North Macedonia hold off Belgium attack to claim vital World Cup point
GHENT, Belgium :North Macedonia put on a defensive masterclass to hold Belgium to a 0-0 draw away in their World Cup qualifier on Friday and stay one point ahead in Group J.
The visitors kept out everything Belgium could throw at them in a near 90-minute siege and lead with 12 points from six games, one ahead of Belgium who have a game in hand.
Belgium attacked continually almost from the start, with Jeremy Doku trying to open up the defence from the left flank and Kevin De Bruyne probing from the edge of the area.
But their efforts were thwarted by a committed defence and when it was breached, goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski came up with some key saves.
Doku regularly sold dummies to defenders to set up chances only for the last effort to be blocked or saved while De Bruyne’s best effort from the edge of the area took a deflection and went away for a corner.
North Macedonia, who have never been to the World Cup but did cause a shock when they qualified for the 2020 European Championship, had two attempts on goal from rare counterattack chances but there was barely anything for home goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to do.
"We did everything we could to score but it was frustrating. If we had got a first goal, I'm sure we would have got a lot more," Belgian midfielder Hans Vanaken told VTM television.
Belgium have a game in hand and are still fancied to win the group and qualify for next June’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
But they will need to be sharper in front of goal if they are to get a much needed away win against Wales in Cardiff on Monday and take over the leadership of the group. They finish their fixtures next month at Kazakhstan and at home to Liechtenstein.
North Macedonia’s final two group games are home to Kazakhstan on Monday and they finish away against Wales on November 18.
Wales, who have 10 points from five games, benefitted from the draw and remain in contention but their cause rests on beating Belgium on Monday.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
