With the visitors conceding just twice in qualifying before tonight, Belgium struggled to break them down in the first half and recorded no shots on target. Maxim De Cuyper, who scored in the last head-to-head, did finish a lovely passing move by putting the ball in the net, but Kevin De Bruyne was unfortunately offside in the build-up.
Perhaps Belgium’s best chance to break the deadlock fell to Leandro Trossard, who headed De Cuyper’s cross over in space in the box. North Macedonia did not offer much going forward, with Jani Atanasov volleying wide in the opening few minutes.
It only took two minutes into the second half for the first shot on target in the match, and no surprise, it went to Belgium as Jeremy Doku struck towards goal, but Stole Dimitrievski made a comfortable save.
The goalkeeper made a better stop to deny De Bruyne shortly after, as the midfielder’s curling effort towards the bottom corner was parried away, and the hosts continued to push, with Dimitrievski making another double save, first to deny Doku and then substitute Lois Openda from close range.
In Belgium’s previous five matches, six goals were scored after the 80th minute, but the Red Devils could not find the one that would have put them at the top of Group J. North Macedonia failed to score in what would have been a seventh successive away game, but the point keeps their World Cup dreams very much alive.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Stole Dimitrievski (North Macedonia)