England v North Macedonia
UEFA European Qualifier
7.45pm GMT, Monday 19 June 2023
Live on Channel 4
Old Trafford, Manchester

England's starting line-up against North Macedonia

Gareth Southgate has made three changes to the England men’s senior team starting XI for the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia.

Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and John Stones return in defence at Old Trafford in place of Kieran Trippier and Marc Guehi, with Marcus Rashford the third inclusion at the expense of James Maddison.

That means Trent Alexander-Arnold retains the England number 10 shirt and Harry Kane again captains the side.

The #ThreeLions team news is in! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/ypnSiBlc3c

— England (@England) June 19, 2023

North Macedonia in profile

Join us live from @ManUtd's training ground as @LukeShaw23 and Gareth Southgate speak to the media! 🎙️ https://t.co/D8h7TG8z1h

— England (@England) June 18, 2023

Match Stats

● England have never lost a game against North Macedonia (W2 D2), with this the first meeting between the nations since a goalless draw at Old Trafford in October 2006.

● North Macedonia have never lost an away game against England, drawing 2-2 at St Mary’s in October 2002 and 0-0 at Old Trafford in October 2006, both in European Championship qualifiers.

● England have won their last eleven home European Championship qualifiers by an aggregate score of 40-4. This century, England have won 19 out of 24 home Euros qualifiers (D4 L1), although two of the five home games they have failed to win have been against North Macedonia in 2002 and 2006.

● England have lost just one of their last 60 qualifying matches for the World Cup/European Championship (W48 D11), losing 2-1 at Czech Republic in October 2019. At home, the Three Lions are unbeaten in 34 such matches (W30 D4) since a 3-2 loss to Croatia in November 2007.

● This is England’s first game at Old Trafford since a 1-0 defeat to Spain in a friendly in February 2007. The Three Lions have won eleven of their 17 games at the home of Manchester United, although haven’t won either of their last two (D1 L1), one of which was against North Macedonia in October 2006.

● Including play-offs, North Macedonia have lost two of their three qualifying matches (W1), as many as they had in their previous 14 (W9 D3). They led Ukraine 2-0 at half-time in their last game, only to end up losing 3-2.

● Harry Kane has scored in each of his last five appearances for England, and could net in six in a row for the Three Lions for the third time, previously doing so in July 2018 and November 2019.

● Should Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire or Luke Shaw find the net in this match, they would be the first Manchester United player to score for England at Old Trafford since David Beckham against Sweden in November 2001.

Head to head

The Three Lions have met North Macedonia* on four previous occasions, having previously been drawn alongside each other in successive European Championships qualifying groups for EURO 2004 and EURO 2008.

And the Three Lions have yet to beat North Macedonia on home soil, following two draws in our previous meetings in England.

The first encounter came at St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, when England found themselves behind twice with the opening goal coming direct from a corner taken by ex West Bromwich Albion player Artim Shakiri. That game ended 2-2 thanks to strikes from David Beckham and Steven Gerrard.

The second game, ironically at Old Trafford, ended all square at 0-0 during Steve McClaren's reign. 

You can see details of our previous games below:-

England 0-0 Macedonia, 7 October 2006, Old Trafford

Macedonia 0-1 England, 6 September 2006, Gradski, Skopje 

Macedonia 1-2 England, 6 September 2003, Gradski, Skopje

England 2-2 Macedonia, 16 October 2002, St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton

* Macedonia officially became known at North Macedonia in 2019.

England Squad News

Ticket Information

How to watch or stream

Bukayo Saka’s first career hat-trick helped England take another significant step on the road to next summer’s European Championships with an emphatic 7-0 win over North Macedonia at Old Trafford.

Saka’s treble, Harry Kane’s double and further strikes from Kalvin Phillips and hometown hero Marcus Rashford fired the Three Lions to their fourth UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying win on the spin in Manchester.

Gareth Southgate’s side continued where they left off after opening triumphs against Italy, Ukraine and Malta as Kane, Saka and Rashford all grabbed first-half goals at the Theatre of Dreams.

Saka completed a memorable personal night shortly after the break with a quick-fire double before Phillips’ first goal for his country, followed by Kane’s penalty, extended England’s unbeaten record as they further strengthened their grip at the summit of Group C.

