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He most notably played for FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. He was part of the Red Star Belgrade squad that won the European Cup in 1990–91, and was awarded the European Golden Boot in 1991.

Photo of Goran Pandev

3. Goran Pandev (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 50.44, Goran Pandev is the 3rd most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Goran Pandev (Macedonian: Горан Пандев, pronounced [ˈɡɔran ˈpandɛf] ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After a stint at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the Nerazzurri, Pandev collected a host of honours including winning the Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League in 2010 as part of a treble for the club. On 22 April 2021, he became the first Macedonian to score 100 goals in one of the top five European football leagues. He was the captain of the North Macedonia national team until deciding to retire from international football in 2021, following UEFA Euro 2020. He is the country's all-time top scorer with 38 goals.

Photo of Boban Babunski

4. Boban Babunski (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 49.32, Boban Babunski is the 4th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Boban Babunski (Macedonian: Бобан Бабунски; born 5 May 1968) is a Macedonian retired footballer who played as a central defender, and a coach. Babunski was born in Skopje, SR Macedonia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On the club level he started playing with hometown's FK Vardar, then spent two seasons in Bulgaria with PFC CSKA Sofia to become of the first Macedonians to compete in the A Football Group. After two solid years in the Spanish second division with UE Lleida he played the same time in Japan, at Gamba Osaka. Babunski retired professionally in 2001 at the age of 33, after stints with AEK Athens FC, CD Logroñés, K. Sint-Truidense V.V. and Chemnitzer FC – he left Germany in December 2000, signing with native FK Rabotnichki – the second and the last teams two also in the respective countries' second level. Babunski was capped two times for Yugoslavia in 1991. Subsequently, during seven years, he played 23 matches and scored once for the newly formed Macedonia. Babunski began his coaching career as assistant in the Macedonian national side, under Slobodan Santrač. When the latter resigned on 23 August 2005 he was appointed interim manager but, on 17 February of the following year, Srečko Katanec took over the job on a permanent basis. On 23 July 2009, Babunski was signed as head coach of Macedonian First Football League champions Rabotnichki, also from Skopje, winning the domestic cup in his sole season. Four years later he returned to the national team. Babunski's sons, David and Dorian, are also footballers. The former played youth football with FC Barcelona, whilst the latter did the same at Real Madrid. Babunski's great-grandfather was Jovan Babunski, a Serbian Chetnik vojvoda. Profile at MacedonianFootball.com (in English) Boban Babunski at BDFutbol Boban Babunski at fussballdaten.de (in German) Yugoslavia national team data (in Serbian) Macedonian national team data Boban Babunski at National-Football-Teams.com Boban Babunski at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)

Photo of Boško Gjurovski

5. Boško Gjurovski (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 45.96, Boško Gjurovski is the 5th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Boško Gjurovski (Macedonian: Бошко Ѓуровски; Serbian: Бошко Ђуровски / Boško Đurovski; born 28 December 1961) is a |Macedonian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the elder brother of Milko Djurovski and the uncle of Mario Djurovski.

Photo of Kiril Dojčinovski

6. Kiril Dojčinovski (1943 - 2022)

With an HPI of 44.89, Kiril Dojčinovski is the 6th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Kiril Dojčinovski (Macedonian: Кирил Дојчиновски; 17 October 1943 – 10 August 2022) was a Macedonian football player and manager who played as a defender.

Photo of Goce Sedloski

7. Goce Sedloski (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 43.81, Goce Sedloski is the 7th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Goce Sedloski (Macedonian: Гоце Седлоски; born 10 April 1974) is a Macedonian professional football manager who is current manager Macedonian First Football League club Rabotnički and former player. Playing as a central defender, he was the captain of the Macedonia national team, earning 100 caps for his country.

Photo of Blerim Džemaili

8. Blerim Džemaili (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 43.36, Blerim Džemaili is the 8th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Blerim Džemaili (Albanian: Blerim Xhemaili, pronounced [blɛˈɾim dʒɛˈmaili]; Macedonian: Блерим Џемаили; born 12 April 1986) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career at FC Zürich, where he won the Swiss Super League twice. He subsequently spent most of his career in Italy, making 280 Serie A appearances for Torino, Parma, Napoli, Genoa and Bologna. Džemaili made his debut for the Switzerland national team in March 2006 and went on to make over 65 appearances. He was selected for their squads at the FIFA World Cup in 2006, 2014 and 2018, as well as UEFA Euro 2016.

Photo of Admir Mehmedi

9. Admir Mehmedi (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 41.58, Admir Mehmedi is the 9th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Admir Mehmedi (born 16 March 1991) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a second striker or centre forward. Born in North Macedonia, Mehmedi represented the Switzerland national team. He was most recently the sporting director of FC Schaffhausen.

Photo of Milko Djurovski

10. Milko Djurovski (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 41.57, Milko Djurovski is the 10th most famous Macedonian Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Milko Djurovski (Macedonian: Милко Ѓуровски, romanized: Milko Gjurovski, Serbo-Croatian: Milko Đurovski / Милко Ђуровски; born 26 January 1963) is a Macedonian former professional footballer and manager. He was regarded as one of the most talented Yugoslav players of his generation. Djurovski started out at Red Star Belgrade, making his senior debut in 1979, aged 16. He spent a total of seven seasons in their first team, winning two national championships (1981 and 1984) and two national cups (1982 and 1985). In the summer of 1986, Djurovski made a surprising and controversial move to Red Star's bitter rivals Partizan. He stayed for four years at Stadion JNA, including an inactive season because of his compulsory military service. Some of his most memorable performances with the Crno-beli include a 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup tie against Groningen, which eventually secured him a transfer to the Dutch club in 1990. In his later years, Djurovski went on to play for several Slovenian clubs. Internationally, Djurovski represented both Yugoslavia and Macedonia. He earned six caps for Yugoslavia between 1984 and 1985, scoring two goals. After the dissolution of the former country, Djurovski briefly played for his native Macedonia, making three appearances in 1994. He had previously won the bronze medal for Yugoslavia at the 1984 Summer Olympics. His older brother is Boško Djurovski, while his younger son is Mario Gjurovski.

People

Pantheon has 58 people classified as Macedonian soccer players born between 1937 and 2000. Of these 58, 56 (96.55%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Macedonian soccer players include Darko Pančev, Goran Pandev, and Boban Babunski. The most famous deceased Macedonian soccer players include Dragoslav Šekularac, and Kiril Dojčinovski. As of April 2024, 6 new Macedonian soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Vujadin Stanojković, Adis Jahović, and Ilčo Naumoski.

Living Macedonian Soccer Players

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Deceased Macedonian Soccer Players

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Newly Added Macedonian Soccer Players (2024)

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