North Macedonia vs Switzerland on Saturday is the first senior meeting between the two countries, and it opens League B Group 1 of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League. Kick-off at the National Arena Todor Proeski in Skopje is at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST). North Macedonia were promoted from League C in the last edition. Switzerland were relegated from League A, then reached their first World Cup quarter-final since 1954 this summer.
Murat Yakin wants promotion straight back, but he goes to Skopje without four players from that World Cup squad. His captain, Granit Xhaka, is not in the camp. On Monday Xhaka admitted obtaining a fake Covid-19 vaccination certificate in 2022, and he and the Swiss Football Association agreed that he would miss all four games in this window. Prosecutors in Lucerne have confirmed an investigation. Switzerland's most-capped player, with 152 caps, played in Sunderland's 5-3 defeat at Manchester City the day before.
Breel Embolo is suspended for Saturday after his red card in the quarter-final defeat by Argentina, and he will not join the squad later in the window either. On Friday the Swiss Football Association said he would no longer link up before the Scotland game as planned, after SRF reported that he had accepted a penalty order in November 2025 over forged Covid certificates. Denis Zakaria and Aurèle Amenda were ruled out of all four matches on Monday, and Yakin called up Isaac Schmidt of Young Boys, Vincent Sierro of Parma and Joël Monteiro of Lecce from his standby list.
Boteli's chance
The absences open the door for the two first call-ups in Yakin's original 25, Sion striker Winsley Boteli and Parma right-back Sascha Britschgi, both 20. Boteli had 12 goals and five assists in 14 competitive games when the squad was named. The German magazine kicker's predicted line-up has him starting in Embolo's place, with Ardon Jashari replacing Xhaka.
Four games, no goals
Goce Sedloski, the first player to win 100 caps for North Macedonia, was appointed head coach in December 2025 and his side have not scored since. They lost 4-0 to Denmark in Copenhagen in the World Cup play-off semi-final in March, drew 0-0 with the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, and lost 4-0 to Türkiye in Istanbul on 1 June.
He has called up 28 players for four games in 11 days, four of them uncapped: defenders Anes Meliqi and Gjorgje Dzekov, Crvena Zvezda midfielder Matej Gashtarov and Struga forward Hristijan Maleski. Darko Churlinov will miss the window because Pogoń Szczecin were late in starting the paperwork for his Polish work and residence permits, and defender Nikola Serafimov is injured.
Boban Nikolov will also miss Saturday's game, Sedloski said at his pre-match press conference on Friday, and every other player is fit. He said he was more than satisfied with the week's four training sessions.
We know what kind of squad they have, but I want us to think about ourselves first.
Goce Sedloski, North Macedonia head coach, on Friday. Translated from Macedonian by ArenaBulletin.
He believes the crowd can help North Macedonia to a positive result, and captain Enis Bardhi said a full stadium would matter in their first home game for some time. Last week, having watched Switzerland at the World Cup, Sedloski called them the favourites in the group and named the midfield as his own side's strength. Bojan Miovski and Elmin Rastoder lead the attack alongside Maleski and Azer Omeragić, whom he picked for their goals in the Macedonian First League.
Two of his players know Switzerland well. Ezgjan Alioski grew up in Fribourg and came through Young Boys' academy, and Rastoder was born in Wetzikon and won the Swiss title with Thun last season. Swiss defender Adrian Bajrami, in turn, has family roots in North Macedonia.
German referee Daniel Schlager takes charge. North Macedonia visit Slovenia on Tuesday and host Scotland on 3 October, and the two sides meet again in Lucerne on 6 October.