Southgate made three changes to the side that waltzed past Malta 4-0 on Friday night as John Stones and Kyle Walker – both fresh off the back of their Champions League triumph with Manchester City – and Rashford all started.

The increasingly influential Trent Alexander-Arnold was once again deployed in his more advanced midfield role and was accompanied in the centre of the park by Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson.

England started the game brightly as Saka looked a threat down the right-hand side and Rashford remained lively on the opposite flank.

Kane was involved in a nasty-looking clash of heads with Stefan Ristovski midway through the first half but went on to open the scoring just moments later.

The dangerous Rashford picked out Luke Shaw’s overlapping run down the left before the Manchester United full-back’s low cross was firmly met by England’s record goalscorer, who fired home high into the roof of the net.

The Three Lions were bossing possession and doubled their lead through Saka just moments later.

Walker’s precise pass found the Arsenal ace free in the middle of the box, who arrowed a rising shot past Stole Dimitrievski to put Southgate’s side in the driving seat.

And England grabbed a third just before the break as Rashford, who was denied by a smart Dimitrievski save just before, got on the end of Henderson’s cut-back to slot home in front of a vocal home crowd.

The Three Lions showed no signs of stopping after half-time as Saka, 21, became the youngest England player to net a hat-trick since former Arsenal star Theo Walcott back in 2008.

First, the livewire winger latched onto a brilliant long-range Alexander-Arnold pass to beat a defender and hammer a dipping strike past Dimitrievski in the North Macedonian goal.

And just four minutes later, Saka combined with Kane to coolly slot home his third and complete his maiden career treble in front of a carnival atmosphere at Old Trafford.

Phillips joined the party just after the hour mark when he got on the end of a Jack Grealish cross which was deflected into his path to tap into an empty net.

And after Stones was hauled down in the box by North Macedonia substitute Egzon Bejtulai, Kane then netted his 58th England goal by firing in an unstoppable penalty into Dimitrievski’s top corner.

Southgate’s side continued to press for another but had to settle for seven as they claimed another big three points on their way to Germany next summer.

England (4-3-3): 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton); 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 6 Harry Maguire (Manchester United), 3 Luke Shaw (Manchester United); 10 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), 4 Declan Rice (West Ham United), 8 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool); 7 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), 9 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) (c), 11 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Substitutes: 19 Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) for Henderson 58’, 17 Jack Grealish (Manchester City) for Rashford 58’, 15 Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) for Rice 59’, 20 Phil Foden (Manchester City) for Saka 59’, 23 Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) for Kane 74’

Substitutes not used: 12 Kieran Tripper (Atletico Madrid), 13 Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), 14 Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), 16 Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), 18 James Maddison (Leicester City), 21 Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), 22 Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace)

Goals: Kane 29’, 73’, Saka 38’, 47’, 51’, Rashford 45’, Phillips 64’

North Macedonia (3-5-2): 1 Stole Dimitrievski (Rayo Vallecano); 13 Stefan Ristovski (Dinamo Zagreb), 4 Gjoko Zajkov (Universitatea Craiova), 14 Darko Velkovski (Al-Ettifaq); 3 Stefan Ashkovski (Lamia), 7 Elif Elmas (Napoli), 5 Arijan Ademi (Beijing Guoan), 10 Enis Bardhi (Trabzonspor), 8 Ezgjan Alioski (Fenerbahçe, on loan from Al-Ahl); 9 Aleksandar Trajkovski (Al-Fayha), 23 Ilija Nestorovski (Udinese)

Substitutes: 2 Egzon Bejtulai (KF Shkendija) for Ristovski 45’, 6 Nikola Serafimov ( Fehérvár) for Zajkov 57’, 20 David Babunski (Mezokovesd) for Trajkovski 57’, 11 Jani Atanasov (Cracovia) for Ademi 58’, 16 Dorian Babunski (Debrecen) for Bardhi 67’

Substitutes not used: 13 Dejan Iliev (HJK), 15 Jovan Manev (Adana Demirspor), 17 Ljupcho Doriev (Shkëndija), 18 Agon Elezi (Varaždin), 19 Milan Ristovski (Spartak Trnava), 21 Bojan Dimoski (Akron Tolyatti), 22 Damjan Šiškovski (Doxa)

Referee: Istvan Kovacs