First League is a men’s league competition in Macedonia, established in 1992. This page brings together live scores, upcoming fixtures, results and standings, alongside player and team statistics, so you can follow the competition across its recorded seasons and review its available match data in one place.
Upcoming matches, First League
Regular Season - 8
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- Regular Season - 8Shkendija
Bashkimi Kumanovo
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- Regular Season - 8
Sileks
Tikveš
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- Regular Season - 8
Bregalnica Štip
Skopje
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- Regular Season - 8
Vardar Skopje
Shkëndija Haraçinë
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- Regular Season - 8Struga
Aresimi
Regular Season - 9
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- Regular Season - 9
Tikveš
Bregalnica Štip
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- Regular Season - 9
Shkëndija Haraçinë
Shkendija
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- Regular Season - 9
Skopje
Vardar Skopje
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- Regular Season - 9
Bashkimi Kumanovo
Struga
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- Regular Season - 9
Aresimi
Sileks
Latest played matches, First League
Regular Season - 7
Regular Season - 6
First League Standings
| Rank | Club | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Last 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shkendija | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 16 | DLWWW | |
| 2 | Struga | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 14 | DWWLW | |
| 3 |
|
Shkëndija Haraçinë | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 13 | WWWLW |
| 4 |
|
Tikveš | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 12 | DWDDL |
| 5 |
|
Vardar Skopje | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 11 | DWDWL |
| 6 |
|
Sileks | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 8 | DLLLW |
| 7 |
|
Aresimi | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 8 | DLDWW |
| 8 |
|
Bregalnica Štip | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 7 | DLLWL |
| 9 |
|
Bashkimi Kumanovo | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 21 | -15 | 4 | DWLLL |
| 10 |
|
Skopje | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 3 | LLDDL |
First League Statistics
Top scorers 2026
| # | Player | Goals |
|---|
Top assists 2026
| # | Player | Assists |
|---|
Top key passes
Top tackles
Top yellow cards
Top red cards
First League teams participation since 2016
History
| Team | Nb participations |
|---|---|
| Shkendija | 10 |
| FK Rabotnicki | 10 |
| Shkupi 1927 | 10 |
| Akademija Pandev | 9 |
| Sileks | 9 |
| Vardar Skopje | 8 |
| Makedonija GjP | 8 |
| Renova | 7 |
| Struga | 7 |
| Pelister | 6 |
| Tikveš | 5 |
| Pobeda | 4 |
| Bregalnica Štip | 4 |
| Belasica | 3 |
| Skopje | 3 |
| Borec | 3 |
| Voska Sport | 3 |
| KF Gostivari | 2 |
| Bashkimi Kumanovo | 2 |
| Besa Dobërdoll | 1 |
| Aresimi | 1 |
| Detonit Plachkovica | 1 |
First League top scorer teams
First League About
First League is the top-tier men’s professional football league of North Macedonia, commonly known as the Macedonian First Football League or 1. MFL. It is a league competition rather than a knockout tournament and forms the highest level of the country’s domestic football pyramid. Its purpose is to determine the national champion, provide a route into UEFA club competitions and establish promotion and relegation between the leading divisions of Macedonian football.
Identity and history
The competition was established in 1992, following North Macedonia’s independence from Yugoslavia. It replaced the role of the former Yugoslav system as the country’s national top division, giving clubs a domestic championship of their own. Football in the region has a much longer history, dating back to 1919, but titles won before 1992 belonged to regional or Yugoslav competitions and are not national First League titles.
The league is governed by the Football Federation of North Macedonia (FFM), the national governing body responsible for the competition’s regulations, club eligibility and sporting administration. The FFM operates within the wider framework of FIFA and UEFA, while participating clubs must satisfy the applicable sporting, administrative and financial licensing requirements.
Access, promotion and relegation
Clubs enter the First League through sporting merit within the FFM league system. Promotion from the Macedonian Second League, also known as the 2. MFL, provides the principal route into the top flight. At the other end of the table, the bottom two clubs are directly relegated to the second tier. The club finishing eighth typically enters a promotion/relegation play-off against a contender from the 2. MFL, making the lower reaches of the table significant until the final matches of the season.
This structure links the First League to the rest of the domestic pyramid: success in the second tier can lead to promotion, while poor results in the top division can bring both sporting and financial consequences. Entry is therefore determined not only by league position but also by the licensing standards required for participation.
Competition format
The current format is a triple round-robin league. The competition features 12 clubs in the structure described for the recent seasons, with each team scheduled to play 33 matches. During the first 22 rounds, every club meets each opponent twice, once at home and once away. The league then enters a final phase in which each team plays a third match against every opponent, adding 11 fixtures to the season.
The home-and-away distribution for that third set of matches is determined by the standings after the opening 22 rounds. Initial fixtures are established by a seasonal draw using Berger-table principles. This creates a schedule that combines the familiar balance of home and away meetings with a decisive final phase in which the order of the table influences the remaining venues.
A reduction from 12 clubs to 10 is planned for the 2026–27 season. Until that reform takes effect, the 12-club, 33-match structure should be distinguished from earlier formats, which have varied as the league has developed.
Points and ranking rules
The First League uses the standard football scoring system: three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a defeat. League position is primarily determined by the points accumulated across the season. When teams finish level on points, the ranking hierarchy is based first on their head-to-head record: points gained in the relevant meetings, followed by head-to-head goal difference and head-to-head goals scored. Overall goal difference and overall goals scored are then used as subsequent criteria.
The league table remains the central mechanism for deciding the champion, European places and direct relegation. Extra time and penalty shoot-outs are not part of ordinary league matches; they may apply in a relegation play-off, where a winner must be established, or in the separate Macedonian Football Cup.
Season calendar and sporting stakes
The competition generally follows the European football calendar, beginning in early August and concluding in late May. The long season rewards consistency, but the triple round-robin schedule also gives clubs repeated opportunities to influence the title race, European qualification and relegation battle.
The team finishing first is crowned champion of North Macedonia. The champion typically enters the UEFA Champions League qualifying pathway, while the runners-up and third-placed team typically qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds, subject to the applicable UEFA access list and licensing requirements for the relevant season. These places give the Macedonian First League an important connection to European football, allowing its leading clubs to compete beyond the domestic game.
The competition’s recorded statistical coverage on this site runs from the 2016 season through 2025, offering a consistent modern reference point for results, tables and performance trends. Across its history, the First League has remained the country’s principal measure of domestic club strength and the central stage for deciding who represents North Macedonia at home and in Europe.