Despite being the overwhelming favorite, Macedonia had a very difficult time beating Romania in the first match of the playoffs for a place in the World Cup.

Macedonia led during the first half, but Romania managed to get too close for comfort since the start of the second half. It fell to Filip Mirkulovski to lead the team to a lead of 4 to 5 goals, that was maintained during most of the second half. Macedonia finally broke Romania near the end, and the result was 30:22.

If we are successful against Romania, Macedonia will face the Czech Republic.